Bitcoin Outperforms Gold Since 2022, Analyst Calms Market Fears

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Is Bitcoin the Hero of a Tragic Market or Just Another Overhyped Circus?

In the shadowed corridors of despair and hope, Bitcoin – that strange, digital specter – now dances around the $90,000 mark on this cold January day of 2026. Traders, those eternal fools, are wringing their hands over choppy waters, trembling as if the horizon portends doom. Ah, the eternal human folly: to fear the storm while ignoring that it is, perhaps, merely a gust of wind.

Yet, amidst this chaos, Eric Balchunas, analyst extraordinaire and perhaps the market’s last comedian, proclaims that Bitcoin’s long-term ascent, a staggering 429% since 2022, dwarfs the humble gains of silver, gold, and even the venerable Nasdaq-100. “Fear not,” he seems to say, “for the mountain of gains makes this brief fog seem insignificant – like a bad joke or a fleeting nightmare.”

Long-Term Gains vs. Short-Term Fears: A Tragedy in the Making

With a sardonic grin, Balchunas notes that Bitcoin has, in its delirious run, outpaced those other assets so convincingly that their best years still lag behind Bitcoin’s drunken spree through the financial carnival. It’s as if Bitcoin, in its cosmic arrogance, has spanked all the assets so soundly that they still haven’t caught up, even after their own ‘greatest year ever.’

“In other words, Bitcoin has smoked everything so badly in ’23 and ’24 that those assets are still trying to catch their breath,” he proclaims, as if revealing the punchline to a long-standing joke of market despair.

He traces this wild performance back to the days before BlackRock’s grand entrance with a spot Bitcoin ETF, when prices leapt ahead of the “institutionalization” story, leaving the market caught in a daze, waiting for adoption to catch up with hope. Alas, patience is not mankind’s virtue; a single red candle suffices to ignite despair among the masses, blinding them to the bigger picture.

Others, like the seasoned crypto sage Dan, remind us that patience and fundamentals are often strangers in the marketplace, especially since time immemorial – since 2011, to be precise. Traders, impatient children, often mistake brief setbacks for the end of all things, when, in truth, they are merely acts in a grand tragedy or comedy.

The Market: A Sad Cantata of Resistance and Fear

Current charts tell a sorrowful tale. Bitcoin failed repeatedly to pierce its resistance near $94,000, only to fall below $90,000, whispering warnings of a bear flag and ominous head-and-shoulders patterns. Some prognosticate a descent to perhaps $70,000 if support crumbles – a prospect as enticing as a plunge into the abyss.

Despite this, Bitcoin’s current shimmer – a modest 1% gain in a day, yet down more than 13% over the year – illustrates the capricious nature of this beast. Its dominance, sitting near 57%, indicates that even amid chaos, the altcoins modestly suffer in silence, waiting for their turn in the spotlight or perhaps in the graveyard.

Broader concerns, such as the U.S. monetary policy and liquidations that flood the market like a relentless deluge, contribute to this melancholy. Balchunas, with a wry smile, questions whether Bitcoin truly needs a fresh narrative, for its tale of debt and currency debasement is so ancient that perhaps it no longer needs to be told – just observed.

In the end, the short-term chart looks like a battered soldier, but from the heights of perspective, this pause, this lull in the storm, might merely be the calm before another tempest, or perhaps, just a tragic comedy played out on the grand stage of finance.

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2026-01-28 16:20