Bitcoin vs Gold: which one offer better protection against currency devaluation?

[Eldestyoung]

This morning, I was with few of my neighbours and somehow our casual conversation turned into a debate about money, inflation and how people can protect the value of their wealth over time.
One question eventually took over the entire discussion:
Between Bitcoin and gold, which one would you trust more to preserve your wealth against currency devaluation?

Interestingly, we had completely different opinions.
One of my neighbor strongly believed gold was still the better option, his argument was that gold has existed for centuries, has survived wars, economic crises and the collapse of different currencies. According to him, people have trusted gold long before modern financial systems came into existence and he sees no reason to abandon that confidence. He pointed out that Bitcoin's price can experience significant fluctuations within relatively short periods, he questioned whether an asset that can lose a substantial percentage of its market value in a short time can genuinely be considered a reliable store of value.

Although my voice was not strong enough but I disagreed with him, I argued that Bitcoin represents a different generation of money, with a decentralised network and ability to be transferred across borders, I told him Bitcoin offers something gold cannot easily provide but i was not confident enough.

By the time our conversation ended, he had completely convinced the others and I was not happy.

However, it left me with a question I thought would be interesting so I educate myself: Which one really offers better protection against currency devaluation?

So, I would genuinely like to hear the opinions of experienced members here.

[obuoma]

The answer to this question depends on who you ask the question to. If you ask those in mainstream finance like old money, they will go for gold which have been there for thousands of years and used by even central banks as reserve currency. Bitcoin does not have such history and trust from those who have been in money for years and the trust in Bitcoin is not that deep. On the other hand, if you ask young people of this generation, who have been invested in Bitcoin for close to a decade, they will go for Bitcoin because they understand how beautiful and easy money Bitcoin is with the added flexibility and liquidity it carries. But both of them offer protection against currency devaluation but very hard to measure which is better.

[MusaMohamed]

Bitcoin and gold are two different assets which have their different market cycles with a longer cycle for gold. If you are living times like last two years, gold is better than Bitcoin in ROIs but in long term, with more years, Bitcoin will be better because it will finish some market cycles while gold only finish one market cycle.

You check ROIs of Bitcoin and gold in past years.
https://casebitcoin.com/

About their different market cycles.
Bitcoin market cycle is 4 years.
Gold market cycle is about 16 years.

[_act_]

However, it left me with a question I thought would be interesting so I educate myself: Which one really offers better protection against currency devaluation?

I do not know about the future, but if you want the one that you will gain more value in price in some years to come, it is undisputably bitcoin. I will choose bitcoin over gold.

But you can diversify.

Bitcoin is also a bonus because it has a better bull bear pattern than gold.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

Which one really offers better protection against currency devaluation?

Because gold is centralized and Bitcoin remains decentralized, this is one point ahead of gold with Bitcoin. Secondly, you can check the comparison between Bitcoin's profitability over a decade and then compare it to that of gold and see how Bitcoin is more profitable than gold; everything about investment opportunity is mostly considered with Bitcoin and then followed by gold.

[Luzin]

A few days ago I happened to read about news that China succeeded in creating synthetic gold. There has been no confirmation of the truth of this information. But if this happens, gold could start to lose its value. I also have not received a valid source regarding this news, but hopefully this is just false news intended to create FUD. So far, according to acknowledgment, gold is better. In terms of value, Bitcoin is better. Both are assets that are highly sought after by investors to make a profit.  CMIIW

Source: https://www.binance.com/id/square/post/31623096381321

[AprilioMP]

Many wealthy individuals who have made gold an investment have also allocated a portion of their wealth to Bitcoin. That’s excellent, and they deserve to be called smart wealthy people who know how to harness all the potential that can grant them financial freedom.
Everyone does this in their own way. Some invest in companies in that sector, while others choose to invest personally. Most smart wealthy individuals do not display their wealth in the form of gold and Bitcoin.
In my opinion, gold and Bitcoin are two assets that I myself must own for my future financial planning.

[Free Market Capitalist]

Bitcoin and gold are two different assets which have their different market cycles with a longer cycle for gold. If you are living times like last two years, gold is better than Bitcoin in ROIs but in long term, with more years, Bitcoin will be better because it will finish some market cycles while gold only finish one market cycle.

Over the past 5 years, gold has also outperformed Bitcoin, as I just mentioned.

