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While that is true, Bitcoin is far from a bulletproof preserve of wealth. Gold has other uses if it isn't used as a currency anymore. Bitcoin on the other hand

by codexon 13y ago

While that is true, Bitcoin is far from a bulletproof preserve of wealth. Gold has other uses if it isn't used as a currency anymore. Bitcoin on the other hand can be made completely useless if some critical flaw is found, or the wealth is too concentrated in a few users and the majority decides to switch to a newer crypto-currency.

indrax 13y ago
I'm pretty sure that if we consider only the industrial uses of gold, and the available supply, it would have a low value. Probably even if we count jewelery as a non-currency use. Almost all the value is because it's shiny, yellow, and traditional. Gold asteroid mining isn't too implausible, either.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- penguindev 13y ago
  > Gold asteroid mining isn't too implausible, either. More plausible than some hacker news post 'bitcoin 2.0 is here - look it's shinier!', though? Or 'new crypto currency approved by the US govt?' You think people won't reinvent this wheel to death? Sure, you could also synthesize gold from some nuclear reaction, or mine it from space... You pays your money (and you takes your chances)
Sambdala 13y ago
Gold's other uses wouldn't make gold worth much on their own. "Legitimate" uses of a commodity that trades more for its properties as money should be thought more of a really crappy put option, that is it sets a low price floor. For example, it's been estimated that gold's industrial uses would only allow it to be traded in the low double digits per ounce if people didn't desire it for other reasons. It's just in the case of something that isn't physical and isn't "backed" by any alternative uses, the floor is 0% of the current price instead of 1%, or similar.
- codexon 13y ago
  Gold isn't just shiny, it is the most unreactive metal. It has a lot of other potential uses that other industries avoid because it is so expensive. If the price ever falls it will be kept up by those uses. http://geology.com/minerals/gold/uses-of-gold.shtml http://geology.com/minerals/gold/uses-of-gold.shtml
  - ansible 13y ago
    Indeed, without gold, modern electronics would not be the happy place it is now. I am old enough to have had to use a pencil eraser to periodically clean tin plated contacts. Even silver oxidizes under normal conditions. I like my gold (plated contacts).
- patrickg_zill 13y ago
  Just as people say, "the market can act crazy, longer than you can remain solvent" about trading stocks on Wall Street, so I would point out that gold's value "as money" has been around a lot longer than even the lifetime of Methuselah. People have been using gold in some form for thousands of years - I don't see that changing anytime soon.
  - mike_esspe 13y ago
    People used silver for a long time too, but it was demonetized in 20th century. http://www.dailyreckoning.com.au/silver-a-brief-history-of-de-monetisation/ http://www.dailyreckoning.com.au/silver-a-brief-history-of-d...
    - patrickg_zill 13y ago
      People still buy silver as an investment, I hesitate to say "as money" ; although I told in Mexico you can buy and sell silver in many banks (I don't know the details however). In the USA, gold was demonetized (1933) before silver (1965) in the currency when used in the USA. The dollar was convertible into gold internationally however. The international gold window was closed by Nixon in 1971.
davidgerard 13y ago
SHA-256 may go in several years, and this is an active concern in the Bitcoin community: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=264552.0 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=264552.0

by codexon 13y ago

indrax 13y ago

I'm pretty sure that if we consider only the industrial uses of gold, and the available supply, it would have a low value. Probably even if we count jewelery as a non-currency use. Almost all the value is because it's shiny, yellow, and traditional. Gold asteroid mining isn't too implausible, either.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
penguindev 13y ago
> Gold asteroid mining isn't too implausible, either. More plausible than some hacker news post 'bitcoin 2.0 is here - look it's shinier!', though? Or 'new crypto currency approved by the US govt?' You think people won't reinvent this wheel to death? Sure, you could also synthesize gold from some nuclear reaction, or mine it from space... You pays your money (and you takes your chances)

Sambdala 13y ago

Gold's other uses wouldn't make gold worth much on their own. "Legitimate" uses of a commodity that trades more for its properties as money should be thought more of a really crappy put option, that is it sets a low price floor. For example, it's been estimated that gold's industrial uses would only allow it to be traded in the low double digits per ounce if people didn't desire it for other reasons. It's just in the case of something that isn't physical and isn't "backed" by any alternative uses, the floor is 0% of the current price instead of 1%, or similar.

codexon 13y ago
Gold isn't just shiny, it is the most unreactive metal. It has a lot of other potential uses that other industries avoid because it is so expensive. If the price ever falls it will be kept up by those uses. http://geology.com/minerals/gold/uses-of-gold.shtml http://geology.com/minerals/gold/uses-of-gold.shtml
- ansible 13y ago
  Indeed, without gold, modern electronics would not be the happy place it is now. I am old enough to have had to use a pencil eraser to periodically clean tin plated contacts. Even silver oxidizes under normal conditions. I like my gold (plated contacts).
patrickg_zill 13y ago
Just as people say, "the market can act crazy, longer than you can remain solvent" about trading stocks on Wall Street, so I would point out that gold's value "as money" has been around a lot longer than even the lifetime of Methuselah. People have been using gold in some form for thousands of years - I don't see that changing anytime soon.
- mike_esspe 13y ago
  People used silver for a long time too, but it was demonetized in 20th century. http://www.dailyreckoning.com.au/silver-a-brief-history-of-de-monetisation/ http://www.dailyreckoning.com.au/silver-a-brief-history-of-d...
  - patrickg_zill 13y ago
    People still buy silver as an investment, I hesitate to say "as money" ; although I told in Mexico you can buy and sell silver in many banks (I don't know the details however). In the USA, gold was demonetized (1933) before silver (1965) in the currency when used in the USA. The dollar was convertible into gold internationally however. The international gold window was closed by Nixon in 1971.

davidgerard 13y ago

SHA-256 may go in several years, and this is an active concern in the Bitcoin community: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=264552.0 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=264552.0