Bitcoin? Or Metal
Over the past few years Bitcoin has been referred to as digital gold, a store of value. Not quite a currency, not quite gold. But a way to move money globally. Bitcoin has been hard to define. Too volatile to be a true store of value, too expensive to transfer to be a currency. I have my suspicions that its creation is partially a way to blunt the force of inflation into a new asset class and away from precious metals, which have historically been hedges against inflation. Gold and silver have also been money (not currency) for thousands of years. Any culture around the world, from tribes to monarchies have held gold and silver in high regard. So why the rush to cryptocurrency right now, as precious metals prices are being suppressed?
In two of my previous articles I point to Bitcoin being an NSA creation and also the original mind and possible creator of Bitcoin. With that backdrop in mind, it creates a narrative about Bitcoin's ultimate purpose for existing. A blueprint for a new digital currency but also possibly a way to keep money away from gold and silver bullion (as well as copper, platinum, palladium, etc). That's because the true wealth lies in the metals.
Silver for example, has many industrial uses. Uses that are only going to increase this decade with the increased production of electric vehicles.
You can't build anything with Bitcoin or cryptocurrency. In fact, mining cryptocurrency requires silver also.
Silver is in high demand now and paper silver (SLV) is struggling to meet physical demand. The Fed has had a hate/hate relationship with gold and silver since its inception.
So I do wonder is Cryptocurrency partially being pumped to avoid the inevitable metal price surge, one that will cripple many of the standing institutions that rely on funny money manipulation to thrive.
There Is A Solution
Physical metals are expensive and also dangerous to store. You run the risk of the vault being raided or robbed. You run the risk of the storage trust going belly up. You store it in your home, that's a whole other set of risks. But you need metals. It's the one hedge against inflation that has proven to be effective. So how do you actually get your hands on some.
There are a few solutions.
PAXG is the gold tethered cryptocurrency from Paxos. Most exchanges, Gemini, Binance, have this available. You can trade gold vs USD that way and not even ever bother with other cryptocurrencies. But just use this as a way to trade metals for currency to increase your gold position.
Goldmoney.com offers fully verified 1:1 physical backing. IRA and a way to hold the 4 big precious metals without needing to store them yourself. Strict verification of income source and other details is required, however.
My solution for both gold and silver (with the option to redeem for physical metal if necessary) is Kinesis Money. Kinesis Money features the ability to use cryptocurrency or currency to buy digital gold and silver (KAU and KAG respectively). This digital gold and silver can be redeemed for physical from one of their audited vaults, or be stored on their very own cold wallet.
If you want to spend some of your digital gold and silver without having to sell off, withdraw, transfer to your bank which can take days, they offer a virtual and physical debit card. The fact that you can deposit with Bitcoin and Ethereum make this the winner. To me this is the most practical solution. If you want to avoid the depreciating dollar this is where I'd go.
This way you can remain liquid with easily transferable money, but remain only a trade or two away from possessing precious metals.