Bitcoin and gold gain as stagflation fears drive investors from bonds | Future Focus
On this week’s episode of Yahoo Finance Future Focus, our host Brian McGleenon spoke with Gary Murphy, director of liquidity management at Hidden Road, about how surging sovereign bond yields are shifting investor sentiment. As US, Japanese, and European government debt hits multi-decade highs, Murphy noted that confidence in fixed income is faltering, pushing capital toward alternative assets like bitcoin and gold. He pointed to rising inflation fears, Moody’s US debt downgrade, and global fiscal deterioration as key drivers behind this flight to perceived safety. In particular, bitcoin is no longer seen as a speculative fringe asset, but increasingly as a mainstream hedge, a shift underscored by major institutional adoption. The conversation also touched on broader market dynamics, including the transformative role of AI and robotics in potentially alleviating inflation pressures through productivity gains. Murphy highlighted how younger investors are embracing higher-risk assets, such as AI-themed ETFs and crypto, while Baby Boomers continue to favour bonds and dividend-paying stocks. He described this as a generational shift, not just a cyclical trend. Murphy also provided a glimpse into Hidden Road’s expanding product suite, including digital asset prime brokerage, OTC clearing, and the soon-to-launch Route 28 swaps platform, which integrates digital and traditional markets, signalling where institutional finance is heading.