On the first day of April, the gold price set a new record. Bitcoin, on the other hand, had a lackluster start to the month.
There is more demand for gold due to the expectation that an interest rate cut in the United States will not take long. The many unrest in the world recently and strong demand from China are also driving up the value of gold.
On the gold market, the price of gold rose by 1.6 percent during the morning on Monday compared to the closing price on Maundy Thursday to 2,265.73 dollars per troy ounce (31.1 grams). This continued the advance of the previous weeks. Last month, the gold price rose for the first time to more than $2,200 per troy ounce.
According to an expert from ING, the market seems increasingly convinced that the US central bank will start cutting interest rates in June. Increasing speculation about interest rate cuts is weakening the dollar, making gold cheaper for traders with other currencies. The demand for the precious metal is therefore increasing and that is pushing the price up.
Due to the war in Ukraine and the battle between Israel and Hamas, many investors are also looking for investments that are seen as safe, such as gold. Furthermore, the Chinese central bank has added significant amounts of the precious metal to its reserves. Buying gold has also become quite popular among wealthy younger Chinese.
Bitcoin remains just below $70,000
Just like gold, bitcoin has also risen sharply this year. The digital currency is regularly compared to gold, as fans sometimes see bitcoins as a form of ‘digital gold’.
Bitcoin has benefited this year from the approval of dedicated investment funds for the digital currency in the US. In addition, a technical adjustment to the design of the bitcoin network is planned in April.
Due to the so-called ‘halving’, fewer new bitcoins come into circulation when transactions are approved. This limits the supply of bitcoin.
However, on the first day of April, Bitcoin remains relatively calm with a slight decline of almost 1 percent at $ 69,610.