The point here is that we don’t know what’s going to happen, and that past performance doesn’t guarantee future results. In principle, for someone who’s just starting out and doesn’t have any gold or Bitcoin, I’d recommend buying a little of both, researching them, and then deciding which one to invest more in. I have more Bitcoin than gold because, thanks to this forum, Bitcoin has become a part of my life, and it makes sense that I’d have more of something I’m more involved with—but I hold it more for its intrinsic properties than for any supposed potential return that might exceed that of gold.

[Antidote47k]

Honestly both assets have shown in the past that they can both protect against devaluation although in recent years, Gold has been performing better in that aspect. In terms of returns, going by history I’ll edge it to bitcoin but that’s not the topic of discussion here, historical return and inflation protection are not interchangeable
.
Bitcoin is more volatile than Gold and that matters particularly for someone that may need access to their money during a market downturn but Bitcoin also has features that gives it some advantage over gold like its fixed supply, decentralization and cross border transactions.
Both are good choices and depends entirely on which one prefer as both have advantages over the other, if it was me I’ll choose bitcoin because of its flexibility and potential returns.

[Texac]

A few days ago I happened to read about news that China succeeded in creating synthetic gold. There has been no confirmation of the truth of this information. But if this happens, gold could start to lose its value. I also have not received a valid source regarding this news, but hopefully this is just false news intended to create FUD. So far, according to acknowledgment, gold is better. In terms of value, Bitcoin is better. Both are assets that are highly sought after by investors to make a profit.  CMIIW

Source: https://www.binance.com/id/square/post/31623096381321

This is fake news, and it's old.

From what I've looked into, Chinese researchers in this study used argon plasma to treat copper and produce nanoparticles with catalytic properties similar to gold in certain chemical reactions.  The resulting material is still copper, not gold.
So far, the only way to produce artificial gold is through nuclear reactions ,  but it is extremely expensive and has no commercial value.

Btw , mining gold from asteroids is still just a theoretical idea . We should probably forget about it too.

https://www.bgr.com/science/copper-to-gold-process-china-research/

[Alvin_talk]

There's actually no need to treat these assets as if they are in any competition. Both are established assets and they come with their own respective advantages which is all that matters. I always encourage diversity when it comes to any of these assets as it is very important not to lay your eggs on one basket.

I don't see volatility as a problem here, provided that you intend to invest on bitcoin for some years you are likely to get returns. Some persons speak lowly of bitcoin because of their ignorance and that's not in your place to defend, personally I wouldn't even like involving myself in any argument related to bitcoin and bitcoin investment except in this forum and other similar forum.

[fredericktaylor]

Many wealthy individuals who have made gold an investment have also allocated a portion of their wealth to Bitcoin. That’s excellent, and they deserve to be called smart wealthy people who know how to harness all the potential that can grant them financial freedom.
Everyone does this in their own way. Some invest in companies in that sector, while others choose to invest personally. Most smart wealthy individuals do not display their wealth in the form of gold and Bitcoin.
In my opinion, gold and Bitcoin are two assets that I myself must own for my future financial planning.

Of course, people who are truly intelligent do not invest their wealth in one place, they rely on Bitcoin and gold, thinking about the future devaluation of the currency, so that they can properly utilize the opportunities of both gold and Bitcoin in the future. Keeping Gold and Bitcoin for the future, thinking about the devaluation of currencies, is a good decision.

Those who have seen the use of gold for centuries and have relied on it may not be possible to convince them that by holding Bitcoin, a person can enjoy various benefits and work against inflation in the future. However, those who know about Bitcoin today will choose Bitcoin first and then gold because they will properly utilize the benefits of decentralized and financial freedom and will not miss it in any way.

[Ahli38]

You cannot compare two things that have different criteria. Bitcoin has advantages in terms of its scarcity and even its portability as you can see that Bitcoin is limited to 21 million coins. And you can see that Bitcoin is very easy to transfer anywhere without any mass load. As for Bitcoin’s scarcity that is its main advantage, where it can protect finances from inflation in the long term. I personally see that gold currently holds a strong advantage due to people’s long-standing trust in it, where they still rely on gold for investment or even as a store of value. But I’m confident that someday Bitcoin might change people’s perspectives by leading them to rely on Bitcoin as their primary store of value. The current generation and even future generations may also come to trust Bitcoin more for that purpose. And I think time will tell exactly when that will happen. On the other hand Bitcoin is still considered a relatively new investment asset compared to gold. And it’s unlikely that economic dynamics will shift that quickly even though Bitcoin has already proven to be remarkable in just in just a few years, where it has become an asset that people are beginning to take notice of or even compete for.

