Bitcoin or gold? The odds are with BTC

Many analysts believe Bitcoin BTC/USD will eventually dislodge gold. Anthony Scaramucci of SkyBridge Capital, for instance, says that while gold has a 5,500-year history as a store of value, the increasing adoption of crypto technologies leaves gold with little chance to compete in the long run.

The fate of Gold has been compared to what befell DVDs upon the arrival of Netflix and live streaming. The arrival of Bitcoin ushered in a new world era. Analysts increasingly hold the view that the technical properties associated with BTC are infinitely better than gold.

It is more secure to move Bitcoin from one person to another owing to its virtual properties. Further, the ledger technology behind the invention is near impossible to hack. The scarcity of BTC –at 21 million coins- guarantees its upward trajectory in terms of value. Such scarcity and associated technical properties would ultimately see BTC overtake gold.

Exponential growth

Experts predict BTC’s value will continue on its present exponential growth path. While BTC’s market cap of $1.178 trillion is a fraction (one-tenth) of gold’s $11 trillion, experts foresee a future in which BTC will prevail. Some go as far as comparing the future of gold to the fate of rotary phones upon the arrival of smartphones. Scaramucci, however, thinks that gold is not entirely doomed; instead, its performance will just stagnate to a flat line. In his view, it may as well go up slightly while BTC and other cryptos like Ethereum (ETH/USD) register exponential growth because of the scalability and quality they offer.

While Inflationary pressures might give gold a fighting chance, few experts are willing to place their bet against BTC. Nonetheless, the volatility of cryptos has been flagged as their major drawback. However, Mati Greenspan, portfolio manager and founder of Quantum Economics, observes that seasoned investors see such drastic price movements as buying opportunities.

Technical analysis

An abrupt tumble in BTC value over the weekend marked the first time market volatility in traditional financial assets triggered a reaction in cryptocurrency markets. BTC’s market value tumbled $10,000 in just 60 minutes on Saturday morning to hit $42,222. Similar turbulence was experienced in the traditional markets, in which stocks and bonds moved sharply as a reaction to potential shifts in monetary policy and the spread of the new strain of coronavirus. Prices failed to fully recover by Tuesday, with BTC trading at $51,300.