Bitcoin’s Real Rival Isn’t Gold or the Dollar—It’s This, Says Bitwise CEO

Forget goldbugs and dollar defenders—Bitcoin’s true competition might surprise you. Bitwise’s CEO just dropped a bombshell on the crypto community, and it’s not what Wall Street wants to hear.

The real showdown? Legacy finance itself. Banks, brokers, and the whole creaky system built on 9-to-5 settlements and ‘trust us’ accounting. Bitcoin doesn’t compete with assets—it bypasses the entire game.

While traditional investors obsess over inflation hedges and reserve currencies, smart money’s already stacking sats. After all, why bet on the house when you can own the casino? (And let’s be honest—your bank still thinks blockchain is a type of bike lock.)

Will Bitcoin Capture the Gold and US Treasuries Market?

Horsley’s bitcoin (BTC) comment came as a response to an analysis by Mohamed A. El-Erian. El-Erian believes that US Treasuries no longer hold their “safe haven” status. He highlighted how treasury yields barely moved after the Israel-Iran conflict. El-Erian instead asked market participants to look at gold and silver. He stated, ““

Horsley added to El-Erian’s argument that Bitcoin (BTC) could be the asset that competes with gold and US Treasuries as a store of value.

Gold has a market of about $16 trillion. The US Treasury market, on the other hand, is valued at around $30 trillion. Together, they could expose BTC to a potential total of $46 trillion. If funds FLOW to BTC instead of gold and US Treasuries, the asset may not just store value, but give massive returns as well.

Bitcoin (BTC) has been one of the best-performing assets of the last decade and a half. The original crypto has even outperformed major tech company stocks. BTC entered mainstream US finance after the SEC approved BTC-based ETFs last year. Several financial institutions have drastically increased their exposure to BTC over the last year. The figure is only expected to grow over the next few years.

Despite the increase in Bitcoin (BTC) exposure, the budding asset class still represents a small percentage of global investments. There is still a lot of room for exponential growth.