Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) says bitcoin could eventually overtake gold, potentially as soon as the next bull market. His call comes as bitcoin trades increasingly like the precious metal and less like a technology stock, strengthening the digital gold argument.
Binance Founder CZ Says Bitcoin Could Overtake Gold in Next Bull Run
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Key Takeaways
- CZ says bitcoin could overtake gold by the next bull run, with the valuation gap near 10x.
- Bitcoin’s gold correlation rose to 0.57 as its Nasdaq-100 link fell, strengthening the digital-gold case.
- Sovereign reserve adoption could determine whether bitcoin closes the gap with gold.
CZ Calls Bitcoin Better Than Gold as Market Gap Narrows
Bitcoin’s long-running comparison with gold is moving from theory toward a measurable market shift.
Speaking at Bitcoin Asia, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) said the gap between the two assets has narrowed enough that bitcoin could challenge gold’s market value sooner than many expect.
“I think bitcoin will overtake gold pretty soon,” CZ said. “There’s only like a 10x difference right now. So who knows, in the next bull run it could happen.”
The prediction would require a dramatic increase in the bitcoin price. Mexican businessman Ricardo Salinas Pliego estimates that matching gold’s total market value would put bitcoin at roughly $1.86 million per BTC.
“It is still very early,” Salinas wrote on X.
CZ Says National Reserves Could Change the Bitcoin-Gold Race
For CZ, the bigger catalyst is sovereign adoption.
“If bitcoin becomes a strategic reserve asset for nations, does it eventually become more important than gold? For sure,” he said. “I think Bitcoin will for sure become more important than gold.”
The obstacle, he argued, is institutional inertia rather than bitcoin itself.
Central banks and governments already have mature systems for valuing, storing, and managing gold. Rebuilding those processes around bitcoin or other crypto assets could take years.
“For them to shift into bitcoin will take some time,” CZ said. “But it will happen. And bitcoin is just a much better asset than gold.”
He sees only one meaningful threat to that thesis: another digital asset surpassing bitcoin before it catches gold.
“There’s a very small chance something better than bitcoin takes over,” CZ said, adding that current evidence suggests the probability is quite small.
Bitcoin Is Already Starting to Trade More Like Gold
Market behavior is beginning to support part of that argument.
Glassnode data shows bitcoin’s 90-day correlation with gold has climbed to about 0.57, from 0.21 in March. Meanwhile, its correlation with the Nasdaq-100 has fallen to 0.22 from 0.57. Other estimates put the bitcoin-gold correlation near 0.59, its highest level since 2020.
That shift matters because bitcoin has historically traded more like a high-risk technology asset during periods of market stress. A stronger relationship with gold could suggest investors are increasingly treating BTC as a monetary hedge rather than simply another speculative crypto trade.
For investors, the stakes are enormous. Gold parity would imply a bitcoin price far above any previous cycle target.
CZ’s forecast remains highly speculative. But if governments begin treating bitcoin as reserve collateral while its trading behavior continues converging with gold, the comparison may become harder for traditional markets to dismiss.
