Core Insights - The cryptocurrency industry experienced significant excitement when Bitcoin reached a new all-time high of over $126,000 in early October 2025, with many claiming it had established itself as the world's top asset [1] - Bitcoin is often compared to gold, with proponents labeling it as "digital gold" due to both assets having limited supply and being viewed as stores of value against inflation [2] - Following a crypto flash crash on October 10, 2024, Bitcoin struggled to recover, while gold saw increased demand, reaching new all-time highs [3] Performance Comparison - Since 2022, Bitcoin has surged by 429%, outperforming gold's 177% increase, silver's 350% rise, and the Invesco QQQ's 140% gain [4] - Despite a challenging period, Bitcoin has been described as having "spanked everything so bad" in 2023-24, indicating its strong performance relative to other assets [5] - The current sentiment among Bitcoin maximalists is low, but analysts suggest this perspective may be short-sighted, as Bitcoin is seen to be taking a necessary pause to align with its institutional narrative [5]