TL;DR
- Bitcoin and gold rank at the bottom of Charlie Bilello’s 2026 asset-class table through October 25, down 7.3% and 7.5%, respectively.
- Short-term U.S. Treasury bills gained 2.9%, while commodities led with 52.5% and large U.S. stocks rose 12.3% during the same period.
- The ranking captures one year-to-date snapshot rather than long-term investment quality, with Bitcoin still showing much higher average annual returns since 2011 according to Bilello’s historical return data.
Bitcoin and gold are trailing short-term U.S. Treasury bills in Charlie Bilello’s 2026 asset-class ranking through October 25. His performance table shows Bitcoin down 7.3% year to date and gold down 7.5%, while Treasury bills gained 2.9%. The snapshot places both scarce assets below cash-like government debt despite their different long-term return profiles. Bilello said his records have never shown Bitcoin and gold finishing together at the bottom of the calendar-year table, making the current pairing historically unusual. The contrast adds another chapter to Bitcoin’s evolving role as an investment asset.
Bitcoin (-7.3%) and Gold (-7.5%) are the two worst performing major assets so far in 2026. This is something we haven't seen before in any calendar year. pic.twitter.com/MkJ1Phtndl
— Charlie Bilello (@charliebilello) October 25, 2026
Treasury Bills Outperform as Bitcoin and Gold Fall
Bilello’s table tracks 21 asset classes, with only 57% showing positive returns in 2026. Commodities lead the ranking with a 52.5% gain, while large U.S. stocks are up 12.3%. The gap highlights how strongly this year has favored income-producing and cyclical assets over Bitcoin and gold. It also complicates the recent alignment between Bitcoin and gold, which has strengthened even as both assets struggled.
The result is notable because neither Bitcoin nor physical gold pays interest. When short-term government securities offer positive nominal returns, investors face a higher opportunity cost for holding assets that rely entirely on price appreciation. Treasury bills gained only 2.9%, but that was still enough to outperform both Bitcoin and gold through the measured period. Earlier in 2026, the relationship looked different when Bitcoin carry trades exceeded Treasury yields, showing how quickly relative returns can change.
Gold’s reversal has been especially sharp. The metal gained 63.7% in 2025 and traded above $5,400 earlier this year before falling below $4,000 in late October. Bitcoin, meanwhile, remains well below its October 2025 record above $126,000. The simultaneous weakness challenges the assumption that the two assets always diversify each other during stressful macro periods. That tension is consistent with analysis showing Bitcoin and gold can lose diversification benefits when correlations rise.
The ranking does not erase longer-term differences. Bilello’s data show Bitcoin with an average annual return of 120.6% since 2011, compared with 6.3% for gold, while Treasury bills serve a fundamentally different risk and income function. The 2026 table therefore measures one calendar-year outcome, not a universal ranking of investment quality. For now, however, the snapshot is unusually clear: conservative short-term government debt has generated a positive return while Bitcoin and gold remain negative year to date.
