In reality it is probably both. Unless governments take a hard line against bitcoin by banning it, something they mostly haven't been doing to date, I expect i

In reality it is probably both. Unless governments take a hard line against bitcoin by banning it, something they mostly haven't been doing to date, I expect it will have a future as a kind of digital gold. However, gold has tens of thousands of years of history as an asset class, while bitcoin is a little less proven. Don't forget it used to be illegal to own gold in the US, so bitcoin is not as safe from government as people might think. But all financial assets tend to follow cycles of booms and busts. So the question is, where are we in the cycle? Are we nearing the top in the near term? I think we are, the growth of bitcoin has gone nearly vertical lately.