Gold, by a hair. As of Friday, October 23, gold was down 7.5% for the year and bitcoin 7.3%, which puts them last among major assets in 2026, behind stocks, bonds and cash, according to figures from Charlie Bilello of Creative Planning reported by Bitcoin.com News. For two assets usually pitched as opposites, one a centuries-old store of value and the other a high-volatility newcomer, a 0.2-point gap is about as close as a race gets. The long-run picture is far from even. Bilello puts bitcoin's annualized return since 2011 at 120.6%, against about 6.3% for gold over the same stretch, and gold is coming off a 63.7% gain in 2025, so this year's slide follows a huge run. Gold miners look washed out: The Kobeissi Letter counted about 92% of the GDX gold miners fund's holdings below their 50-day moving average and about 90% below their 200-day, the highest share in three months. After similar readings in March and December 2024, GDX rallied 21.5% and 15.4% over the following month. Our bitcoin priced in gold page tracks the BTC/XAU ratio live, which shows the same contest without the dollar in the way.