As most are aware, the various cryptocurrencies are in correction mode at present. Some of this is rooted in a reality discussed in this column a few weeks ago about why these private money concepts lack the inflation-hedging characteristics of gold. About the yellow metal, hopefully people are realizing that gold thrives as an inflation hedge precisely because it can’t be bid up or down a la faddish money forms. Gold became the definer of money many centuries ago not because it’s volatile like so many crypto concepts, but because it’s not.
Bitcoin can’t be a stable measure. Neither can Ethereum. These are speculations on scarcity. Gold serves so well as money because it realistically cannot be speculated on. To buy gold is to instead express a view about the future value of other monetary concepts including, somewhat ironically, Bitcoin itself.
Read Full Article »
