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Bitcoin vs gold

Two kinds of hard money, compared property by property, with every number sourced and dated. Gold still wins on some of them.

BTC supply growth, 2026: 0.83%
Gold supply growth, 2025: ≈1.5–1.7%
Max BTC supply (20,999,999.98): < 21M
$1M in gold weighs: ≈7.5 kg

Property by property

Fourteen properties people usually mean when they call something hard money. We label which side has the edge and explain why instead of inventing scores. For the bitcoin side, the rules come straight from the issuance schedule in Bitcoin Core.

BitcoinGold

BitcoinCapped by code at just under 21 million (20,999,999.9769 BTC). Every node rejects a block that pays itself more than the schedule allows.

GoldNo fixed cap. About 222,600 t mined so far, with roughly 66,000 t more in known reserves (USGS) and unknown amounts beyond that.

Gold is scarce because it is hard to find and dig up; bitcoin is scarce because the rules forbid more. Higher gold prices can pull more supply out of the ground; a higher bitcoin price cannot.

Sources: Bitcoin Core GetBlockSubsidy · World Gold Council · USGS

BitcoinAbout 0.8% a year in 2026, halving roughly every four years toward zero.

GoldAbout 1.5–1.7% a year (2025 mine output of 3,300 t USGS or 3,672 t WGC, against ~220,000 t above ground).

Bitcoin's rate dropped below gold's after the 2020 halving. Gold's rate has been fairly steady because mining output rises slowly as the stock grows.

Sources: Bitcoin Core GetBlockSubsidy · World Gold Council · USGS · World Gold Council

BitcoinAbout 122 on Oct 15, 2026, from the issuance schedule; roughly doubles after each halving.

GoldAbout 60 using WGC 2025 figures (219,891 t ÷ 3,672 t).

Stock-to-flow is just the inverse of the growth rate. It measures scarcity, not price; models that turned it into price targets have missed.

Sources: Bitcoin Core GetBlockSubsidy · World Gold Council · World Gold Council

BitcoinData does not wear out, but coins are only as durable as your keys and backups. Lose the seed and the coins are gone for good.

GoldChemically inert and almost indestructible; the WGC says almost all gold ever mined still exists in some form.

Gold survives on its own physics. Bitcoin survives as long as the network runs and you keep your keys, which is why backups matter so much.

Sources: World Gold Council

Bitcoin$1M in BTC weighs nothing. A 12- or 24-word seed you remember or carry lets you rebuild the wallet anywhere.

GoldAbout 7.5 kg at the LBMA PM price of $4,169.50/oz on Oct 14, 2026: a heavy bag that needs transport, insurance and often customs paperwork.

The weight figure is just $1,000,000 ÷ the gold price, converted with the troy-ounce definition.

Sources: LBMA Gold Price PM · NIST Handbook 44 Appendix C

Bitcoin1 BTC = 100,000,000 sats, and you can send any whole number of sats.

GoldCan be cut into grams or smaller, but small pieces carry high premiums and need assaying when they change hands.

Sats make tiny amounts practical. Small gold pieces cost more per gram to make and to check.

Sources: Bitcoin Core amount.h

BitcoinAnyone running a full node checks every rule and the whole supply for free, from home.

GoldNeeds testing to rule out fakes such as tungsten-filled bars; total world supply can only be estimated.

"Don't trust, verify" is built in for bitcoin. For gold, you trust an assayer, a refiner or a vault.

Sources: Satoshi Nakamoto · World Gold Council

BitcoinEvery coin's history is public. Some services refuse or flag coins linked to past events, so coins are not always treated the same.

GoldMelted and recast gold loses its history. One refined ounce is treated like any other of the same purity.

Public ledgers are great for checking supply but leave a trail. See the privacy material in the guides.

Sources: Satoshi Nakamoto

BitcoinCoins you hold with your own keys cannot be frozen by a third party, and a seed can cross borders in your head. Coins on an exchange can be frozen or seized like any account.

GoldPhysical gold is hard to move across borders unseen. In 1933, Executive Order 6102 required Americans to turn in most gold coin, bullion and certificates by May 1, 1933 (keeping up to $100 in coin); the Gold Reserve Act of 1934 then revalued gold from $20.67 to $35 an ounce.

Neither asset is immune to laws; a government can still punish owners. Self-custody makes bitcoin harder to confiscate in practice, which is a big reason this site exists.

Sources: Executive Order 6102 · Federal Reserve History

BitcoinA hardware wallet and good backups are a one-time cost. Fees only apply when you move coins.

GoldHome safes and insurance, or vault fees charged every year, often as a percentage of value.

Costs vary by provider, so we do not quote a single figure. Ask any vault for its fee schedule in writing.

BitcoinA new block about every 10 minutes on average; many people wait for several confirmations. Fees depend on demand for block space.

GoldMoving physical metal takes days and costs shipping and insurance. Paper or vault gold can move faster, but then you depend on the custodian.

Check today's fee rates on the mempool page.

