But Societe Generale questioned the comparison on Thursday: "Bitcoin has clearly 'outshone' gold both to the upside and now also to the downside. But with such a gap in volatility and amplitude, does it make sense to compare the two assets at all?"
"Price volatility stemming from speculative demand remains an important obstacle to the wide acceptance of cryptoassets as a means of payment," it said.
Bitcoin, the biggest and most popular cryptocurrency rose nearly 14% on Thursday to $42,000, after plunging 14% a day earlier to its lowest since late January.
The sharp declines came after China banned financial and payment institutions from providing cryptocurrency services.
Bitcoin dropped to $30,066, the lowest since late January. It was last down 22% at $33,502. The most popular cryptocurrency posted its largest one-day loss since March 2020.
Bitcoin, the most popular crypto coin, jumped to a one-week high on the news, rising as much as 4.5% to $58,300 and heading back toward a record-high above $61,000 hit earlier this month.
The USD Coin (USDC) is a stablecoin cryptocurrency whose value is pegged directly to the US dollar.