While bitcoin and gold share many similarities, one thing that sets them apart is the numbers. The gold market is magnitudes larger than the bitcoin market. The value of all the gold that's ever been mined exceeds $8 trillion. The value of all the bitcoin that's ever been mined is $76 billion. In the coming months, bitcoin futures and options are expected to launch on regulated exchanges, opening the door to the bitcoin market for institutions and other investors that previously couldn't be involved. That could be followed by the first U.S.-listed bitcoin ETF, enabling investors to buy bitcoin from their brokerage accounts just as they would a stock. If that happens, some of the money that would otherwise be headed into gold ETFs could instead head for bitcoin ETFs.