Many have compared Bitcoin to gold with some even referring to the former as “digital gold.” As it turns out, the historical performance of both assets reveals notable similarities.
‘Uncanny’ Resemblance
Bitcoin, being a fairly nascent asset, reveals serious similarities to the yellow metal in its performance. As seen on the chart below, the resemblance is uncanny.
The chart compares the performance of gold in the last 43 years and that of Bitcoin since its inception. It was originally posted by Tweeter user Nunya Bizniz, who described the charts as having an “uncanny” resemblance.
And while Bitcoin and gold reveal similar performance, some hold that the cryptocurrency has more utility than the precious metal. US Economist Paul Krugman, for instance, recently stated that “Gold is dead… Bitcoin has more utility than gold.”
Earlier in August, Bitcoinist reported that Bitcoin has been settling more transaction volume than gold ever since Q2 2017.
A Long-Standing Rivalry
While they are vastly different in their essence, Bitcoin a.k.a. ‘digital gold’ and the world’s most popular precious metal have been commonly pinned against each other.
John Pfeffer – a serial entrepreneur, investor, as well as a partner at Pfeffer Capital, noted that Bitcoin is the very first viable replacement for gold. A similar sentiment was shared by the Winklevoss twins, who said:
Taking bitcoin in isolation… we believe bitcoin disrupts gold. We think it’s a better gold, if you look at the properties of money. And what makes gold gold? Scarcity. Bitcoin is actually fixed in supply so it’s better than scarce… it’s more portable, its fungible, it’s more durable. It sort of equals a better gold across the board.
Back in July former US presidential candidate, Ron Paul said that efforts to replace the dollar with gold and cryptocurrencies are already underway:
There are several major efforts being made to replace the fiat dollar with gold or cryptocurrencies, while other countries are making plans to challenge the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.
What do you think of the similar performance of the precious metal and Bitcoin? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of Twitter/@Pladizow, Shutterstock, Bitcoinist archives