Investors who bought stocks during the COVID-19 market crash in 2020 have generally experienced some big gains in the past two years. But there is no question some investments performed better than others along the way.

Gold’s Bumpy Ride: While the stock market has been extremely strong since it bottomed on March 23, 2020, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) ETF has been surprisingly weak.

Unprecedented pandemic-driven U.S. stimulus measures sent gold prices soaring to as high as $2,089.20 in mid-2020. The buying was driven in large part by the same hyperinflation fears behind the previous bull market in gold from 2008 through 2011.

However, this time around, investors found a new popular inflation hedge: Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC).

Related Link: If You Invested $1,000 In Bitcoin At Its COVID-19 Pandemic Low, Here's How Much You'd Have Now

Several factors led to a surge in Bitcoin buying in 2020. First, investors concerned about the potential long-term damage trillions of dollars in federal stimulus could do to the value of the dollar have flooded into Bitcoin as a potential safe-haven play. Second, younger Americans receiving three rounds of direct stimulus payments have poured a significant chunk of that cash into investments, including Bitcoin.

At the beginning of 2020, gold prices were hovering around $1,500 per ounce. By August, pandemic fears had pushed gold prices to new all-time highs above $2,000 per ounce.

At that point, the gold rally ran out of steam. Not surprisingly, the rally in Bitcoin started to accelerate from that point forward, and the crypto hit new all-time highs above $20,000 in December 2020. By that time, gold prices were back down to around $1,800 per ounce.

Gold In 2022, Beyond: Gold prices are now back up to around $1,955 an ounce, while Bitcoin is now up to above $47,000.

The gold rally has been lackluster compared to Bitcoin's boom, but investors who bought the GLD ETF at its pandemic low and held on have still managed to generate a decent profit on their investment. In fact, $1,000 in the GLD ETF bought on March 16, 2020, would be worth about $1,288 today.

If inflation rates continue to rise, gold investors will be paying close attention to how gold prices react, especially compared to Bitcoin prices.