Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is down 2.0% over the past 24 hours, currently trading for US$37,813 (AU$52,682).
Gold has gone the other way.
Bullion prices have climbed another 1.2% since this time yesterday, to US$1,911 per troy ounce.
That's up from US$1,801 per ounce on 1 February, for a monthly gain of 6%.
Bitcoin, on the other hand, has slid from US$38,144 on 1 February, down 1% for the month.
Why is Bitcoin down while gold is up?
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has roiled global markets and sent jittery investors seeking haven assets.
When it comes to haven assets, gold has long held the throne for many investors. In more recent years, crypto enthusiasts have touted Bitcoin as a potential digital equivalent to gold.
But Bitcoin is proving it can't, as yet, live up to that title.
On the subject of gold's surge, senior resource analyst at MineLife Gavin Wendt said (as quoted by Bloomberg):
Gold has only one trajectory at present, and that's upward. Already well-supported on the back of inflation and interest-rate uncertainty, the political contagion with Russia has supercharged gold and it looks set to maintain its positive momentum.
Rush Gold CEO Jodi Stanton added (courtesy of Australian Fintech), "This crisis is unfolding with analysts unable to predict what tomorrow will hold, let alone next month. What we do know is that the gold price has rallied again in the wake of a geo-political crisis."
As for Bitcoin supplanting gold in its haven role, Stanton doesn't see that happening:
The other thing that is becoming clearer is whether Bitcoin is a hedge in the way that gold is. We've always been of the view that gold and Bitcoin serve entirely different functions, and this is being borne out in markets, with Bitcoin correlating to riskier assets like shares and gold showing clear hedging and capital preservation traits in times of turmoil.
With gold prices rising so are ASX 200 gold shares
With gold prices rising again, so too are S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gold shares.
While the ASX 200 finished the day up 0.73%, the Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) share price closed 3.42% higher; the Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) share price was 1.91% ahead. And the Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) share price gained 3.1% today.
