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Gold and BitCoin don't compare well. Here's why. Sure, gold is "useless", except for the fact that its value is historically verified (over centuries) and cultu
by michaelochurch 13y ago
Gold and BitCoin don't compare well. Here's why. Sure, gold is "useless", except for the fact that its value is historically verified (over centuries) and culture-independent. If nothing else, it's used in jewelry (and drugs, and electronics).
There aren't many elements on the periodic table, and even fewer are viable as metallic currencies: rare enough to have value in small weight, not so rare as to be foreign (historically) to many cultures. Gold has a visceral, visual advantage, too: it's the only yellow metal.
On the other hand, anyone can launch a new cryptocurrency. There's no natural monopoly there. The idea is valid, but all Bitcoin has to defend itself against competition is the brand/reputation. And people hate Bitcoin because it was clearly set up to favor early adopters for no good reason.
- mike_esspe 13y agoSilver was historically verified too. But it lost it's value in the 20th century, when people stopped using it as a money.
- adventured 13y agoSilver took a sizable hit, but it has retained value. It still has two aspects to it that are very valuable: industrial and jewelry / fashion. Those are likely to remain for a very long time, providing silver with a value base.
- mike_esspe 13y agoIt's gold ratio fell from 16:1 in 19th century to 100:1 in 1930s. Getting only 15% of your savings is not a good result :)
- pyalot2 13y agoIt's not so bad either, imagine you held the continental dollar or the zimbabwe dollar, or even just the USD since 1975. They did worse than silver.
- johndevor 13y agoIf it hadn't favored early adopters... there wouldn't have been early adopters.
- sireat 13y agoWell, it has favored the early adopters a few magnitudes too much. I am not comfortable with someone holding 10% of currency. If Satoshi came out of the high tower and announced plans for his stash, I would feel a little bit better. When/if BTC hits 1m/BTC his stash would be worth 2T and that is a lot of claim checks on society.