Balchunas Warns Against Quick Judgments Amid BTC ETF Inflows

Highlights:

• Eric Balchunas has warned against making quick judgments from short-term price movements. 
• The Bloomberg analyst said that gold has not lost its place as a safe-haven asset. 
• Bitcoin’s price has dropped slightly, but it is still trading around $70,000. 

Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen renewed investor interest since the start of this week. Within the first three days of the week, the funds attracted over $1 billion, as BTC briefly climbed above $73,000. So far, inflows have nearly offset the losses recorded earlier this year. 

Reacting to the inflows trend, renowned Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that 10 of 11 Bitcoin ETFs attracted nearly $500 million in a single day. He also noted that Bitcoin has climbed 12% since the recent Iran strikes that have heightened geopolitical tension. On the other hand, gold prices have dropped during the same period. 

Another half bil day, with 10 of the 11 OGs getting love. YTD hole almost closed. Since Iran strike bitcoin and rise of geopolitical fear btc is up 12% and gold is down. So does that mean gold has failed as a safe haven and may be devoid of any purpose and vice-versa for btc? pic.twitter.com/29uHoBYaty

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) March 5, 2026

Eric Balchunas Highlights Possible Reasons for BTC’s Recent Surge

Speaking further, the Bloomberg analyst warned market participants against drawing big conclusions from short-term price movements. He explained that a brief price change is not enough to claim that gold has lost its place as a safe-haven asset or that Bitcoin is rising because of the global conflict. 

In his tweet, Balchunas mentioned that he respects both assets, adding that several factors could be responsible for the opposing price movements. He stated, “Bitcoin’s surge may have little to do with geopolitics but rather the Jane Street bogeyman going away and vibe change.” 

He also pointed out that some gold investors might be taking profits after earlier gains. Balchunas added that traders could also be moving money from gold to Bitcoin in anticipation of the next cryptocurrency market rally. Overall, the Bloomberg analyst maintained that certain factors are driving BTC’s short-term rally. However, it is difficult to identify the exact factors. 

I don't actually think this btw, just trying to point out the problem with making these types of damning judgements of an asset based on a short term window of price action. Gold has my respect as asset as does bitcoin. Bitcoin's surge may have little to do w geopolitics but…

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) March 5, 2026

X Users Share Contrasting Opinions

As expected, Balchunas’s comments elicited widespread reactions from market participants on X, where many of them offered different views about what is happening. Gustavo Martínez, a financial expert, argued that markets may not actually see the geopolitical situation as getting worse. 

Martínez tweeted: 

“I don’t see where you think the conflict has escalated, when what the market is actually interpreting is the opposite. Essentially, what we’re seeing is a rebalancing away from safe-haven assets (bonds, gold) toward risk appetite (Bitcoin).”

A different X user who shared his thoughts on the topic stated that the change could be linked to how easily Bitcoin markets operate. He noted that, unlike gold, Bitcoin trades 24/7, settles quickly, and is now available through ETFs. He believes that all these factors make Bitcoin more attractive to investors during market stress. 

Another X user rejected the idea that gold has failed as a safe-haven asset. He pointed out that central banks purchased 1,037 tons of gold in 2024, marking the third straight year that official purchases have exceeded 1,000 tons. He maintained that gold will remain a hedge for governments and central banks. What has changed is that a new group of investors now prefers a digital kind of money, which they see in Bitcoin. 

The framing is clever BUT gold hasn't failed. Central banks bought 1,037 tons in 2024, third consecutive year above 1,000t. Gold is doing exactly what it always does: sovereign hedge for nation states. What changed isn't gold's role. It's that a new class of buyer emerged who…

— CryptoPrime (@CPrimeTeam) March 5, 2026

BTC’s Drops Slightly as Eric Balchunas Warns Against Quick Judgments

At the time of press, CoinGecko’s data shows that the crypto market is 2.1% down in the past 24 hours with a market cap of $2.474 trillion and a trading volume of $115.94 billion. BTC is also 2.7% down and trading at roughly $70,418 with a market cap of $1.4 trillion and a trading volume of $52.2 billion. Its 7-day-to-date and 14-day-to-date price change variables have increased by 4% and 4.7%, respectively.