Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has drawn a sharp line between gold and Bitcoin, arguing that science can now expand the supply of one but never the other. In an X post, he said creating "net-ne
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has drawn a sharp line between gold and Bitcoin, arguing that science can now expand the supply of one but never the other.
In an X post, he said creating "net-new" gold through alchemy is becoming real and the lab-grown diamond industry is "growing rapidly."
“Creating net-new gold with alchemy is becoming real. The lab grown diamond industry is growing rapidly. But you can’t invent anything that will increase Bitcoin supply.There will only ever be 21M,” he wrote in the post.
The scarcity argument comes at an awkward time for both assets.
Bitcoin is down 7.3% this year and gold 7.5%, making them the worst-performing major assets of 2026, a first in any calendar year, according to Charlie Bilello.
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Gold's slide follows a 63.7% surge in 2025. Over the long run, though, Bitcoin has returned about 120.6% a year since 2011, against 6.3% for gold, Bilello's data shows.
Not everyone is convinced.
In August, economist Peter Schiff argued investors were rotating from Bitcoin into gold, saying metals were "breaking out just as Bitcoin is breaking down."
Investor Anthony Pompliano, a long-time Bitcoin advocate, replied to Armstrong with one word: "True."
The 21 million limit is written into Bitcoin's open-source code and enforced by every independent full node.
Raising it would require the entire decentralized network to adopt new rules voluntarily through a hard fork. That fixed supply is why Bitcoin is often called digital gold, a label Armstrong has used before.
For now, the scarcity debate is more about narrative than numbers, with both assets trading lower in 2026.
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