Bitcoin vs Gold vs Fiat

[MrFreeRoMan]

Key Attributes


Sources: BullishCase

Censorship Resistant	Bitcoin Perhaps it's most important feature. Centered around the idea that no entity should have the ability to seize your wealth or block a transaction.	Gold While an improvement over fiat, gold's physical nature can make it difficult to shield from seizure.	Fiat Governments and banks can intervene to seize or freeze bank accounts and block transactions.
Divisible	Bitcoin Bitcoin is divisible out to 8 decimal places, which opens up the possibility for micropayments where txs can be completed for fractions of a cent.	Gold While gold can be divided into smaller amounts, it becomes impractical to use small specks of gold in commerce.	Fiat Fiat currencies are easily divisible given they can go out to 2 decimal places.
Durable	Bitcoin Bitcoin will remain durable as long as the network remains secure. However, it has a short history and risks associated with it.	Gold Gold is nearly indestructible, highly resistant to corrosion, and does not rust.	Fiat Fiat is only as durable as the institution issuing it. History is littered with situations where fiat currencies failed to maintain their value over the long term
Established History	Bitcoin Bitcoin has a far shorter history than both gold and fiat, dating back roughly a decade.	Gold Gold has a track record that dates back millennia and has arguably proven to be the best store of value in human history.	Fiat Fiat currencies in their current form are a product of the 20th century and largely the result of Nixon taking the US off the gold standard in 1971.
Fungible	Bitcoin Due to the transparency of the blockchain, bitcoins used for illicit purposes could be traced and refused as payment.	Gold An ounce of melted down gold is always equivalent to another ounce of gold.	Fiat There have been instances where fiat denominations have been treated differently due to government policies.
Portable	Bitcoin Bitcoin can transfer value around the world in minutes, and there is no limit to the amount of wealth an individual can directly carry on them.	Gold It can be moved and transacted in small amounts but becomes impractical when dealing with larger values because of its weight.	Fiat The digital transfer of fiat is easy, but can take a few days to settle and be subject to capital controls. Physically moving large quantities is difficult.
Scarce	Bitcoin Bitcoin's maximum supply is 21 million BTC with its inflation schedule predefined and governed by a mathematical formula.	Gold While there clearly exists the possibility for the discovery of new reserves both on and off earth, it remains highly scarce.	Fiat Fiat lacks any true scarcity as governmentscan create more as needed and have the potential to issue an unlimited amount.
Verifiable	Bitcoin The underlying blockchain ensures authenticity and cryptographic signatures prove ownership.	Gold Can easily be identified, however, gold can be faked or secretly filled with cheaper metals.	Fiat While fiat currencies are relatively easy to identify, fiat can be counterfeited.

Now the complexity of the number of assessments by the criterion:


From 40 (Maximum possible):
Bitcoin - 34 points
Gold - 32 points
Fiat - 24 points

Bitcoin Victory!

[YuginKadoya]

As we can see from your final score that bitcoin had won over gold and fiat and had a 2 points advantage to win this, I surely think that bitcoin is more versatile but even though bitcoin had the most score there are surely have some downside to it, I really think that you should put the accessibility for transaction I really think that not all are capable of using bitcoin like fiat there is this gap when Fiat would take the lead when it comes to usability that bitcoin and gold, Even though there are ways for bitcoin to close this gap, not all can sure access it,

And regarding the Durability and Fungibility, this should not be included in my opinion, we all know that bitcoin doesn't have a physical body, But this can be sure taken care of if you put an amount of bitcoin into physical bitcoin and paper wallet then Bitcoin can sure have a physical body,

[jakelyson]

I do not see the point of this post. Yes, you outline some cons and pros, but is that what really matters?

For me, what matters is if it has legality and if it is readily accepted by everyone. But for now, those are not yet true in bitcoin.

[Haunebu]

I do not see the point of this post. Yes, you outline some cons and pros, but is that what really matters?

For me, what matters is if it has legality and if it is readily accepted by everyone. But for now, those are not yet true in bitcoin.

I agree. Op is clearly trying to prove how Bitcoin is better than FIAT and gold in different aspects and I feel he is right in some ways and wrong in other ways.

Mainstream adoption is what primarily matters at the end of the day.

Bitcoin won't replace FIAT or gold, but is meant to serve as an alternate payment solution IMHO.

