The Great Rotation: Gold vs. Digital Assets
We are witnessing a fundamental change in how the world’s largest allocators approach hedging. Gold is no longer the undisputed default; digital assets are now being considered alongside it, rather than as an afterthought.
If the Hormuz stalemate drags into the third quarter, we expect gold to remain pressured by liquidity dynamics. Conversely, we anticipate Bitcoin will oscillate in the $68,000–$84,000 range, with Ethereum trading between $2,200–$2,600. The era of the “mono-hedge” is over; we have entered a period of the balanced portfolio where digital and traditional assets play equal roles.
Stablecoins: From Trading Rails to Everyday Payments
While the macro debate focuses on “digital gold,” a quieter revolution is occurring in the plumbing of global finance. Stablecoins are moving beyond mere trading liquidity and into the realm of real-world settlement. In 2025, payment-related stablecoin flows reached an estimated $350 billion to $550 billion. More telling than the volume is the frequency: with over 1.1 billion transactions and an average size of just $342, it is clear that stablecoins are gaining traction in everyday commerce and cross-border transfers. The infrastructure is now ready. As transaction costs drop and speeds increase, the final hurdle is distribution. If large-scale consumer platforms particularly social media and messaging giants—integrate these payments, stablecoins will cement their role as the primary settlement layer for the global digital economy.
AI’s Reality Check: Monetization vs. Infrastructure
Finally, we must address the “AI anxiety” currently rippling through the markets. OpenAI recently missing its internal revenue and user projections has forced a reassessment of how quickly AI adoption converts into recurring revenue. The market reaction has been swift but surgical. Selling was concentrated in the most valuation-sensitive semiconductor and big-tech names stocks where the price reflects an assumption of uninterrupted growth. However, this is a pause, not a pivot.
“Investors are distinguishing between one company missing targets and a broader change in AI demand,” explains Ignacio Aguirre, CMO at Bitget. “Infrastructure demand remains incredibly firm.”
Capital spending by major cloud providers continues at record levels. The demand for compute, model deployment, and semiconductor capacity remains a long-duration structural driver. The signal from the market is clear: while AI monetization may take longer than the most optimistic forecasts suggested, the build-out of the AI-driven future has not lost its momentum.
- Ignacio Aguirre is the CMO at Bitget & Ryan Lee is the Chief Analyst at Bitget Research.
