Bitcoin’s slowly getting close to becoming digital gold “with every
Bitcoin’s slowly getting close to becoming digital gold “with every single day it doesn’t die,” Alex Gurevich said in an op-ed on Yahoo! Finance. Mr. Gurevich is a professor of Mathematics and an ex-JPMorgan executive.
Gurevich explained how Bitcoin’s longevity would probably result in it turning into a reliable form of currency in the future by comparing it to Gold and other precious metal currencies that have been used for centuries. Precious metals are chemically inert and don’t oxidize easily, thus retaining their value by staying in their uncorrupted from as opposed to common metals like Iron or Copper. Similarly, “…every day [Bitcoin] doesn’t disappear, it gets one step closer to a permanent status of digital gold,” he stated in the op-ed.
Gold has retained its usefulness as a reliable source of physical currency above other precious metals primarily because of its standing in the middle ground – it’s common enough to be used universally as currency but not common enough that too much mining would affect its value.
Mr. Gurevich believes that Bitcoin has some similar advantages that gold has. While Ether battles for its position as second place, Bitcoin is way ahead in the race, on its way to becoming digital gold. While Ether will be driven by the demand for tech, Bitcoin will be much more versatile, with people using it as a store of liquid value.
Expanding further on his beliefs, he says that Bitcoin has the advantage of incumbency. Like Gold, the cryptocurrency might outlast its competitors.
“Given the historical trading pattern in precious metals, the buy of Bitcoin in 2015 was relatively easy. But now, at 20X (including fork) the early prices, it is a more complicated trading dilemma. Bitcoin may or may not be a “bubble,” but it is important to remember that it did have a major ‘burst’ in 2014 and, even this year, the market has witnessed Bitcoin endure two meaningful corrections.”
He went on to say that Bitcoin’s repeated corrections and price drops, followed by stabilizations has only given it more “gold credibility” every time. Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak shares Gurevich’s vision, going on record in an interview with CNBC to say that Bitcoin is the “only pure digital gold.”
It seems that although the outside world still looks at cryptocurrency and especially Bitcoin with skepticism, tech insiders and veterans are seeing the bigger picture, and they are seeing further than most others.