Bitcoin vs Gold vs Fiat

[XFlowZion]

That was a good comparison but I already knew bitcoin will win on the way. But if I was to choose on what will I keep? It's going to be bitcoin and gold. I believe fiat has already accomplished its purpose and it's time for digital currencies to replace it just like how cable tv dethroned by the internet. In the future, the demand of bitcoin will shoot up drastically so I'm going to save more btc than gold.

[Dontme]

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!

Even though Bitcoin has won on your comparison, people will always choose what is more reliable, stable, effective, and legal. Fiat and Gold are proven and tested, also are known to every people, while Bitcoin is not yet in their level.

[MrFreeRoMan]

Even though Bitcoin has won on your comparison, people will always choose what is more reliable, stable, effective, and legal. Fiat and Gold are proven and tested, also are known to every people, while Bitcoin is not yet in their level.

You're right! Bitcoin is a much higher level.

[XCANA]

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.

Possibly if this happen, one is expected to leave the country that is not accepting Bitcoin  to the country that does simple. Sometime, issues that are not trivial shouldn't be. Leave the country will be the best solution mate. In my own country, Bitcoin is not legal and not illegal, so am happy holding it till when it become legal, and when it turns out to be illegal, then i wil travel to another location.

[whyrqa-1]

I think that they will be in such a situation that Bitcoin will be banned in some countries.  Although this can only be in totalitarian countries, And all civilized countries that introduce High technologies into the daily life of their people will use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.  In any case, there were already statements that the issue of cryptocurrency will be considered at the next G-20 summit.

[Raja das]

Bitcoin is the digital currencies of electric cash for every country,it is the real money for the network.

Gold is an element for the chemical of the earth .it's a transition metal.

Fiar is a currency of the government, it's money that the government declares as legal tender.

[Ryan Dugan]

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.

Possibly if this happen, one is expected to leave the country that is not accepting Bitcoin  to the country that does simple. Sometime, issues that are not trivial shouldn't be. Leave the country will be the best solution mate. In my own country, Bitcoin is not legal and not illegal, so am happy holding it till when it become legal, and when it turns out to be illegal, then i wil travel to another location.

A country can't just ban something. There is no way to prove who holds crypto and there never will be. They will waste the courts and judges time. The judge will be annoyed for having time wasted and this little cherade will just end up costing the taxpayer and give no benefit. What will you do to people who hold bitcoin if somehow you can find out they have some? This will never happen.

[TimeBits]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5151153.0

Check out Bitcoin vs Gold vs Fiat vs TIME!

[iqlimasyadiqa]

I think that they will be in such a situation that Bitcoin will be banned in some countries.  Although this can only be in totalitarian countries, And all civilized countries that introduce High technologies into the daily life of their people will use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.  In any case, there were already statements that the issue of cryptocurrency will be considered at the next G-20 summit.

Yes, bitcoin now has fans and users who are increasing. for me bitcoin will continue to grow because when more and more people are interested in bitcoin it will grow the digital currency market well. indeed, each media has its advantages and disadvantages, it should be remembered that currently technology is becoming a thing that continues to grow and digital currency can be said to be the first choice in the future.

[MrFreeRoMan]

Bitcoin Risk Adjusted Returns vs Other Assets

At the moment, Bitcoin is ahead of the rest

http://charts.woobull.com/bitcoin-risk-adjusted-return/

[Dapper]

Best bet is to be balanced between all three.   "All in" on anything is gambling. 

[Utuhikan]

I think bitcoin, gold and fiat currencies have a positive side and a negative side. Each of them have advantages and disadvantages. Bitcoin can provide a huge advantage if we play actively. The more the number of bitcoins we have and if we play actively the profits we get are also getting bigger. But we must have a strategy in playing bitcoin because the price is very volatile and it is very possible that the price will drop suddenly. If the price of gold will definitely rise steadily and is very potential as an investment. The price will not fall so it is suitable for long-term investment. If the fiat currency is run centrally so the price is quite stable.

[Mandla888]

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,

[JayJuanGee]

Best bet is to be balanced between all three.   "All in" on anything is gambling. 

It is smart to balance, even between all three as you suggest, but surely, such balancing would be a rare to justify equal parts. 

For example, bitcoin does the vast majority of what gold is purported to do, which is a hedge against the dollar, so having any more than 5% to 10% in gold  as compared to bitcoin would be an over investment in gold.

