The year 2022 will not go down in the history books as a good one. Investors have fruitlessly searched for assets capable of retaining their value. Gold has made a valiant effort and beat Bitcoin by a landslide, yet both assets remain on shaky ground.
Bitcoin Has a Terrible 2022
The crypto markets made numerous headlines throughout 2022, although not for a good reason. Most people focused on how Bitcoin lost value as the year progressed. In addition, the crypto industry was rife with incidents and hacks. Numerous losses accumulated across decentralized finance and NFTs. In addition, major exchange FTX went bankrupt, as did various lending providers.
All developments continue to strain the crypto economy and force investors to look for alternatives. Bitcoin had one of its worst performances in 2022. Dollar-wise, it lost the most value to date, although things are a bit different percentage-wise. Despite starting the year above $47,000, the BTC price went down a slippery slope quite fast.
By mid-May, one BTC was worth less than $30,0000. Many expected that to become a turning point, but the bears pushed on and drove Bitcoin down further. Despite hitting over $69,000 in late 2021, BTC trades near $17,000 today. It bottomed below $15,500 in late December 2022, confirming widespread market fear. Overall, BTC lost roughly 70% of its value last year.
It isn’t uncommon for Bitcoin to see a bearish year after an extensive growth period. The asset has rallied tremendously before 2022. A market correction was to be expected, although such a steep one wasn’t on many people’s bingo cards. That said, the current BTC price makes for an appealing investment. A 400% increase is needed to near the previous all-time high. However, that isn’t impossible for the world’s leading cryptocurrency.
Gold Turns Bearish But Claws Back
Many investors look at gold and Bitcoin as similar assets. That is interesting, even if their price performance throughout 2022 differed greatly. Whereas Bitcoin lost close to 70% of its value last year, gold remained somewhat stable. A remarkable outcome, given how it suffered from intense bearish pressure for several months.
Gold started last year near the $1,800 per ounce mark. A more than appealing value and it seemed to hint at a continuation of the 2020-2021 bull trend. Investors were over the moon to see bullion trade well above $2,000 per ounce by March 2022. Unfortunately, that momentum didn’t last too long.
Like other assets – except for Pokemon’s Evolving Skies booster boxes – gold’s value began to plummet in Q2 and Q3. Bullion traded below $1,800 per ounce by early May 2022, and bottomed at $1,613 by late September. Unlike Bitcoin, however, it bounced right back, closing the year near $1,769 per ounce.
Although gold did not yield a net gain over the year 2022, it overcame a bearish trend with relative ease. Moreover, it has become a bullish market in the early stages of 2023. The price per ounce is north of $1,870 again, indicating at a new push to $2,000. Investors remain keen on assets with some stability and profit potential. Last year clearly favored gold over Bitcoin, although the latter is in a better position to note tremendous gains in 2023.