Macro analyst Luke Gromen says the fact that Bitcoin doesn’t natively earn yield isn’t a weakness; it’s what makes it a safer store of value.

“If you’re earning a yield, you are taking a risk,” Gromen told Natalie Brunell on the Coin Stories podcast on Wednesday, responding to a question about critics who dismiss Bitcoin because they prefer yield-earning assets.

“Anyone who says that is showing their Western financial privilege,” he added.

Gromen pointed to the collapse of crypto exchange FTX in November 2022 as an example. “You know, staking on FTX, you were getting a yield, how did that go?” he said.

“Your money in the bank earns a deposit, yield, because in a capitalist society, you are taking risk,” he said. “Everyone thinks that that’s their money in the bank. It’s not their money, it’s the banks’,” he added. 

Ether’s proof-of-stake model is attractive

The comments come as Bitcoin versus Ether are often pitted against each other, with Ether proponents arguing that Ethereum’s proof-of-stake model — which lets users earn staking rewards — makes it a more attractive alternative to traditional investors over Bitcoin.

Similar to how banks pay interest to attract deposits and improve lending capacity, Ether holders receive rewards for staking their ETH, which helps activate and secure validators on the network.

Nassar Achkar, chief strategy officer at the CoinW crypto exchange, recently said that institutional clients increasingly allocate treasury assets to ETH due to its staking yield potential and role in tokenization ecosystems. ETH publicly-listed treasury companies now hold approximately 4.13% of the total supply, worth around $23.01 billion at the time of publication, according to StrategicETHReserve. 

Argument for Bitcoin

While Bitcoin isn’t purchased for yield, it still has many perceived benefits to investors. Not only is Bitcoin seen as a hedge against inflation, government control, and economic instability, but it is also known as a store of value, commonly referred to as “digital gold.”

Public Bitcoin treasuries hold around $119.65 billion at the time of publication, according to BitcoinTreasuries.NET.

While Bitcoin doesn’t support native staking, holders can still earn yield through centralized lending platforms, Wrapped Bitcoin on Ethereum, and Bitcoin-related networks like Babylon and Stacks.