Look at this epic "wealth waterfall" chart again—gold spills into silver, copper, palladium, stocks... then crashes down into BTC → ETH → large alts → the wild low-caps.
In classic bull cycles, capital flows down the cascade as risk appetite builds: safe havens → industrials → equities → digital gold → moonshot alts.
But right now in January 2026? The waterfall feels frozen at the top.
Gold smashing past $4,500–$4,600+ (new ATHs weekly), central banks hoarding, inflation fears raging.
Silver literally exploding—up another leg to $100–$109+ in recent weeks after 147–170% in 2025 alone. Industrial demand (solar, EVs, AI hardware) + safe-haven frenzy = pure fire.
Copper and palladium riding the green-tech + supply squeeze wave, with platinum joining the party at multi-year highs.
Meanwhile crypto? BTC hovering ~$89K–$95K after dipping under $90K earlier this month, ETH stuck around $2,900–$3,200 testing supports. Alts are choppy, no real altseason spark yet.
Why the divergence?
2025–2026 flipped the script: Fear/geopolitics/inflation drove physical metals as the ultimate hedge. Crypto behaved like high-beta risk-on (correlated to stocks/tech), got hit in the late-2025 reset.
But history screams rotation is coming:
Metals supercycle peaks often precede capital flowing downstream into higher-upside plays.
If silver/gold start consolidating or profit-taking hits after these blow-off moves...
Renewed liquidity, clearer regs, or a macro green light could trigger the re-rotation: metals profits → BTC/ETH as "digital gold" → large alts → low-cap chaos.
Analysts are split:
Some say metals keep dominating into 2026 (volatility favors stability).
Others (VanEck, ByteTree, etc.) see BTC rebounding hard as debasement accelerates, potentially blindsiding everyone while gold/silver cool off.
Your move: Are you riding the metals freight train right now... or quietly stacking BTC/ETH for the inevitable "WHOOOSH" back down the waterfall? What's your current allocation—more shiny rocks or digital scarcity? Drop your thesis below! 📉⛏️💎→🚀
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