Gold and Bitcoin Are Now 2026’s Worst Major Assets: What Went Wrong?

The precious metal dumped below $3,900/oz, while BTC is sturggling at $77,000. Bitcoin and gold have become the two worst-performing major asset classes of the year so far, marking an unusual first in data stretching back to 2011. The development comes as higher oil prices and renewed expectations for tighter monetary policy have undermined two assets that had recently benefited from concerns over debt, deficits, and currency debasement. Gold and BTC Still Struggle Data compiled by Creative Planning Chief Market Strategist Charlie Bilello showed that, through October 23, gold was down 7.5% year-to-date while BTC’s loss stood at 7.3%. Since then, though, both assets have retreated further, and the losses are 10% for the metal and over 11% for the cryptocurrency. This places them at the bottom of the 21 major asset classes included in his annual rankings. Bilello said there has not been another calendar year in his dataset in which the precious metal and the largest cryptocurrency simultaneously occupied the final two positions. The contrast with other markets is hard to ignore. Commodities have gained over 50% this year, US large-cap stocks are up by more than 12%, and even short-te...