Will bitcoins ever be worth as much as gold?

[kingcrimson]

Does anyone here think 1 bitcoin can ever be worth the same as 1 oz of gold? Wouldn't it need *mass* adoption for that to happen, like PayPal level.

[bbit]

Does anyone here think 1 bitcoin can ever be worth the same as 1 oz of gold? Wouldn't it need *mass* adoption for that to happen, like PayPal level.

I believe it will. There is no doubt in my mind bitcoins is one of the world's 5 most top innovations! if not the #1!  so its going to be worth its weight in gold

[live627]

its going to be worth its weight in gold

Bitcoin is weightless...

[Yuhfhrh]

its going to be worth its weight in gold

Bitcoin is weightless...

I remember a neat YouTube video talking about the weight of data. So it has some weight, just next to nothing. 

[gmg]

'The weight of data'? So, an HDD full of data is heavier than a brand new and empty one? That'd be neat! 

[Yuhfhrh]

'The weight of data'? So, an HDD full of data is heavier than a brand new and empty one? That'd be neat! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaUzu-iksi8

[nobbynobbynoob]

Does anyone here think 1 bitcoin can ever be worth the same as 1 oz of gold? Wouldn't it need *mass* adoption for that to happen, like PayPal level.

Someone suggested earlier somewhere that on a pro-rata basis, a Bitcoin economy worldwide of comparable size to Salt Lake City (market cap $60 billion?) could justify an exchange rate over $4/BTM or $4000/BTC. That's not necessarily critical-mass adoption! But this is all pure speculation anyway. We'll know we've come of age when Mt Gox - or whatever the leading exchange happens to be at the time - quotes BTC prices per mBTC or BTM rather than per BTC. That being said, we still tend to talk about gold prices per ozt, so BTC prices might still be quoted per BTC even at $10k+/BTC.

[Kazimir]

its going to be worth its weight in gold

Bitcoin is weightless...

I remember a neat YouTube video talking about the weight of data. So it has some weight, just next to nothing.  

Other than that, any data in existence needs to have some kind of physical form or manifestation, which always accounts for some mass.

But there's something else to this: Bitcoins don't exist. Bitcoins are not stored anywhere. There's only transactions. Well, that and addresses/private keys in wallets. But no such thing as 'actual coins' stored anywhere.

If you count the addresses (or their private keys) that are associated with the coins, then it all depends: a bitcoin may be in one address or divided over thousands.

Either way, yes, I think 1 BTC will become more valuable than 1 oz of gold

[amagimetals]

Really there is no way of knowing. None of us are psychics. Bitcoin is an experiment and sometimes experiments fail. No one knows if Bitcoin will fail, or a better version of Bitcoin will come along.

*If* Bitcoin reaches critical mass then it is certainly possible that it can become the same value of gold. It is not clear whether it will hit critical mass though.

[Anon136]

i always say that its entirely reasonable to expect bitcoins to either explode in value or collapse in value. The only thing that is really unlikely is that they will stay about the same. If the general trend proves to be up than yes they will likely surpass gold by a huge margin.

[papicon]

What difference would it make?

The "physiology" of bitcoin is an entirely different story if you get my drift.

[kwoody]

1 bitcoin at the end of 2012 is worth as much as 1 troy ounce of gold in 1878. who wants to invent time travel?

[manchfu]

I think mass adoption of Bitcoin is definitely possible. I remember PayPal looking pretty lame at first, and then it just hit critical mass and took off. How long did it take for e-commerce to take off after the internet starting gaining popularity? How huge is it now? Remember when Amazon was only a bookstore?

Bitcoin is only four years in, I expect the next four years to be a lot more exciting. I do think it's important to help it out at this stage, market it to retail stores, etc.

[BitcoinVideoPoker]

So your question is -- will you ever be able to buy 1 oz of gold with 1 BTC?  I suppose it's a possibility.

Right now the value of Bitcoins are such that it takes 126 BTC to buy an oz of gold.  At one point it took 3400 BTC to buy gold.  I'd say it's on the right track:)

[nobbynobbynoob]

So your question is -- will you ever be able to buy 1 oz of gold with 1 BTC?  I suppose it's a possibility.

Right now the value of Bitcoins are such that it takes 126 BTC to buy an oz of gold.  At one point it took 3400 BTC to buy gold.  I'd say it's on the right track:)

And it took BTC5000 to buy a pizza. But then again, you can eat a pizza but you can't eat gold (hello Mr Midas!) so there may be some logic involved therein.

[Writer]

I noticed that some are trying to predict the future based on historical data. I suggest that, in the words of Ben Graham, "The Market is there to serve you, not to inform you".

I believe that bitcoin is a great safe haven currency, at least short-term. In the long term, if all the world's markets crash, I'd much rather have gold or silver than bitcoins. Above that, I'd rather have both.

I think the key is diversification. But then again, it's always been.

[Anon136]

So your question is -- will you ever be able to buy 1 oz of gold with 1 BTC?  I suppose it's a possibility.

Right now the value of Bitcoins are such that it takes 126 BTC to buy an oz of gold.  At one point it took 3400 BTC to buy gold.  I'd say it's on the right track:)

And it took BTC5000 to buy a pizza. But then again, you can eat a pizza but you can't eat gold (hello Mr Midas!) so there may be some logic involved therein.

But then again, you can solve the problem of the double coincidence of wants and facilitate profit loss accounting with bitcoin, you cant do that with pizza.

[Writer]

So your question is -- will you ever be able to buy 1 oz of gold with 1 BTC?  I suppose it's a possibility.

Right now the value of Bitcoins are such that it takes 126 BTC to buy an oz of gold.  At one point it took 3400 BTC to buy gold.  I'd say it's on the right track:)

And it took BTC5000 to buy a pizza. But then again, you can eat a pizza but you can't eat gold (hello Mr Midas!) so there may be some logic involved therein.

But then again, you can solve the problem of the double coincidence of wants and facilitate profit loss accounting with bitcoin, you cant do that with pizza.

Pizza also molds over after a couple of days, at which point it becomes illiquid.

[Gatorhex]

Right now, bitcoins seem to be worth slightly more than the cost of mining them, or people wouldn't mine them.

In effect we're converting electricity into a digital commodity that can be traded.

Golds value is based on dollar supply / above ground gold supply.

When there are no more bitcoins left to mine maybe they will be priced this way, but there's always going to be the risk people start another crypto currency, unless there is enough bitcoin transactions to keep all this equipment busy generating new blocks.

If you want widespread adoption, it's gota be used on a mobile phone app and almost instant verification.

[nobbynobbynoob]

If you want widespread adoption, it's gota be used on a mobile phone app and almost instant verification.

Bitcoin isn't too far off the mark here already. Instant zero-confirmation payments, but if you really need confirmation you can wait 10-30 minutes (occasionally longer).