- Bitcoin price has faced downward pressure, dropping 6% in February due to U.S. tariff wars and inflation concerns.
- Gold prices have climbed 6% over the same period, as investors hedge against economic uncertainty.
- The RWA sector, including tokenized gold and real estate, has surged 6.6%, reflecting a shift in investor sentiment.
Bitcoin price consolidated at $97,000 on Feb 15, down 6% within the monthly time frame, reeling under bearish headwinds from US tariff wars and rising inflation. Conversely, Gold (XAU) has increased 6% over the same time frame. As investors flock toward safe-haven assets amid an uncertain macroeconomic landscape, a real-world-asset tokenization expert offers vital market insights.
Bitcoin (BTC) price tumbles, Gold (XAU) advances amid testy US macroeconomic landscape
Bitcoin price has faced intense bearish headwinds in February 2025, with three major factors triggering downward volatility. The blowback from a US tech stock sell-off after DeepSeek disrupted OpenAI’s market position in late January set the pace for a negative start to the month.
Former President Donald Trump exacerbated the BTC price dip when he announced sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China. While the tariffs on Canada and Mexico were quickly rolled back, those imposed on China went ahead, adding pressure to financial markets. Further downside was triggered by a hotter-than-expected US Consumer Price Index (CPI) report this week, fueling concerns about prolonged inflationary pressures.
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Action vs Gold (XAU) | Source: TradingView
As investors reassess risk exposure in an increasingly volatile macroeconomic environment, the appeal of safe-haven assets like gold has strengthened. Gold prices climbed to $2,882.43 per ounce, up 6% over the past 15 days. Meanwhile, Bitcoin remains range-bound, consolidating at $97,000 and down 6% over the same period.
Tokenized Assets in demand as volatile Bitcoin prices spark RWA Boom
Beyond Bitcoin’s price action, key market metrics suggest that the uncertain macroeconomic landscape is reshaping investor behavior.
While Bitcoin prices have dropped 6% in February, the Real World Asset (RWA) sector within crypto markets has experienced notable capital inflows.
Instead of moving funds off-chain after de-risking from BTC, investors now appear to be reallocating capital into tokenized RWAs, including gold, real estate, and fixed-income securities.
According to CoinGecko data, the RWA market capitalization has surged 6.6% as of Feb 18, reaching $38.8 billion—an increase of over $2.5 billion within the last 24 hours. During the same timeframe, Bitcoin remained trapped within the narrow $97,000–$98,000 range.
Chainlink (LINK), Mantra (OM), and XDC Network (XDC) have emerged as key front-runners in the RWA boom.
With Mantra leading the way with 27.5% gains over the past 24 hours, all top 10 RWA protocol assets posted gains this week, with the exception of Ondo Finance, which saw a mild 4.4% retracement. This reflects he growing investor demand for tokenized safe-haven assets as BTC price stangates under bearish pressure from hawkish macroeconomic expectations.
Amid rising interest in tokenized gold and surging capital inflows toward RWA protocols, speculation is growing that tokenized commodities could become a more dominant asset class should inflationary pressures persist.
This week’s inflation report has only reinforced the perception that Bitcoin could struggle in a hawkish macroeconomic environment, while gold and RWAs stand to benefit from shifting investor sentiment.
Will RWA sector growth trigger demand for Tokenized Gold ?
With Bitcoin under pressure from macroeconomic headwinds, including inflation concerns and geopolitical tensions, gold and tokenized RWAs are increasingly seen as viable alternatives. If inflation remains elevated, Bitcoin may continue to stagnate, while tokenized commodities and gold-backed assets could see continued inflows in 2025.
In a recent exclusive interview with FXStreet, Kevin Rusher, founder of real-world asset platform RAAC offered expert insights into this narrative.
- Q1: Bitcoin has dropped over 6% this month, while Gold has risen 6%. Do you think this signals a shift in investor sentiment from crypto to traditional safe-haven assets?
Kevin Rusher: “As we know, Bitcoin was designed to be the ultimate inflation hedge. However, because of its widespread adoption by institutions like BlackRock and JP Morgan, it tends to move with the market.
However, when we see a really serious crash like the banking crisis of March 2023, we do see different activity.
So no, I don’t think there…
Read More: Asset Tokenization expert weighs impact of US Inflation on 2025 price trends