Bitwise Chief Funding Officer Matt Hougan shared new analysis arguing that pairing bitcoin with gold improved risk-adjusted returns versus a conventional 60/40 portfolio.
The findings have been introduced in a be aware to purchasers citing work by Senior Funding Strategist Juan Leon and Quantitative Analysis Analyst Mallika Kolar.
What Bitwise examined
Bitwise analyzed the previous decade and located a portfolio with a 15% mixed allocation to bitcoin and gold produced a Sharpe ratio of 0.679.
A typical 60/40 portfolio posted a Sharpe ratio of 0.237 over the identical intervals.
A gold-only portfolio (with no bitcoin) registered a Sharpe ratio of 0.436.
Drawdowns and recoveries
Utilizing Bloomberg knowledge, Bitwise reviewed 4 main drawdowns: 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2025.
In 2018, equities fell 19.34% whereas bitcoin dropped 40.29% and gold gained 5.76%.
Within the 2020 COVID-19 drawdown, equities fell 33.79%, bitcoin dropped 38.10%, and gold fell 3.63%.
In 2022, equities fell 24.18%, bitcoin dropped 59.87%, and gold fell 8.95%.
Within the 2025 pullback, equities fell 16.66%, bitcoin dropped 24.39%, and gold gained 5.97%.
Bitwise mentioned subsequent restoration phases confirmed bitcoin’s energy, together with positive aspects of 78.99% after 2018 and 774.94% after 2020.
Dalio’s 15% hedge thesis
Bitwise framed the work as a stress check of Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio’s suggestion of a 15% allocation to gold or bitcoin as a hedge towards greenback debasement.
That theme is usually mentioned alongside long-term greenback weak point measures.
Leon and Kolar wrote within the be aware:
“Typically, the query of gold vs. bitcoin is framed as both/or. As the info exhibits, traditionally the perfect reply is ‘each.’”
Bitwise additionally included preliminary knowledge on the continuing restoration from the 2025 drawdown, noting equities have been up 38.65% from their low, gold was up 44.79%, and bitcoin was up 14.04% on the time of research.