Jurrien Timmer of Fidelity Investments Published an Article Analyzing the Relationship Between Bitcoin and Gold

PANews reported on May 4 that Jurrien Timmer, global macro director of Fidelity Investments, recently published an article analyzing in detail the dynamic relationship between Bitcoin and gold.

In a recent article, Jurrien Timmer, global macro director at Fidelity Investments, discussed in detail the dynamic relationship between Bitcoin and gold, highlighting the changing trends of their Sharpe ratios and relative performance, which he believes may be at a turning point. Citing data from Fidelity Management and Research Company (FMR Co) and Bloomberg, Timmer's analysis began with an observation on the ironic negative correlation between gold and Bitcoin.

As the chart below shows, the Sharpe ratios of the two assets have been alternating recently. It seems like Bitcoin’s ‘lead moment’ may be next, as its Sharpe ratio is currently -0.40, while gold’s is 1.33. So, we may be witnessing a baton handover from gold to Bitcoin.

Sharpe Ratio (Last 10 Years)As of March 31, 2023Source: FMR Co, via Bloomberg

Sharpe Ratio (Last 10 Years)

The higher the Sharpe ratio, the better the risk-adjusted return. A negative Sharpe ratio indicates that the return is less than risk-free rates, while a positive Sharpe ratio indicates that the investment is generating returns above the risk-free rate of interest.

The lower volatility of gold compared to Bitcoin is evident, with gold’s standard deviation of annual total returns being around 20%, compared to around 80% for Bitcoin. Hence, when considering the ratio of average annual total return to the standard deviation of annual total return, a four-to-one ratio in terms of portfolio allocation seems appropriate.

This difference in volatility also becomes apparent when examining their annual total returns over the past 10 years. In 2013, the worst year for gold in the past 10 years, it still managed a return of -10%, while the worst year for Bitcoin was 2014, with a loss of around -46%.

However, in 2019, Bitcoin had an annual total return of around 90%, compared to around 15% for gold.

The implication is that for a portfolio of four parts gold to one part Bitcoin, the average annual total return would be around 10%, with a standard deviation of around 20%.

At the beginning of 2013, a hypothetical portfolio of four parts gold to one part Bitcoin would have been worth $500,000. Over the past 10 years, with annual contributions of $50,000 at the beginning of each year, the portfolio would have grown to around $3.6 million by the end of March 2023, an average annual total return of 9.8% and a standard deviation of annual total return of 19.4%.