I haven't read or heard the full announcement relating to this but I don't think this is what the SEC is saying. Did the SEC say Bitcoin is not crypto? Or did it only say Bitcoin is not a security?
The beginning of the article stated about Bitcoin maximalist referring Bitcoin to be different from other cryptocurrency and stating the Bitcoin infact is not crypto at all. I think this is where @OP become fixated when he wrote his thread title,
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency. I guess that is obvious. I know there are many Bitcoin supporters, especially those who shun other cryptocurrencies, who avoid calling Bitcoin a cryptocurrency probably because they don't want it to be categorized with the rest of what they generally label as shitcoins or scam.
I don't agree with them. Bitcoin is a digital currency which uses cryptography for secured transactions. If there are others who created other cryptocurrencies that are of poor quality, it doesn't follow that Bitcoin ceases to be a cryptocurrency.
I agree, it was clear in the article that the topic title is just clickbait so that it gains more interest from the reader but the discussion in that article is more on Bitcoin being not a security and how it is different from other cryptocurrencies that is being labeled a security.
You are absolutely right in comparing Bitcoin to Gold, as both assets share common characteristic, such as scarcity and store of value with the potential to act as potential hedge against inflation.
Bitcoin and Gold do have similarities but most financial institutions believe that Bitcoin is weak as a store of value because of its high volatility. this is also one reason why financial institution does not consider BTC as money because it fails in one of the properties of money which is stability.[1]
[1]
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/money.asp