Bitcoin is most similar to gold, so it's not surprising. Gold based economies also underwent severe deflation [1]. This is definitely a good thing for bitcoin a

Bitcoin is most similar to gold, so it's not surprising. Gold based economies also underwent severe deflation [1]. This is definitely a good thing for bitcoin as a store of currency (that is what it was designed for anyway), but it would be a bad thing to have an economy actually based on bitcoin as everyone would just hang onto their bitcoins as long as possible without utilizing them for growth as there would be little point. Bitcoin is still a dubious store of currency as it could completely crash (or skyrocket) in the next few months with no prior warning. If bitcoin does survive, it will eventually settle as some kind of new age gold, but for now it's more of a slot machine. Whether bitcoin survives or not depends on how hard governments try to force regulation on it in the short term, I'd think. Long term doesn't matter because if it survives it will be entrenched and regulation will be far harder to implement if businesses are using it en-mass. If you're up for gambling, I'd say bitcoin has much better odds than slot machines, so roll the dice. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard#Depression_and_World_War_II http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard#Depression_and_Wo...