Could Bitcoin Take the Role of Gold in the Future? Looking at the start of this year, it can be seen that the value of Bitcoin was nowhere close to today’s value. Back in January, the value of Bitcoin was $997 and today, the value of that digital currency has surpassed $4,000. However, it is not only the value of Bitcoin that has been rising. The value of several other digital currencies has also increased by more than 100 percent among which is Ethereum, currently the second most popular digital currency.
In that kind of environment people have started to wonder if Bitcoin could replace gold and even though the debate on this issue has been going on for quite some time, there is still no clear conclusion about this issue. Owning gold has been considered the safest possible investment in the world and a huge number of people today share this opinion. However, with the rising values of digital currencies and the money that comes from trading, owning Bitcoin is slowly shattering the belief that gold will outlive all other currencies.
Has Gold Become Obsolete?
For thousands of years, gold has been the currency of the entire world. Its biggest advantage is the fact that none of the banks can impose any kind of control on gold. Because of that, gold has been characterized as debased, unlike other standard currencies. For digital currency enthusiasts, this kind of characterization is well familiar as digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ether are all that and even more. One of the biggest appealing features of the digital currencies is the fact people are able to own money without having the government controlling every aspect of the financial market.
When it comes to the world of digital currencies, it needs to be said that the money circulates 24 hours a day without a minute of a break. The digital currency exchanges are opened all the time. On the other hand, the gold futures market operates only 24 hours during 5.5 days of the week. Because of that, digital currencies have a huge advantage over other currencies as well as over gold.
Are People Ready for the Change?
The fact is that digital currencies still have to change a lot of minds and it will not be an easy job to do that. People have been sticking with gold through thick and thin and in the huge majority of those cases, the gold did not disappoint. Because of that, gold has already established its dominance in the global financial market. Besides that, the price of gold has been stable for almost last 20 years while Bitcoin and other digital currencies are not displaying that kind of stability.
The price of Bitcoin, in particular, has been going up and down almost every day. There has not been a single price of Bitcoin for two or three consecutive days for a long time and because of that, people are still afraid of losing their funds if they invest their money in Bitcoin or in any other digital currencies. There is a long way ahead of Bitcoin to make to reach the level that gold currently has in the market.