[MisFoxie]

If you calculate which one works best against currency devaluation in the short term I would say gold win and in the long term Bitcoin win.

Because in the short term Bitcoin's price can go up or down but gold's price decreases in small even in extreme situations.

Since the real calculation is based on the long term I would say Bitcoin is the best option for protecting against currency devaluation.

[Shadiq]

I think Bitcoin will provide good protection against currency devaluation in the normal world. Bitcoin is a decentralized financial system that prioritizes self-custody and provides freedom. Even security and privacy are issues. Currently, Bitcoin is a reliable asset that can provide the highest profit in the long run.

Imagine a world without the Internet! What will happen to Bitcoin if the entire world's network system fails? Iran has already threatened this several times. Although they have not threatened the entire world's Internet, there are some areas where they can attack the Internet. So we do not know if we will ever have a situation where we live in a world without the Internet, if it does, gold may be the best protection. I can never expect such a world!

[GbitG]

There is nothing strange. Everyone has their own choice.... I know old head wil always go for Gold because they have faith on it....  Like they didn't have the capacity to trail something new. I think they just scared to put his hand on Bitcoin like they think that rather Gold nothing is that capable to give shield against devaluation but they are wrong.....

Bitcoin is the only assets which can give you the vib of both wether it's a tech(Bitcoin) or assets(Gold) like it's has all ability wether you used it as hedges against inflation or assets for better RIO.

[bitmover]

This morning, I was with few of my neighbours and somehow our casual conversation turned into a debate about money, inflation and how people can protect the value of their wealth over time.
One question eventually took over the entire discussion:
Between Bitcoin and gold, which one would you trust more to preserve your wealth against currency devaluation?

You can buy both. Both are important assets to protect against inflation.

Also, you can even buy gold tokenized version,  such as Tether Gold or Paxos Gold.

[savetheFORUM]

Well, to be brutally honest, the guy had a valid point. When we compare Bitcoin with Gold in terms of financial security over time, Gold wins by a margin because as he mentioned, Bitcoin is a relatively new asset, and it has a very volatile value, which means that despite the fact that Bitcoin has the ability to gain a very high price value over time, there is always the possibility of it losing that value quickly after it, just like how we have seen throughout the history of its existence. What this means is that Gold can give you more confidence that your money will only keep growing in value over time, even if the growth is lower, but you won't be worried about extreme crashes that we experience with Bitcoin.

You mentioned about Bitcoin having features such as decentralization or allowing us to make easy cross-border transactions, but that's not the centre of the discussion here, right? We are not talking about which asset is better when it comes to transacting funds from one side of the world to the other, but we are talking about preserving our money over time, and Gold is better compared to Bitcoin this matter.

Bitcoin is a great asset, it can be used to make better profits in a shorter period, but as I mentioned, even I would prefer Gold if my aim is not to make more money but to just preserve the value of my assets and maybe make some profit over time.

[Ambatman]

Take for example my country
The rate at which inflation has corroded our currency is more than Gold has performed so far
Would have shown the math but feeling lazy
Yes and likewise Bitcoin for the past four years.
Better is subjective
It depends on what you want
Bitcoin is relatively more volatile so promises better upside than Gold
While Gold though volatile not as much as bitcoin so doesn't keep up with inflation by too much.

[Hyphen(-)]

However, it left me with a question I thought would be interesting so I educate myself: Which one really offers better protection against currency devaluation?

So, I would genuinely like to hear the opinions of experienced members here.

Both Bitcoin and Gold are good investments that can protect you against currency devaluations because they keep their value for long, and they have all been able to maintain their values for long and they keep leading among the top most valuable investments.

This generation values Bitcoin because it is digital and decentralized, it’s gives financial freedom and also store value. Even though its price is volatile, we still believe that investing for long period of time and long term investors actually benefit from the investment because they made good profit.
While our parents embrace gold that have been there for them from ages, some of them don’t care to try Bitcoin, they keep on to gold and they are satisfied. Therefore, both of them are good investment and can protect us from currency devaluation.