Maybe so. Maybe not.
But gold will still be gold, even if the power plug gets pulled.
Bernie Maddoff's clients all loved him until one day someone decided to cash in their account and everyone suddenly found out that there was no there thereFor the bitcoin-ers, I don't think that is considered a problem, but a desired feature of the currency. It has value -- all by itself -- that is controlled solely by the marketplace and not by a govt entity.
I guess the disconnect is that you CAN hold physical gold in your hand, whereas you CAN'T hold bitcoin's electro-magnetic representation of 1's and 0's in your hand. Then again, you can buy gold from a dealer that the dealer "stores" for you - supposedly. Does the dealer really go cut up a fractional bar of gold, put your name on it and set it aside -- or, does he just make an entry into some digital ledger?
As long as we have electricity, I suppose we will become more and more computerized as time goes by. Given that realistic likelihood, digital currency will likely increase in use, convenience and eventually widespread acceptance.
So while I can see buying 20 bucks worth of bitcoin now and then with "play" money just to speculate -- until that widespread acceptance happens, I'd rather buy whole gold & silver rounds as part of my serious "investing" budget & have them mailed to me so I can hold them in my hand and put them in my own secure storage.
That is the inherent flaw with bitcoin. It has no inherent value and most people who buy into it are doing so on the hope that their 20 bucks will turn into 40 bucks.
But what is it you are buying other than hope? You buy it with real dollars and in order to use it, it must be exchanged for real dollars. It is backed by the hopes and dreams of speculators and fools.
It is a fad. It is the pet rock of currency speculation.
It's cute but eventually it is nothing but an oversized piece of gravel.
Maybe so. Maybe not.
But gold will still be gold, even if the power plug gets pulled.