We talk about going to Mars all the time. We have no limits to our imagination when it comes to space travel. But when it comes to the future of money, curiously many suffer from an acute failure of imagination. The Bitcoin rocket ship is fueling up, make sure to book your seat!
— Cameron Winklevoss (@winklevoss) May 30, 2019
ADVFN CEO: Bitcoin is Better Money Than Gold
It turns out that the Winklevoss twins’ “store of value” argument has won over another business leader. In an interview with The Street, Clem Chambers – CEO of financial services firm ADVFN – laid out his case for why Bitcoin can act as a superior medium of exchange.
“I could not take enough gold out of the country for it to be useful to me if I had to leave the country; if I was a South Korean and I thought the North was going to drop a bomb on my city, if I was an Iranian that was running away from people in Iran.
Mr. Chambers went on, explaining that the colossal weight of the precious metal makes it useless in an emergency:
“I can’t take more than $10,000. In Gold, I can’t carry enough; it’s too heavy. I can’t take, say, 20 kilos of Gold to the airport…”
Winklevoss Twins: No Reason Bitcoin Won’t Replace Gold
Naturally, Mr. Chambers stands in good company in his view that Bitcoin can become a more effective store of value than precious metals. The Winklevoss twins have been pushing the BTC as a commodity story line for years.
If you find out why bitcoin isn’t going to disrupt gold, let me know. I still haven’t found a reason.
— Tyler Winklevoss (@tylerwinklevoss) May 28, 2019
Chinese-US Trade War Pumping The Bitcoin Price?
An argument has arisen recently that Chinese investors have been buying up Bitcoin fearing a devaluation in the Yuan due to the recent trade war. It is far too premature to call BTC a haven, but the price dynamics, have at times, correlated. As markets come under pressure again today, XAU/USD is at a 30 day high, indicating that stock market turmoil still gets the gold bugs coming out of the woodwork.
Psychology Not Fundamentals Key In BTC Replacing Gold
The arguments against Gold as a hedge are so compelling that it’s extraordinary how centuries-old psychology still exists in the markets.
Think of how you’d feel if the major central banks did everything you feared they would do, and the asset you committed to to ‘protect’ yourself was the only one that didn’t increase in value. And, worse, you’re so committed that you now have no face-saving way out. #brutal #gold
— Dow (@mark_dow) July 17, 2018
Is Bitcoin the answer to these problems? Maybe, but if it is genuinely going to take over the mantle, it needs to hijack the impression of safety that Gold has assumed. The vast majority of people believe BTC is precisely the opposite of a haven, so there is a long way to go.
The Bitcoin price does appear largely detached from conventional finance, and in this sense, it is a hedge of sorts. However, the extent of this probably won’t be clear for many years to come.