Comparisons

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Updated June 1, 2026 · BLS/FRED, market data (closing prices, not exportable), Redfin and Rating and Valuation Department

This page gathers all 76 duels on the site — Bitcoin against inflation, the dollar against gold, a home against the market, one currency against another — organized by category. Each link opens the full comparison, with the chart, the numbers over the window and the honest common period both series share, so an earlier start earns no bonus time. The categories below sort the duels by what they actually test: a real gain against inflation, one market against another, or an exchange rate that is a move and not a yield. None of this is investment advice.

Pick a category below. Each duel opens the full comparison — chart, numbers over the window and the period the two series share.

Against inflation Markets: stocks, indices and gold Currencies head to head Crypto

Against inflation

Did the asset hold its purchasing power? Each duel is a race against the dollar's CPI — the benchmark for how much a dollar still buys, and the only fair test of a real gain.

Markets: stocks, indices and gold

Stocks, ETFs, REITs, gold and silver, side by side over the same window. The point is the contrast in roles: equities compound through earnings, while metals pay no interest and tend to shine precisely when stocks fall.

Currencies head to head

A currency is an exchange rate, not a return: cash in dollars or euros earns no interest. These duels show which currency held up better against the dollar, never which one "yielded" more.

Crypto

Bitcoin and Ethereum against gold, stocks, currencies and inflation. The recurring theme is asymmetry — outsized multiples paid for with drawdowns deep enough to erase years of gains.

How to read these comparisons

Each duel measures the same common period shared by both series (an earlier start earns no bonus time). Figures are nominal unless the page says "real" (above CPI). A currency is an exchange-rate move, not a return. Real estate is the city’s reference price per m² (Redfin and the Rating and Valuation Department), with no rent, costs or taxes. Past performance does not guarantee future results; none of this is advice. Full methodology.

Frequently asked questions

Bitcoin, gold or the dollar — what returned more?

It depends on the window. Each duel here measures the race over the SAME common period shared by both series, so an earlier start earns no bonus time. Open the comparison you care about (e.g. Bitcoin vs inflation) for the numbers and the chart. None of this is advice.

Is a currency a good store of value?

For currencies the figure is an exchange-rate move, not a return — cash in a foreign currency earns no interest. The currency comparisons make this explicit; it is a measure of change, not of investment performance.

Keep exploring

U.S. inflation

Descriptive, educational content computed from official public data. Not investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.