[Jating]

We have this kind of debate in the forum through the years I don't think we need another comparison specially with Gold though.

Bitcoin VS. GOLD

Bitcoin vs. Gold Prices

bitcoin vs fiat; why bitcoin will eventually succeed

No need to go thru another discussions and debates.

[HyughA]

what is your problem, of course, BTC and gold have different domains, but both are tools for investing and trading in search of large profits

[Perunex]

I do not see the point of this post. Yes, you outline some cons and pros, but is that what really matters?

For me, what matters is if it has legality and if it is readily accepted by everyone. But for now, those are not yet true in bitcoin.

I agree. Op is clearly trying to prove how Bitcoin is better than FIAT and gold in different aspects and I feel he is right in some ways and wrong in other ways.

Mainstream adoption is what primarily matters at the end of the day.

Bitcoin won't replace FIAT or gold, but is meant to serve as an alternate payment solution IMHO.

Completely agree here. You can make any kind of test with the final result you want... This doesn't prove anything.

Secondly, why do you keep comparing them? Bitcoin will not replace any of the options. It can just simply be another option. Also tokenizied security (or security token) doesn't have to necessarily replace any security in place.

[DoublerHunter]

I am on OP sentiment, OP was trying to discuss and give a further idea regarding these both assets. We know that bitcoin was always won on this long time debate but we did not deny the fact that all of them have pros and cons on us which better reliable and profitable to invest. In the end, we don't need to compare them because they are both profitable on us, I think OP was trying to make it clear things the differences among them all.

[Beerwizzard]

Censorship Resistant

Bitcoin
Perhaps it's most important feature. Centered around the idea that no entity should have the ability to seize your wealth or block a transaction.

I am very curious to see what you gonna do if you got a big amount of BTC in a country, that completely banned cryptocurrencies and no one can buy / sell it or exchange it into some goods. Your BTC would become useless due to this censorship if no one would be able to accept BTC or crypto related payments.

[pushups44]

Bitcoin has a legitimate shot at challenging gold as a store of value, but it will have to become far more scalable and user-friendly, and a major nation will have to adopt it as a reserve currency. Once it has reserve currency status, its place as a rival to gold will be solidified, and may overtake it.

[MrFreeRoMan]

Censorship Resistant

Bitcoin
Perhaps it's most important feature. Centered around the idea that no entity should have the ability to seize your wealth or block a transaction.

I am very curious to see what you gonna do if you got a big amount of BTC in a country, that completely banned cryptocurrencies and no one can buy / sell it or exchange it into some goods. Your BTC would become useless due to this censorship if no one would be able to accept BTC or crypto related payments.

What prevents me from leaving the country?

OP was trying to discuss and give a further idea regarding these both assets. 

[Beerwizzard]

What prevents me from leaving the country?

Well, until we are not talking about any particular case we can consider that if the government is providing very strict anti-bitcoin policy then it probably supposed to be a far authoritarian country. In such places, government would probably control the immigration so you won't be able to leave the country.

Anyway, argument about leaving the country is not relevant. Simply because it could be used almost in every case and in every country. Got no job? Leave the country! Wanna get a better salary? Relocate to wealthier country. But for some reason, many people can't follow this advice.

It is possible to censor cryptocurrencies. If you have to relocate to another country to use your money then it is not that censorship resistant.

[roosbit]

Great work OP ! But in my opinion this victory you have awarded bitcoin is a bias one, because based on the chosen attributes it's bound to point to something you likely favor which shouldn't be the case but should a weighted average be used say a poll done outside the forum...am confident the result could be different, maybe see fiat go top 

[Ailmand]

Although bitcoin has a lot of good attribute compared to Gold and fiat, the problem is the adaptation. We are not yet ready for bitcoin to be used as the main currency because we are still on the stage of adaptation. Gold and Fiat still has it's advantage in terms of our current  era, not everyone can use bitcoin to transact due to it's limited accesibility and acceptance.

[MrFreeRoMan]

Although bitcoin has a lot of good attribute compared to Gold and fiat, the problem is the adaptation. We are not yet ready for bitcoin to be used as the main currency because we are still on the stage of adaptation. Gold and Fiat still has it's advantage in terms of our current  era, not everyone can use bitcoin to transact due to it's limited accesibility and acceptance.

