A portfolio that includes both bitcoin and gold has delivered better long-term performance, an analysis by Citi found.

Blockchain media outlet Cryptopolitan reported on April 17 that Citi analysed portfolios focused on bonds and stocks over the past 10 years and said efficiency improved when the two assets were held together rather than treated as substitutes.

Alex Saunders (알렉스 손더스) wrote in a report that adding 5 percent gold alone improves portfolio efficiency, and that performance improves further when that allocation is split between gold and bitcoin. Citi viewed a gold-only strategy as effective, but said results were better when part of the gold allocation was shifted into bitcoin.

The combination delivered improved performance compared with a traditional 60/40 portfolio in phases of bond strength. It also showed a better trend during bearish steepening after 2020, when fiscal concerns coincided with a wider inflation risk premium. Citi also cited stronger investor preference for gold than for bitcoin as a tactical attraction of the mixed strategy.

Over the past 2 months, bitcoin has risen 9 percent and spot gold has fallen 4 percent. Citi analysed that bitcoin has recently outperformed gold when the bond market is weak or unstable. It pointed to weaker equities amid fiscal concerns and conflict in the Middle East as background.

Separately, Glassnode data showed bitcoin funding rates fell to the lowest level since 2023. The 7-day moving average was about minus 0.005 percent, but bitcoin prices rose between March and April from the low-to-mid $60,000s to around $75,000.

This pattern also appeared during the March 2020 COVID-19 selloff, China’s 2021 mining ban, the November 2022 FTX collapse, the 2023 Silicon Valley Bank crisis, the August 2024 yen carry trade unwind, and “Liberation Day” selling in April 2025.