| Series | First | Latest | Min | Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (USD) | 100.0 | 15472.5 | 57.4 | 28332.1 |
| Gold (GLD) | 100.0 | 326.6 | 86.0 | 388.3 |
| M2 money supply | 100.0 | 201.0 | 100.0 | 201.0 |
Latest chart point (2026-06-01) predates the newest source observation (2026-08-11); one input series may be lagging.
Index BTC-USD and GLD (both monthly avg) and M2SL to 100 at the shared startBitcoin spot price in US dollars (BTC-USD, daily adjusted close, Yahoo Finance), SPDR Gold Shares (GLD, daily adjusted close, Yahoo Finance) and the M2 money supply (M2SL, monthly, FRED), all rebased to 100 at their shared start. Bitcoin and gold are averaged to monthly to match M2. A line above M2 means that asset has outpaced money-supply growth over the window. GLD is an ETF proxy for spot gold, not the metal itself.
As of June 2026, the Bitcoin (USD) line stands at 15472.5, the Gold (GLD) line at 326.6 and the M2 money supply line at 201.0 (all base = 100 at the shared start). The Bitcoin (USD) line is down 40.5% over the past year and above its long-run median of 2890.5.
M2 is the slow-moving benchmark for the purchasing power of each dollar. The Bitcoin and gold lines, rebased to 100 at the shared start, sit above or below M2 depending on whether each asset has beaten money-supply growth over the window. The vertical gap between an asset line and the M2 line is that asset's real, money-supply-adjusted return; the gap between the Bitcoin and gold lines is Bitcoin's outperformance of gold.
Bitcoin and gold are both widely described as stores of value, so scaling each by the money stock asks the same question of both: has the asset preserved or grown purchasing power relative to the dollars being created? M2, the Federal Reserve's broad money measure, is the natural denominator because it tracks the total pool of dollars against which a store of value is measured.
Bitcoin is a single digital asset; GLD is an ETF that tracks spot gold less its expense ratio, not the metal itself. Both are priced in dollars on global markets, while M2 is a domestic money aggregate, so the comparison crosses market and monetary regimes. The shared window begins in September 2014, when daily Bitcoin data becomes reliable, which excludes gold's full multi-decade history. Treat the chart as context for relative money-supply-adjusted returns, not investment advice.
On the rebased scale (100 at the September 2014 start), Bitcoin peaked near 28,332 in July 2025 and bottomed around 57 in September 2015. Gold peaked near 388 in February 2026 and bottomed around 86 in December 2015, the only month it traded below its starting level relative to M2. The M2 line has roughly doubled over the same window. Bitcoin's money-supply-adjusted return has dwarfed gold's by roughly two orders of magnitude at the highs, but with far larger drawdowns.
The long-running argument over whether Bitcoin displaces gold as a store of value is tested directly by this three-line chart. Over the shared window Bitcoin has delivered a money-supply-adjusted return roughly two orders of magnitude larger than gold's, but with drawdowns an order of magnitude deeper. Allocators weighing the two assets use that gap as the risk-return trade-off in numerical form.
Portfolios built explicitly to hedge fiat debasement typically combine a monetary metal (gold) with a fixed-supply digital asset (Bitcoin), and this ratio is the benchmark for how much each leg has delivered against the money stock it is meant to hedge. The chart is the answer to 'how much monetary hedging did each asset provide'.
Because the M2 line moves slowly, the spread between it and each asset line is a clean measure of each asset's money-supply-adjusted volatility. Gold's line moves in comparatively tight ranges while Bitcoin's swings by orders of magnitude, which is the data allocators cite when sizing position weights between the two in a portfolio.
As of June 2026, the Bitcoin (USD) line stands at 15472.5, the Gold (GLD) line at 326.6 and the M2 money supply line at 201.0 (all base = 100 at the shared start). The Bitcoin (USD) line is down 40.5% over the past year and above its long-run median of 2890.5.
This benchmark is built on monthly data. The page is refreshed when the source publishes new observations; the freshness block below the chart shows the exact data-through date and when PIER20 last fetched the file.
The chart is built from Bitcoin (USD), Gold (GLD) and M2 money supply, sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) service and Yahoo Finance.
Bitcoin, by a wide margin. Since September 2014 the Bitcoin line has climbed to roughly 28,332 on the rebased scale (peaking in July 2025) while the gold line has reached roughly 388 (peaking in February 2026), against an M2 line near 200. Bitcoin's money-supply-adjusted return has been roughly two orders of magnitude larger than gold's, but with far larger drawdowns.
On the rebased scale (100 at September 2014), Bitcoin peaked near 28,332 in July 2025 and bottomed near 57 in September 2015. Gold peaked near 388 in February 2026 and bottomed near 86 in December 2015. The M2 line has risen monotonically to roughly 200.
GLD (SPDR Gold Shares) is a liquid, publicly quoted ETF that tracks the spot gold price less a small expense ratio, and it shares the Yahoo Finance daily price pipeline used for the other asset lines. It is a proxy for spot gold rather than the metal itself: holders of physical gold avoid the expense ratio but bear storage and transaction costs. The benchmark tracks gold's market level, not a claim on bullion.
CPI measures consumer prices; M2 measures the money stock itself. Bitcoin and gold vs CPI show purchasing-power preservation; Bitcoin and gold vs M2 show whether each asset has outpaced the creation of dollars themselves, which is the stricter test for a store of value. PIER20 publishes both perspectives across the liquidity cluster.
One tested idea, through the evidence stack. No migration of any kind.