In a year of AI mania and crypto resurgence, the ancient asset class quietly outperformed them all. Gold crushed 2025’s returns, beating not just the S&P 500 but Bitcoin, tech stocks, and virtually every other asset class investors chased.
This outcome confounded consensus expectations. The narrative heading into 2025 emphasized AI infrastructure plays, crypto’s institutional adoption, and continued US equity dominance. Gold—the “barbarous relic”—wasn’t supposed to win.
The explanation lies in what gold represents versus what it actually does. Gold isn’t an inflation hedge (that correlation broke years ago). It’s a monetary disorder hedge—a bet that the global financial system faces structural stress that benefits hard assets.
2025 delivered exactly that: central bank credibility questions, geopolitical fragmentation accelerating de-dollarization, and fiscal sustainability concerns across developed markets. Gold’s outperformance reflects sophisticated capital seeking safety from systemic risk.
Investors need updated frameworks. Gold’s 2025 dominance isn’t a one-year anomaly—it’s a signal about regime change in global finance. When gold outperforms risk assets during a bull market, something structural is shifting.
The asymmetric opportunity for 2026: if the conditions driving gold’s outperformance persist (and they show no signs of abating), continued allocation makes strategic sense—regardless of what “exciting” assets are grabbing headlines.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
