I see two problems with gold that bitcoin doesn't have:
First, people claim they "have gold" when all they have is an IoU from a gold holdings company. That's got to be the best "fractional reserves" scam ever. Do they really have gold to back that paper?
Second, if people do actually take delivery of their gold holdings, they will quickly discover the physical drawbacks of gold. It's heavy. It's hard to manipulate. Scammers will try to fool you and take your gold.
Wouldn't it be nice if there were a way to trade gold IoU's but guarantee that the holdings companies aren't lying about their holdings? That is starting to sound a lot like bitcoin! And that is my point: bitcoin is like a gold IoU. If you really want gold, there are merchants who will sell you gold in exchange for bitcoins.
But if Bitcoin becomes worthless, then you can't buy any gold..
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