Bitcoin Performance this year has disappointed investors, with gold lagging both gold and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 stock index despite expectations that it would benefit from lower fiat currencies.
But according to VanEck managers, the largest crypto asset could be making a major comeback next year.
David Schassler, head of multi-asset solutions at VanEck, said in the company’s recently released 2026 outlook: “Bitcoin has lagged the Nasdaq 100 by about 50% so far this year, and this dislocation makes it the best-performing currency in 2026.”
Schassler wrote that while this year’s weakness reflects weakening risk appetite and tight liquidity, Bitcoin’s thesis remains intact. “As a derogatory [currency devaluation] Growth, liquidity returns and Bitcoin have historically reacted violently,” he added.
“We keep buying,” he said.
Schasler’s broader thesis focuses on the powerful combination of currency devaluation, technological change and the rise of hard assets. The asset manager believes funding future debt and political ambitions will increasingly rely on money printing, driving investors toward scarce stores of value like gold and Bitcoin.
He expects gold to surge to $5,000 next year, adding more than 10% to its already impressive gains from current levels. “Gold has been one of the strongest major assets this year and we expect that momentum to drive it forward,” he said. Gold prices are up more than 70% this year and are currently trading around $4,492 an ounce.
At the same time, a natural resource bull market is quietly emerging, driven by infrastructure needs such as artificial intelligence, energy transition, robotics and reindustrialization. As Schasler puts it, these “old world assets” are laying the foundation for a new world economy.
Read more: Gold, silver shine in depreciation trade, Bitcoin lags