The market is really divided right now. On one side, gold has broken through the $4,500/oz historical high, with a surge of 70% this year—the strongest year in 50 years; on the other side, the Christmas rally for Bitcoin has completely failed, with a full-year decline of over 7%, still struggling in the $85,000-$90,000 range, marking the worst quarterly performance in nearly three years.

Both are touted as "inflation hedges and safe-haven assets," but why have gold and Bitcoin taken such drastically different paths? Today, we’ll use real data and institutional voices to uncover the truth.

**Visual Comparison: An 80-Percentage-Point Gap**

Looking at the specific numbers makes it clear:

On the gold side, spot gold hit a record high of $4,525.18/oz on December 24, with an annual increase of over 70%. More importantly, global central banks have been aggressively adding to their gold reserves—by October, central banks had purchased a total of 254 tons this year, with countries like Poland and Brazil leading the way. 43% of central banks have explicitly stated they will continue buying next year.

As for Bitcoin, things are a bit awkward. It has fallen 30% from its October all-time high, and on Christmas Eve, it even experienced a flash crash on a major exchange, dropping from $87,600 to $24,100 before rebounding quickly. Although officials say this was due to liquidity shortages causing technical volatility, this move indeed exposed the market’s fragility. More painfully, spot Bitcoin ETFs continue to see outflows, with a single-day net outflow of $175 million on December 24.

**Core Contradiction: The Huge Gap in "Official Recognition"**

The real reason behind this divergence is who has received official endorsement. Gold has solidified its position thanks to the backing of central banks—the biggest gold buyers—while Bitcoin, as "digital gold," is being met with official indifference.