Bitcoin grinding sideways while gold surges isn’t a sign of fading conviction. It’s the shift from a high-beta venture asset to a crystallised institutional balance sheet play. In macro stress, gold absorbs the immediate scale and urgency because it remains the world’s primary refuge currency. BTC is maturing into a "post-IPO" phase where stability and risk management outweigh raw volatility. A rotation of roles, not a reversal of the thesis.