For some time now, there has been a tendency in the crypto community to compare physical gold to Bitcoin (BTC), defined by many as digital gold. There are several elements that have led to gold being placed next to the queen of cryptocurrencies.
First of all, the scary growth rate that Bitcoin had in his first ten years of life. One of the requirements that an asset must meet to be defined as a “safe haven” is its strength, and from this point of view, Bitcoin is currently looking at everyone from above. Never had any asset, in any market, recorded growth rates of this order. In a series of Tweets, the revolutionary John McAfee wanted to give his opinion.
McAfee: it’s absurd to compare Bitcoin to gold
The difference between gold and Bitcoin? Gold is a commodity, occupying space, with mass, temperature, shape. Bitcoin is an idea, made manifest through a series of numbers, with no true location or substance – a clever concept with infinite fluidity. To compare them is madness.
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) May 28, 2019
“The difference between gold and Bitcoin? Gold is a commodity, occupying space, with mass, temperature, shape. Bitcoin is an idea, made manifest through a series of numbers, with no true location or substance – a clever concept with infinite fluidity. To compare them is madness”.
McAfee’s opinion is a common view among many cryptocurrency advocates. This has been highlighted by the ongoing campaign, called “Drop Gold”, launched to show users the infinite advantages that BTC has over gold. According to the community, it is diminishing to compare Bitcoin to physical gold.
McAfee also added that Bitcoin is based on hard, cold mathematics:
“Crypto is pure math. Coins created by hashing or other algorithms. Moved under control of math logic. They’re fractionalized, stored, retrieved, exchanged under control of formulas. Coins are electronic elements of a vast system controlled by math. This is not the Stock Market”.
Some users have responded by pointing out that Bitcoin is also in the same hands as those who control the stock market and the Forex market. McAfee rejected this claim stating:
“Not even remotely true in the long run. If you do not understand the full depth of a system you can in no manner control it.”