Gold vs. Bitcoin : How Do They Compare?

[keanbosch]

For thousands of years, gold has been the international currency, and for good reason. Gold is a substance that is in high demand and there is a finite amount that can be produced. Bitcoin, through cryptography, was created on these very principles. Bitcoin must be mined, is in high demand, and there is only a finite amount that is available – just like gold.
Relative to its short history, Bitcoin has made a significant global impact and has become popular with those who seek an alternative to fiat currency. Only time will tell which has more upside: bitcoin or gold.

http://www.ahametals.com/gold-vs-bitcoin-compare/

[allthingsluxury]

Gold, Silver and Bitcoin. All three have a place in my portfolio.

[Beliathon]

One is a worthless tool from the past, the other is a precious tool of the future. I'll let you figure out which is which.

[OROBTC]

...

NO ONE knows what the future will bring, Beliathon.

Gold is wealth.

I hold both.  I would suggest that anyone with savings buy both.  Diversification is a powerful thing.

[Beliathon]

NO ONE knows what the future will bring, Beliathon.

No one knows the future with certainty, but observation and deduction yield the gift of probability.

Does it seem probable to you that fiat scrip will continue dominating currency on this planet for the next decade?
Does it seem probable to you that a form of money which cannot be easily divided, which cannot be cheaply stored, will continue to be used as a store of wealth on a planet with cryptocurrency ?

To me, these outcomes seem less probable with each passing day.

[ArticMine]

Gold, Silver etc = Personal animal powered transportation. Horse and buggy, donkey carts, elephants, oxen, etc.
Fiat = Centralized engine powered transportation Railways, steamships, and later airlines etc.
Bitcoin and other crypto currencies = Personal engine powered transportation, cars, light trucks, motorcycles etc.

Now go back to 1904 and consider where to invest: The big money is in the emerging automotive industry, some diversification yes the railway companies etc, and what to avoid is the horse and buggy, etc.

So my take is invest in Bitcoin and possibly some of the alts, for some diversification consider some quality fiat (short term US treasuries, etc.) and stay well away from gold and other precious metals. I know gold as money has been around for 5000 years or more, but the same was also true of horses as a means of transportation.

I am 99.85% in Bitcoin and 0.15% in Litecoin.

[Beliathon]

Gold, Silver etc = Personal animal powered transportation. Horse and buggy, donkey carts, elephants, oxen, etc.
Fiat = Centralized engine powered transportation Railways, steamships, and later airlines etc.

Yes, you nailed it.

Bitcoin and other crypto currencies = Personal engine powered transportation, cars, light trucks, motorcycles etc.

Close, but no cigar! Bitcoin is teleportation. It's the perfect analogy, think about it.

[2double0]

Gold, Silver and Bitcoin. All three have a place in my portfolio.

How about other assets like property? I would choose that over silver any day.

[daviducsb]

Bitcoin serves a valuable exchange purpose and you can earn interest on it.

Gold is gold with its history and so on.

[virginiallorca]

Gold, Silver and Bitcoin. All three have a place in my portfolio.

Yes I love bitcoin but gold is pretty and shiny, so it has its place.

[Neodamus]

Saying gold is worthless seems pretty short sighted.

How many money masters of the past do you suppose proclaimed of their created currencies, 'This will be the currency that makes gold worthless', but yet their currencies exist only in the pages of history?

Bitcoin will obviously be one of the greatest milestones in the evolution of currency, but gold still has some properties that Bitcoin can't replicate (at least immediately):

- Thousands of years being used as a currency and/or store of value. Historical credibility of currency should not be undervalued.

- It is tangible. Many people find value in being able to actually see, touch, store the value themselves. With Bitcoin, a person must still trust the system works to some degree, unless they're prepared to become an expert in computer science and cryptology. Gold is much simpler.

- We don't know what the future commercial viability of gold is. Gold has many unique chemical properties and any future advances that show gold to be a critical element in will drive the value of gold up to an unknown degree.

I am definitely in the wing of Bitcoin believers that say it will be a force for massive change in the world but writing off gold as worthless seems lacking in careful analysis of where its current and historical value derive from.

[Ron~Popeil]

This isn't an and or proposition. Both have their place and value. Bit coin is more fungible but gold has a much longer history. I have some of both.

[bigasic]

ITs very easy to buy gold/silver with bitcoin. i have done so on several occasions. Its a good idea to diversify a little...

[Gargulan]

Some people also tend to forget bitcoin has high technology dependency and assume the current infrastructure will stay intact if SHTF.

[Gladdy]

I don think you can compare gold with bitcoin , as gold is the basic of money and bitcoin is just a digital money .

[rapport]

...Bit coin is more fungible...

Did you mean something else?
You have that backwards: Bitcoin is generally less fungible than gold.  This is one reason why there are efforts, such as Zerocash, that try to improve fungibility.