Before Fiat was barter! People did not immediately begin to perceive paper as money! But nevertheless it happened... That bitcoin, and cryptocurrency in general, have to go this difficult, long way! I'm the one who believes it, and I feel it in my gut.

[pixie85]

I like the thread, nice job.

One thing that I'd change is the durability of fiat vs bitcoin. You gave them the same amount of points and I think that bitcoin is still more durable than fiat. Fiat in the form of paper money can be easily destroyed or lost. it can also be stolen and it doesn't survive harsh conditions. It can even be chewed by rats if you live it hidden in a basement.
Electronic money is prone to Internet shortages like bitcoin but also to bank server malfunctions, government shutdowns, bankruptcies, human errors.

[klaaas]

Bitcoin scare and the digital currency for people. Gold is scare and the currency of the earth. Fiat is currency made by governments without limits.... What can go wrong ?!

[MakeMoneyBtc]

This is a very interesting article and what's even interesting is that bitcoin got the highest score even though people have been using gold and fiat for such a long time now. We can see gold is very close to bitcoin so it will probably stay there for a very long time, while fiat should very soon disappear out of this ecuation since it's definitely not the best thing people can use to store their assets.

[Artemis3]

You didn't format this correctly, here I will fix it for you:

Key Attributes


Sources: BullishCase

Censorship Resistant	Bitcoin Perhaps it's most important feature. Centered around the idea that no entity should have the ability to seize your wealth or block a transaction.	Gold While an improvement over fiat, gold's physical nature can make it difficult to shield from seizure.	Fiat Governments and banks can intervene to seize or freeze bank accounts and block transactions.
Divisible	Bitcoin Bitcoin is divisible out to 8 decimal places, which opens up the possibility for micropayments where txs can be completed for fractions of a cent.	Gold While gold can be divided into smaller amounts, it becomes impractical to use small specks of gold in commerce.	Fiat Fiat currencies are easily divisible given they can go out to 2 decimal places.
Durable	Bitcoin Bitcoin will remain durable as long as the network remains secure. However, it has a short history and risks associated with it.	Gold Gold is nearly indestructible, highly resistant to corrosion, and does not rust.	Fiat Fiat is only as durable as the institution issuing it. History is littered with situations where fiat currencies failed to maintain their value over the long term
Established History	Bitcoin Bitcoin has a far shorter history than both gold and fiat, dating back roughly a decade.	Gold Gold has a track record that dates back millennia and has arguably proven to be the best store of value in human history.	Fiat Fiat currencies in their current form are a product of the 20th century and largely the result of Nixon taking the US off the gold standard in 1971.
Fungible	Bitcoin Due to the transparency of the blockchain, bitcoins used for illicit purposes could be traced and refused as payment.	Gold An ounce of melted down gold is always equivalent to another ounce of gold.	Fiat There have been instances where fiat denominations have been treated differently due to government policies.
Portable	Bitcoin Bitcoin can transfer value around the world in minutes, and there is no limit to the amount of wealth an individual can directly carry on them.	Gold It can be moved and transacted in small amounts but becomes impractical when dealing with larger values because of its weight.	Fiat The digital transfer of fiat is easy, but can take a few days to settle and be subject to capital controls. Physically moving large quantities is difficult.
Scarce	Bitcoin Bitcoin's maximum supply is 21 million BTC with its inflation schedule predefined and governed by a mathematical formula.	Gold While there clearly exists the possibility for the discovery of new reserves both on and off earth, it remains highly scarce.	Fiat Fiat lacks any true scarcity as governmentscan create more as needed and have the potential to issue an unlimited amount.
Verifiable	Bitcoin The underlying blockchain ensures authenticity and cryptographic signatures prove ownership.	Gold Can easily be identified, however, gold can be faked or secretly filled with cheaper metals.	Fiat While fiat currencies are relatively easy to identify, fiat can be counterfeited.

Now the complexity of the number of assessments by the criterion:


From 40 (Maximum possible):
Bitcoin - 34 points
Gold - 32 points
Fiat - 24 points

Bitcoin Victory!

[Doell]

I want to add gold and fiat more dangerous ,we have seen the occurrence of thieves taking gold or fiat being brutally merciless to their owners so that they lose their lives ,bitcoin is easier to use without the risk of brutal theft because its not formed as an object to be more secure guaranteed your safety and your money