It isn't the same thing. For example, if you owned gold through eGold (fairly common place back in the day) you'd still be waiting to get your money back after

It isn't the same thing. For example, if you owned gold through eGold (fairly common place back in the day) you'd still be waiting to get your money back after the feds raided it. Sure they held the physical gold in Dubai somewhere, but the US government shut it down and they ultimately control what you can and cannot transfer for all electronic forms of gold.