Sources: Satoshi Nakamoto

BitcoinRunning since January 3, 2009: about 17 years.

GoldUsed by people for thousands of years; the earliest gold objects from Egypt date to the 4th millennium BC.

Gold has survived every kind of crisis and regime change. Bitcoin is young and still has to prove it over centuries.

Sources: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Satoshi Nakamoto

BitcoinAbout 42% annualized over the 360 days to Feb 28, 2025 (ByteTree); iShares put it near 54%.

GoldAbout 14% over the same 360 days (ByteTree); iShares near 15%.

Bitcoin has swung roughly three times as much as gold. BlackRock data show calendar-year losses of 74% in 2018 and 64% in 2022, years when gold was roughly flat.

Sources: ByteTree · CryptoSlate citing iShares/BlackRock · iShares/BlackRock

BitcoinLive estimate shown below: issued coins × current price.

GoldAbout US$29.0tn for all above-ground gold at end-Q2 2026 (WGC).

Gold's total is several times bitcoin's. A large share of gold is jewellery, though, which is not all for sale.

Sources: World Gold Council

The marker shows which asset has the edge on each property, as a judgement explained in the text, not a score. Tap a card for the reasoning and sources.

How fast does new supply arrive?

This is the core of the scarcity argument. Each halving cut bitcoin's new supply in half; after the 2020 halving its yearly growth fell below gold's, and after 2024 it fell to under 1%. Gold miners produced a record 3,672 t in 2025 by WGC estimates (USGS: about 3,300 t), adding roughly 1.5–1.7% to the stock. See the full supply schedule and the stock-to-flow page for the same math as a ratio.

New supply per year: bitcoin vs gold

Bitcoin: coins issued each calendar year ÷ supply on Jan 1, from the subsidy rules. Gold: 2025 mine production ÷ above-ground stock (World Gold Council ≈ 1.67%; USGS production figure ≈ 1.50%), shown as a flat reference band.

2026 (est.)● Bitcoin 0.83%● Gold ≈ 1.5–1.7% (2025 data)

Bitcoin years after 2026 assume 10-minute blocks, so halving dates are estimates. Gold is held flat at its 2025 rate only for reference; real mine output changes year to year. Rates above 13% are clipped. Hover or tap for values.

Market value

Gold (all above-ground)$29.0tn

World Gold Council: 222,600 t, US$29.0tn at end-Q2 2026. Includes jewellery, which is not all for sale.

Bitcoin$1.68tn

20,098,850 BTC issued × $83,618 (Bundled data (latest monthly close), not live). Includes coins believed lost.

Bitcoin is about 6% of gold's value on these figures. The two numbers are measured on different dates and count different things, so treat the ratio as rough.

Where gold still wins

Thousands of years of trust

Gold objects in Egypt date back to the 4th millennium BC (The Met). Bitcoin has run since 2009.

It is useful as a thing

Jewellery makes up 45% of above-ground gold, and gold is also used in electronics, dentistry and other industry (WGC). It does not need a network or electricity to exist.

Lower volatility

About 14% annualized vs 42% for bitcoin over the 360 days to Feb 28, 2025 (ByteTree).

Central banks hold it

Central banks and official institutions held about 38,600 t, roughly 17% of all gold, at end-2025 (WGC), and kept buying in 2026 (WGC).

Bigger and deeper market

About US$29.0tn of above-ground gold at end-Q2 2026 (WGC), several times bitcoin's value.

No keys to lose

Nobody can phish a gold bar out of your safe. Lose a bitcoin seed with no backup and the coins are gone forever.

The 1933 gold order

On April 5, 1933, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102, which required people to deliver gold coin, gold bullion and gold certificates to a Federal Reserve bank by May 1, 1933, with exemptions for up to $100 in gold coin, industrial and artistic use, and rare coins (American Presidency Project). The Gold Reserve Act of January 30, 1934 moved ownership of monetary gold to the Treasury and set gold at $35 an ounce, up from the $20.67 that had applied since 1900, cutting the dollar's gold value to 59% of its old level. Americans could not freely own gold again until 1974 (Federal Reserve History). The lesson for bitcoin is that laws can target any asset; self-custody changes how hard enforcement is, not what the law says. Compare how the dollar itself has lost value on the inflation tracker.

Caveats

Gold stock figures are estimates. The WGC alone gives 219,891 t (end-2025, Metals Focus), 220,700 t (end-2025, updated Aug 2026) and 222,600 t (end-Q2 2026), and USGS and WGC disagree on yearly mine output by about 370 t.
Bitcoin figures after Oct 15, 2026 assume 10-minute blocks, so future halving dates are estimates. Supply counts every coin issued, including ones believed lost.
Market values are from different dates and the bitcoin number moves every second. Volatility depends heavily on the window measured.
The gold price used for the $1M weight is one benchmark fix (LBMA PM, Oct 14, 2026); the result moves with the price.

Disclaimer

Educational content only. Nothing here is investment, tax or legal advice, and nothing is a price prediction. Both assets can lose value.

