I'm a gold-bug, but at some point we have to admit that Bitcoin is a better form of money

I bought gold as protection against banks and inflation for the last 20 years, but now I have to admit that bitcoin is a better form of money than gold. I now have a 50/50 exposure to gold and BTC. I wouldn't be surprised if over time bitcoin will take over my entire portfolio. It has been difficult to convince other gold bugs that they should at-least buy some bitcoin. And these are the people that understand sound money and why we need it. It is even harder to convince my friends and family that don't understand money at all and are still living the fiat experience.

A few things with gold that I have always struggled with for the last 20 years, and that bitcoin fixes almost like magic:

1. I have struggled with the high inflation of gold. It was the best option available for thousands of years. Especially compared to fiat inflation. But still there is a lot of inflation. Diluting the price every year. People don't realize that the amount of gold has doubled since 1980 from 100 tonnes to 200 tonnes: link1. Think about this.. for thousands of years we have gold mines getting only 100 tonnes out of the ground and it only took FOUR decades for the other 100 tonnes. I expect this inflation to only accelerate with better technology to get gold out of the ground and sea. Bitcoin fixes this. A fixed amount of 21 million and that is it. It sounds like magic but I finally understand that it is real. For the first time in history we have something that can't be printed or diluted in anyway. I almost can't control my excitement thinking about this.
2. I always want to buy more gold coins and bars, but I can never be 100% sure that it is real. Even now while holding my pretty gold coin I'm not 100% sure, maybe 99.5% sure but that is not enough. So expensive gold tests or paying big premiums from trusted dealers for their reputation. Bitcoin fixes this. Absolutely perfect! Never worrying about counterfeits at all. There are so so many discussions about spotting gold counterfeits and still they ignore the fact that bitcoin has already solved this issue! "Don't trust verify" has never been so simple.. link1 link2 And it is not only small retail, even for state actors gold counterfeits are a big issue. There have been so many scandals in only the last few years. link1 link2 link3 And no audits allowed to check if the gold in the federal reserves is real. Don't trust verify is not always an option here.
3. Premiums and Middleman in gold. When I buy my gold coins I've to pay a premium of 5% or more over spot price. When I sell those same gold coins too the same dealer I get 5% less for my gold. For bitcoin I almost pay no premium and I don't lose a large percentages to a middleman when I want to sell it. It is absolutely perfect.
4. Piece of mind that my treasure is safe! As a gold bug you are always paranoid and for good reason. Our biggest problem: not your keys not your coins is also true for gold bugs. If you don't have the keys to your own safe holding your gold, you don't own the gold. So there is a real danger of losing it all in a simple robbery, fire or natural disaster. Or you have to rely on a regulated custodian to store the gold for you. But they will always hand your gold over to the government if required. And throughout history this has happened again and again. Usually because of big financial system problems, wars, some kind of emergency, maybe a regime change or something as simple as "Executive Order 6102". For this reason gold will always get centralized at a place where the people in power can easily confiscate, control and manipulate it. Both options are terrible. Again Bitcoin fixes this! I only have to remember my Bitcoin private key and I can have my money in my head. My frigging head! Again if I stop and think about all the implications, it is just mind-blowing.
5. The flexibility and the conveniences of a digital gold instead of analog one. The idea that nobody can stop me at the border and confiscate my money is incredible and a great peace of mind. The idea of storing all my gold coins in my 'prison wallet' when the shit hits the fan in my country is not something to look forward to.
6. Divisibility! The idea that I can sell a fraction of a bitcoin to buy something as small as a apple is just not possible with gold. And with lightning I can now even buy something that is only a fraction of a penny. Incredible!

I've been trying to raise these points to my fellow gold bugs for some time, but the hate towards Bitcoin is real. Something new is unfortunately always treated as a tread. But in time I'm convinced that the best money will win.

submitted by /u/Bumpy2
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