For someone starting to invest into bitcoin, they would likely be better situated if they establish themselves in various ways first, at least covering their fiat expenses before allocating to bitcoin, and 10% in bitcoin, as compared to fiat investments seems like a good start.. but with the passage of time, bitcoin is likely to appreciate more than fiat, and therefore it would be justifiable to allow the allow the bitcoin allocated balance to become more and more weighted towards bitcoin.... maybe cashing out a bit of fiat along the way for likely inevitable BTC volatility insurance purposes.

[Mike Mayor]

It only make sense to compare digital (Bitcoin) with digital (gold-backed Stablecoin)

I disagree. Both hold value which is why it makes sense comparing their values regardless of whether they are physical or digital in nature. Bitcoin will always be compared against its primary competitor which is FIAT basically.

That will help them to invest in every month, and they will see that their investment will give a big profit for a long time.

This could be a problem. You sound like you are guaranteeing profit which is not possible in this extremely volatile market. We need to help people view BTC as a currency primarily in order to improve adoption rates.

Yes. You don't need to have a currency backed by anything. It's backed by the value it's given and by its technology. I do think investors will make a good profit if they invest now. Bitcoin can only go up.
Yes is is true that we should teach people that bitcoin is a currency not a way to make money. But the currency is strong and new and the market has opportunity ofr profit. Only invest if you believe in bitcoin tehcknology

[Dapper]

Best bet is to be balanced between all three.   "All in" on anything is gambling. 

It is smart to balance, even between all three as you suggest, but surely, such balancing would be a rare to justify equal parts. 

For example, bitcoin does the vast majority of what gold is purported to do, which is a hedge against the dollar, so having any more than 5% to 10% in gold  as compared to bitcoin would be an over investment in gold.

For someone starting to invest into bitcoin, they would likely be better situated if they establish themselves in various ways first, at least covering their fiat expenses before allocating to bitcoin, and 10% in bitcoin, as compared to fiat investments seems like a good start.. but with the passage of time, bitcoin is likely to appreciate more than fiat, and therefore it would be justifiable to allow the allow the bitcoin allocated balance to become more and more weighted towards bitcoin.... maybe cashing out a bit of fiat along the way for likely inevitable BTC volatility insurance purposes.

It all depends on the individual.   I wasn't suggesting equal parts for everyone.   Age, lifestyle, children, debt exposure, etc. are all issues.   For me, I still believe in a heavier fiat/gold/real estate foundation of 80% (roughly) and only a 10-20% in crypto (and that varies greatly, because that's the one asset that I readily flip depending on the market).   If we're being realistic, it's the only asset in the discussion that has the greatest possiblity of going up greatly OR to zero.   

There are also speed issues involved... crypto moves faster, so again, it could mean greater rewards, but it also means faster crashes.... you're much more likely to be able to adjust accordingly to market issues involving fiat, gold or real estate.   

[ck343]

It only make sense to compare digital (Bitcoin) with digital (gold-backed Stablecoin)

I disagree. Both hold value which is why it makes sense comparing their values regardless of whether they are physical or digital in nature.

Let's make an example.

If you compare which one gets moves faster, it doesn't make any sense to compare a digital entity with a physical entity.
Digital moves clearly faster than a piece of rock.
So, does it mean that Bitcoin can get exchanged faster than gold?
No

How about putting gold on the blockchain?
Let's compare Bitcoin with a gold-backed stablecoin.
Which one moves faster?
That's a question which makes sense


Divisibility
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.

So, Bitcoin wins?
Of course it wins, because you consider gold only in physical form.
How about putting gold on the blockchain?


Who is faster, Peter in his car or Paul with his bicycle?
The question doesn't make any sense.
Put Paul in a car, then it makes sense.

It is unfair to compare the portability of a piece of rock with the portability of a digital currency.
If you can digitalise the ownership title to that gold, it is unfair (to gold).
As soon as you put that title on the blockchain, that gold can get bought and sold digitally, then comparing the portability of gold with the portability of Bitcoin makes sense

"It can be moved and transacted in small amounts but becomes impractical when dealing with larger values because of its weight."
So, Bitcoins is more portable than gold?
No
Bitcoin is only more portable than physical gold.
As soon as we consider gold-backed stablecoins, gold is as much portable as Bitcoin.
If I own 3 tons of gold as gold-backed stablecoins, who cares about the weight

When you compare two things, you have to consider them under the same circumstances