What is bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a digital currency that many call the best cryptocurrency to buy, dubbing it “the new gold.” Of course, gold is one of the oldest currencies on earth, and currencies and methods of payment are always evolving.
What does this mean? Arthur Salzer of Northland Wealth Management offers:
“Monetary value usually arises from objects that are scarce, durable and relatively easy to divide. Since the dawn of civilization, societies have used rare seashells, wampum, glass beads, and stones as money or a form of record keeping. Gold is an ideal example since it can be made into jewelry, coins and bars, but bitcoin is unique in today’s digital world since it is scarce, durable, has strong privacy characteristics.”
These days, gold is rarely used as a form of payment; it’s seen more as a store of value, and an investment or portfolio asset that is not highly correlated to stocks and bonds and cash.
Similarly, supporters and owners of cryptocurrency invest in bitcoin because they see it as a store of value, and a useful portfolio asset. Bitcoin may also work its way into a direct method of payment as well. In other words, you might one day use bitcoin to buy a car or a loaf of bread. It’s a lot quicker and easier to send digital money than to lug around bars of gold.
The entire MoneySense article can can be found here.
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