{"id":127471,"date":"2025-04-18T12:17:49","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T12:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=127471"},"modified":"2025-04-18T12:17:49","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T12:17:49","slug":"bitcoin-vs-gold-how-do-they-stack-up-for-investors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=127471","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin vs. gold: How do they stack up for investors?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsAs gold prices break new highs, many Bitcoiners are seeking ways to get exposure to the precious metal, but have been met with some hurdles along the way.
\nAlthough physical gold is accessible in the form of jewelry, gold bars and coins, many industry executives are concerned about aspects like its quality, liquidity when selling, and buying at a premium above spot prices.
\nOn the other hand, gold advocates are confident that the precious metal is much easier to buy than Bitcoin (BTC), given the complexities of storing private keys and a steep learning curve for new crypto investors.
\nBoth Bitcoin and gold are available in the form of tokenized assets, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other equity instruments, but the question of owning these assets in the physical form exposes some differences.
\nCommunity: Buying Bitcoin is easier and faster
\n\u201cBuying Bitcoin is significantly easier and faster than buying physical gold,\u201d Ross Shemeliak, co-founder of the tokenization platform Stobox, told Cointelegraph.
\nHe referred to Bitcoin\u2019s instant and 24\/7 availability, no need for vaults, while gold is associated with additional costs like transportation, storage, verification and resale.
\nAdam Lowe, chief of product at the self-custody firm CompoSecure, agreed that buying physical gold is subject to many challenges and additional costs.
\n\u201cThe first is maintaining quality, assuring the purity is accurate,\u201d Lowe said, adding that investors have to rely on the reputation of dealers and the supply chain when buying physical gold.
\nRelated: Bitcoin may rival gold as inflation hedge over next decade \u2014 Adam Back
\n\u201cSelling liquidity is also an issue as you have to find a buyer and will most likely pay a discount relative to the market price per ounce,\u201d he continued, adding that self-custodied Bitcoin has none of these issues.
\nAs well as limited liquidity, retail investors in physical gold face widened spreads, Shemeliak said, as they often have to buy at a premium above the market price of gold.
\nGold advocate: Bitcoin self-custody is not easy
\nUnlike crypto investors, traditional finance (TradFi) investors and analysts are not so excited about self-custody opportunities offered by Bitcoin.
\n\u201cBitcoin could be very easy to buy if you have everything set up already, but if you don\u2019t, it\u2019s very difficult,\u201d Rafi Farber, publisher of the gold-focused marketplace service End Game Investor, told Cointelegraph.
\nFarber, who has emerged as one of the biggest Bitcoin critics, referred to challenges for investors around Bitcoin self-custody, which requires holders to safely store the private key or risk losing access to the coins entirely.
\nWhile dealing with a self-custodial wallet, users have to \u201cremember a string of random words or copy it down and put it in a safe, then copy and paste a gibberish code,\u201d Farber said. \u201cAnd if you lose any of the codes or the power goes out for whatever reason you\u2019re screwed,\u201d he added.
\nSelf-custody wallet providers offer onboarding sessions for $99 per hour. Source: TrezorFarber\u2019s concerns over the challenges of self-custody are not without reason. Trezor, one of the most prominent self-custody wallet providers, admits that usability remains one of the key issues faced by self-custodial wallets.
\nWhile some have tried to offer simplified self-custody options, others insist that holding a private key is the only way to actually own a cryptocurrency, which requires onboarding and a learning curve \u2014 but doesn\u2019t come without its own costs, too.
\nIs Bitcoin a direct competitor to gold?
\nOn the other hand, physical gold is \u201cvery easy to buy,\u201d Farber said, suggesting options like coins or jewelry shops.
\n\u201cYes, buying a gold coin at a jewelry or coin shop is easy \u2014 but that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019ve made a sound investment,\u201d Stobox\u2019s Shemeliak countered:
\n\u201cWithout verified origin, proper assay, secure storage, and a liquid resale market, you\u2019ve likely bought a souvenir, not a serious store of value.\u201d
\n\u201cIn contrast, digital assets like Bitcoin or tokenized gold offer transparency, liquidity and verifiability,\u201d he added.
\nShemeliak doesn\u2019t see Bitcoin and gold as direct competitors either.
\n\u201cGold will always have historical value \u2014 but Bitcoin is building financial infrastructure for the next 100 years,\u201d he stated.
\nAt the time of publication, the price of spot gold stood at $3,327, up nearly 27% year-to-date (YTD) as it continues breaking new highs, according to TradingView.
\nThe picture is less appealing for Bitcoin, which reached new highs around $110,000 in December 2024. Bitcoin is down 10% YTD, trading at $84,525 at publication, according to CoinGecko.
\nMagazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over \u2014 It\u2019s time to dream big againRead More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsAs gold prices break new highs, many Bitcoiners are seeking ways to get exposure to the precious metal, but have been met with some hurdles along the way.… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127471"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=127471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127471\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=127471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=127471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=127471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}