Bitcoin and gold might be the surprise winners of a divisive U.S. presidential election.

Buying crypto or gold could be viewed as a political statement because the value of each benefits from troubles with the established order. Gold has long been considered an asset of last resort that is immune to inflation, and that retains value even if fiat currencies are debased by central banks.

Crypto has been called a digital gold. To own Bitcoin is to own something that was created outside of the political and financial system as a rival to traditional finance, and whose value is determined not by central banks and the strength of national economies, but by the economically pure forces of supply and demand.

The assertion is worth considering as Bitcoin and gold trade around record levels, and as millions of Americans vote in Super Tuesday primaries.

It is ironic that many people opt to own gold, and increasingly Bitcoin, via exchange-traded funds. But that fact is just another example of how people do whatever is easiest for them, which brings us back to Bitcoin. The merits of gold are well known, unlike crypto market developments that seem scented with opportunity.

Newsletter Sign-up MicroStrategy, a technology company that owns some 193,000 Bitcoin, just announced that it would issue $600 million of convertible debt to buy more Bitcoin.

We mentioned MicroStrategy here in late August 2021. Then, the company was selling $400 million of bonds to buy more Bitcoin, which was then trading around $50,000.

By the fall, Bitcoin prices plummeted, and for several years Bitcoin seemed unlikely to ever regain lost glory. But much happened during the lean years.

Major institutional investors, including BlackRock and Fidelity, created ETFs. The funds may ultimately have a consolidating and calming effect on the fragmented crypto market. Those companies, and others like them, are reliable counterparties. Plus, ETFs are easier to buy than actual Bitcoin.

In recent trading, Bitcoin set a record high of about $69,000, and MicroStrategy’s stock wasn’t far from its own record price.