Certainly the year just ended is for many a year that they would prefer to forget. But for some investors, Bitcoin’s steady growth in spite of unpredictable political circumstances suggests that the digital currency is poised to compete with gold’s preference for investment and savings shelter in 2017.
Despite all the events that impacted the global political scene in 2016, Bitcoin’s value has increased in the second half of 2016 and its trend has continued to rise already since 2017. However, the price of gold has been declining since the summer of 2016.
With Trump’s arrival in the White House this is sure to boost US efforts. To strengthen the dollar, with all the measures it has already shown. So it is not at all surprising that we see a constant doubling or tripling in the value of bitcoin in 2017.
However exponential bitcoin performance is no guarantee of future success, so what other reasons could help persuade a long-term investor to turn their savings into a cryptocurrency, rather than the always safe way that gold represents?
In a comparison made by the firm of precious metals assets, Roslan Capital, the three major factors in which Bitcoin seems to surpass gold are portability, divisibility and security.
Portability: You can have unlimited amounts represented in your figures and carry them in a digital storage device, or have them in the cloud. Obviously gold is not very portable in large quantities to be said.
Divisibility: The cryptocurrency is infinitesimally divisible, while gold in its physical form clearly has limits.
Security: The fungibility and liquidity of gold brings serious security problems. While with bitcoin you can enjoy the built-in security of this one.
With all that in mind, let’s hope for less turmoil in 2017, and everything works out well wherever you choose to store your savings in the long run.
