Bitcoin’s Real Gold Standard Test is Just Starting in 2026

Bitcoin’s digital gold status will be proven by who holds it under sanctions, not by its price chart, according to Bitwise derivatives head Gordon Grant. He sees sanctioned states quietly accumulating Bitcoin the way Iran once used gold.

Grant debated the thesis with Theo CIO Iggy Ioppe on BeInCrypto’s Market Intelligence Experts Council. Ioppe countered that Bitcoin (BTC) has failed every short-term hedge test this year. However, both agreed on where the long-term story stands. BREAKING: The U.S.

sanctioned two Iran-linked firms accused of using Bitcoin payments in a Strait of Hormuz maritime insurance scheme tied to the IRGC.

pic.twitter.com/7q0UDXaAzS— MSB Intel (@MSBIntel) July 31, 2026 Gold Was Never the Safe Haven Investors Remember In a BeInCrypto’s experts panel, Grant began by dismantling the standard defense of gold itself. The metal fell during the 2008 financial crisis.