Interesting, I hadn't heard the theory of gold causing depressions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_the_Great_Depression#Gold_standard http://en.wikipedi

Interesting, I hadn't heard the theory of gold causing depressions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_the_Great_Depression#Gold_standard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_the_Great_Depression#...) . It seems that it's still a topic of much debate. The incentive to mine more gold is, IMHO, not a good or sustainable thing. Both gold and Bitcoin are a limited resource, and increasing value is an incentive to mine more of both (look at the sales of ASIC miners). On one hand, gold has practical purposes (medical, electronics, etc.) but on the other hand Bitcoin doesn't involve digging enormous holes in the ground. Maybe there's a real fear that if Bitcoin becomes a viable currency, then gold will be devalued somewhat. The a fore mentioned gold standard may be replaced with a Bitcoin standard. But, I'm no economist, and I have neither gold nor Bitcoins, so I almost certainly have no idea of what I'm talking about.