Bloomberg analyst: Gold was more volatile 50 years ago than Bitcoin today

Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas has pushed back against claims that Bitcoin is not a store of value. On X, he posted a table of annual returns from 1972 to 1981, sarcastically noting its extreme volatility and four-year cycles before revealing the data represented gold's performance 50 years ago, not Bitcoin's. The chart was originally created by Bitwise Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Matt Hougan. Hougan had previously used it to counter an argument from Tom Essaye, founder of Sevens Report Research, who claimed Bitcoin is more of a speculative asset than a substitute for gold or an inflation hedge. In response, Hougan argued that Bitcoin is an emerging store of value whose speculative nature will diminish once it is universally held by central banks, similar to gold.