Scarcity and supply cap: Bitcoin: Capped by code at just under 21 million (20,999,999.9769 BTC). Every node rejects a block that pays itself more than the schedule allows. Gold: No fixed cap. About 222,600 t mined so far, with roughly 66,000 t more in known reserves (USGS) and unknown amounts beyond that. Gold is scarce because it is hard to find and dig up; bitcoin is scarce because the rules forbid more. Higher gold prices can pull more supply out of the ground; a higher bitcoin price cannot.

Supply growth rate: Bitcoin: About 0.8% a year in 2026, halving roughly every four years toward zero. Gold: About 1.5–1.7% a year (2025 mine output of 3,300 t USGS or 3,672 t WGC, against ~220,000 t above ground). Bitcoin's rate dropped below gold's after the 2020 halving. Gold's rate has been fairly steady because mining output rises slowly as the stock grows.

Stock-to-flow: Bitcoin: About 122 on Oct 15, 2026, from the issuance schedule; roughly doubles after each halving. Gold: About 60 using WGC 2025 figures (219,891 t ÷ 3,672 t). Stock-to-flow is just the inverse of the growth rate. It measures scarcity, not price; models that turned it into price targets have missed.

Durability: Bitcoin: Data does not wear out, but coins are only as durable as your keys and backups. Lose the seed and the coins are gone for good. Gold: Chemically inert and almost indestructible; the WGC says almost all gold ever mined still exists in some form. Gold survives on its own physics. Bitcoin survives as long as the network runs and you keep your keys, which is why backups matter so much.

Portability (moving $1M): Bitcoin: $1M in BTC weighs nothing. A 12- or 24-word seed you remember or carry lets you rebuild the wallet anywhere. Gold: About 7.5 kg at the LBMA PM price of $4,169.50/oz on Oct 14, 2026: a heavy bag that needs transport, insurance and often customs paperwork. The weight figure is just $1,000,000 ÷ the gold price, converted with the troy-ounce definition.

Divisibility: Bitcoin: 1 BTC = 100,000,000 sats, and you can send any whole number of sats. Gold: Can be cut into grams or smaller, but small pieces carry high premiums and need assaying when they change hands. Sats make tiny amounts practical. Small gold pieces cost more per gram to make and to check.

Verifiability: Bitcoin: Anyone running a full node checks every rule and the whole supply for free, from home. Gold: Needs testing to rule out fakes such as tungsten-filled bars; total world supply can only be estimated. "Don't trust, verify" is built in for bitcoin. For gold, you trust an assayer, a refiner or a vault.

Fungibility: Bitcoin: Every coin's history is public. Some services refuse or flag coins linked to past events, so coins are not always treated the same. Gold: Melted and recast gold loses its history. One refined ounce is treated like any other of the same purity. Public ledgers are great for checking supply but leave a trail. See the privacy material in the guides.

Censorship and seizure resistance: Bitcoin: Coins you hold with your own keys cannot be frozen by a third party, and a seed can cross borders in your head. Coins on an exchange can be frozen or seized like any account. Gold: Physical gold is hard to move across borders unseen. In 1933, Executive Order 6102 required Americans to turn in most gold coin, bullion and certificates by May 1, 1933 (keeping up to $100 in coin); the Gold Reserve Act of 1934 then revalued gold from $20.67 to $35 an ounce. Neither asset is immune to laws; a government can still punish owners. Self-custody makes bitcoin harder to confiscate in practice, which is a big reason this site exists.

Storage and custody costs: Bitcoin: A hardware wallet and good backups are a one-time cost. Fees only apply when you move coins. Gold: Home safes and insurance, or vault fees charged every year, often as a percentage of value. Costs vary by provider, so we do not quote a single figure. Ask any vault for its fee schedule in writing.

Settlement time and cost: Bitcoin: A new block about every 10 minutes on average; many people wait for several confirmations. Fees depend on demand for block space. Gold: Moving physical metal takes days and costs shipping and insurance. Paper or vault gold can move faster, but then you depend on the custodian. Check today's fee rates on the mempool page.

Track record: Bitcoin: Running since January 3, 2009: about 17 years. Gold: Used by people for thousands of years; the earliest gold objects from Egypt date to the 4th millennium BC. Gold has survived every kind of crisis and regime change. Bitcoin is young and still has to prove it over centuries.

Volatility: Bitcoin: About 42% annualized over the 360 days to Feb 28, 2025 (ByteTree); iShares put it near 54%. Gold: About 14% over the same 360 days (ByteTree); iShares near 15%. Bitcoin has swung roughly three times as much as gold. BlackRock data show calendar-year losses of 74% in 2018 and 64% in 2022, years when gold was roughly flat.

Market value: Bitcoin: Live estimate shown below: issued coins × current price. Gold: About US$29.0tn for all above-ground gold at end-Q2 2026 (WGC). Gold's total is several times bitcoin's. A large share of gold is jewellery, though, which is not all for sale.

Sources