Bitcoin is often discussed in the same breath as gold and the US dollar—sometimes even described as something “in between” the two. But across the research summarized in the articles provided, a consistent message emerges: when Bitcoin is tested against gold and the dollar using formal statistical methods, it tends to behave differently rather than like a clean hybrid.
One paper, “Bitcoin, gold and the US dollar – A replication and extension” (Finance Research Letters), revisits earlier work that argued Bitcoin could be classified between gold (a commodity currency) and the US dollar (a fiat currency). Using the same sample and econometric models to replicate the earlier findings, the authors report that exact replication is not possible. They also state that alternative statistical methods produce results that are “more reliable, yet very different.” In both the original and an extended sample period, the study finds Bitcoin has distinct return, volatility, and correlation characteristics compared to other assets—including gold and the US dollar.
A second study, “Dependence and Risk Spillover among Hedging Assets: Evidence from Bitcoin, Gold, and USD” (Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society), takes the relationship a step further by focusing on how these assets move together under stress. It frames the issue as crucial for portfolio allocation and regulatory decisions, and it quantifies dependence and “risk spillover effects” among Bitcoin, gold, and USD using copula approaches and conditional Value-at-Risk (CoVaR). The emphasis here is less on simple correlations and more on how risk can transmit across assets—precisely the question investors care about when markets turn turbulent.
A more recent contribution, “The roles of gold, US dollar, and bitcoin as safe-haven assets in times of crisis” (Cogent Economics & Finance, 2024), directly targets the safe-haven question. Using the GJR-GARCH method, it examines gold, the US dollar, and Bitcoin over a period that includes major disruptions: the global financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russia–Ukraine conflict. The study is grounded in a familiar investor motivation highlighted in its introduction: the need to protect assets through diversification and hedging when uncertainty spikes.
Taken together, these articles sketch a clear narrative arc. The debate starts with a tempting label—Bitcoin as a gold-and-dollar hybrid—but replication and extended testing challenge that simplicity. As the literature evolves, the questions shift from “Is Bitcoin like gold?” to more rigorous inquiries: under what conditions do these assets co-move, how does risk spill over between them, and what roles do they play during crises? The recurring theme is that Bitcoin’s behavior—across returns, volatility, correlations, and dependence structures—cannot be assumed to mirror either gold or the US dollar just because it is frequently compared to them.
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