Why has the gold price rally stalled, and is bitcoin to blame? Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB) says the massive surge in crypto’s popularity could be partly responsible, but it is far from being the sole cause.One of the reasons why November was such a difficult month for gold was a clear loss of interest in the precious metal, especially when it came to ETFs, which saw a hefty reverse in inflows.“Heavy redemptions have replaced the strong inflows, cumulating in the heavy outflow of about 4 million ounces of gold from the ETF tonnage across November. This drying up of gold ETF demand was seen as a key reason for gold price weakness across November,” UOB head of markets strategy, Heng Koon How, and markets strategist, Quek Ser Leang, wrote on a report on Monday.Gold ETFs witnessed an impressive rise in demand this year, which seems to have peaked in October, the strategists said.“The COVID-19 pandemic … boosted the safe-haven demand for gold … From just a minuscule 4% of total demand in 4Q19, gold ETF demand jumped to as high as 55% of total demand by 2Q20,” they said. “Unfortunately, total gold ETF tonnage appears to have topped out just above 110 million ounces by late October this year.”A possible explanation behind this drop in ETF demand could be bitcoin’s record-high rally, which intensified last month with the cryptocurrency hitting a new record high of $19,850 on November 30.“There is an increasing challenge from bitcoin as the ‘new digital gold’,” the strategists pointed out. “From its low of around the USD 10,000 level in early Sep, Bitcoin double in value to just under USD 20,000 by late Nov.”Wider acceptance and a surge in demand from investment managers have been driving the recent rally in the cryptocurrency.“As Bitcoin rallied from…