Can Bitcoin outperform gold as AI spending concerns shake equities?

The market is heading into another key macro week. Q3 2026 earnings were a little disappointing.

With costs rising in the AI industry, Amazon saw its free cash flow turn negative at $42.4 billion, causing concern that its huge AI investments may not be providing enough returns to match these valuations. As such, it will be interesting to see how the next set of earnings go.

Apple and Palantir will be reporting on Monday, the 2nd of November.

Notably, the figures are beginning to show just how large the investment gap could be.

According to Bloomberg, this will more than double to roughly $330 billion in FY27, suggesting that AI bubble concerns are more than just short-term market noise. So, with equities under pressure, could this further strengthen Bitcoin’s status as a macro hedge?

Interestingly, this week could offer some clues.

On a macro level, besides earnings reports, The Kobeissi Letter highlights 10 key pieces of data that would provide focus to October’s jobs and inflation figures. This comes at a time when the U.S. midterm elections are looming on the horizon, adding another layer of FUD to an already cautious market.

With the 6.8% drop on the Nasdaq in October and an influx of earnings reports, this could cause a change in market flows. This brings the macro-hedging narrative for Bitcoin back into play.

However, the key question is whether Bitcoin [BTC] can outperform traditional hedges as market uncertainty builds.

Bitcoin eyes a macro shift as gold ETF outflows accelerate

Bitcoin’s 2024-2026 setup against gold is gaining attention.

In 2024, Bitcoin outperformed gold by a wide margin. Up 121%, Bitcoin enjoyed a much stronger year than gold (up 27%) due to strong institutional demand and the launch of spot ETFs.

Interestingly, this makes the recent report from The Kobeissi Letter much more interesting given the increasing macro uncertainty that is being seen in the markets.

As shown in the chart below, the largest U.S. physical gold-backed ETF, GLD, saw $1.8 billion in outflows in October, its biggest monthly withdrawal since June. On a year-to-date basis, GLD has lost $3.8 billion, putting it on track for its first annual outflow since 2023.

Meanwhile, investors pulled another $1.5 billion from gold and precious metals funds last week, marking their second weekly outflow in the past seven weeks.

By contrast, Bitcoin ETFs saw a minor $515 million outflow in October.

So technically, GLD recorded nearly 3.5x more outflows than all Bitcoin ETFs combined in October. This is interesting as it comes amid increasing concerns about the AI bubble and pressure on tech stocks, making the coming week particularly important for Bitcoin’s macro hedge narrative.

In this context, Bitcoin could gain more attention as investors reassess traditional safe havens.

Final Summary

• Rising AI costs and market uncertainty are putting pressure on equities, bringing Bitcoin’s macro hedge narrative back into focus.

• Gold ETFs saw $1.8 billion in outflows in October, compared to just $515 million from Bitcoin ETFs, showing a difference in investor flows.