Bloomberg has launched two innovative investment indices that combine Bitcoin and Gold, making them among the first multi-asset indices to merge traditional commodities with digital assets.
On February 13, Bloomberg announced the introduction of two composite Bitcoin and Gold indices: BBIG and BBUG. The BBIG index is an equal-weighted combination of Bitcoin and Gold, while the BBUG index includes both Bitcoin and Gold alongside the U.S. Dollar for added stability. Bloomberg states that customers can also adjust the weightings of the assets in both indices to suit their preferences.
The idea behind these indices is to provide a balanced investment strategy that leverages Bitcoin’s growth potential while retaining the stability of Gold. As Jigna Gibb, Head of Commodities & Crypto Index Products at Bloomberg, explained, “A key challenge in investing in Bitcoin is its elevated volatility, which is why we see a fundamental case for using Bitcoin and Gold together, not Bitcoin versus Gold.”
Timely Launch Amid Record Highs
The launch of these indices comes at a strategic moment, as both Bitcoin and Gold reached record highs in 2024, attracting growing interest from investors. This development has led many to view Bitcoin and Gold as complementary assets within diversified portfolios. Despite Bitcoin and Gold having historically shown nearly zero correlation with each other, both have delivered positive long-term returns, positioning the new composite index as a potential diversifier for multi-asset portfolios.
Bloomberg’s new indices join a growing suite of crypto indices offered by the company, including those that track Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index (BGCI), which measures the performance of the largest and most liquid cryptocurrencies. The Bloomberg Galaxy DeFi Index (DEFI) is designed to track the performance of major decentralized finance protocols.
Bitcoin and Gold: Complementary Assets?
Bloomberg’s announcement also highlighted the historical lack of correlation between Bitcoin and Gold. However, as pointed out by crypto analyst Daink, Bitcoin has occasionally followed Gold’s movements after periods of decoupling or divergence. “Each time Gold moves significantly in one direction, Bitcoin tends to eventually catch up,” Daink explained in a recent post on X. Essentially, while the correlation between Bitcoin and Gold may fluctuate and often appear near zero in real-time, Bitcoin tends to align with Gold’s momentum after a delay, showing a latent connection that doesn’t appear immediately.
