Isn’t that amazing that as different as we are (or think we are), we all know that gold is more than the metal that has good conductivity and can be used to fill tooth cavities? The fairytales about the pirate treasures that we were told as children seem to have opened backdoors allowing the yellow shining thing to sneak into our subconsciousness. As we grew, brainwashing persisted, usually taking the form of occasional news of discovery of 17th century Spanish vessels loaded up with treasures or the cinematic portrayal of ancient princesses and queens in their bright customs. “…bury a crock of gold”, said Sebastian in Evelyn Waugh’s novel, “when I was old and ugly and miserable, I could come back and dig it up and remember.” The message is subtle but unmistakable: Gold preserves value and beauty better than our human biology.
Our attachment to gold runs so deep that in the 20st century, when the gold standard was abolished, many people had a hard time to reconcile with the fiat reality. Some vented their anger and frustration on the Federal Reserve and its monetary policies, which is only understandable: For millenniums, gold was the best answer that we found in our quest for a perpetual and universal vessel to store value. Who knows if the Austrian Economics is just a veiled version of the ancient gold-worshipping superstition? But still it is a powerful superstition nevertheless. It transcends all races and nationalities and even
Successful or not, Bitcoin was designed with gold in mind. It is obvious that the digital currency was intended to be a digital simulation of gold. The mechanism that new coins were generated is called "mining". It is purported to have infinite divisibility and fixed supply, whether you accept such claims at their face value is another matter. And those advocates would like to have you believe that Bitcoin is similar but superior to gold – it is weightless and instantly transferable – confirmation sometimes can be a little slower than instant though. But no matter how technologically advanced Bitcoin or the other digital currencies are, they don't have the appeal of the old good gold in one respect: Let’s face it, we human beings are visual beings. Shape, texture and color mean much more to us than we can possibly grasp. That is perhaps the reason why people never got tired of physical bitcoins - metal coins with bitcoin private keys engraved on them.
While the most fervent believer of Bitcoin will probably sneer at the idea of trading their coins for "the barbarian relic", now there is one more way allowing you to do exactly that. Melotic, a all-cryptocurrnecy exchange (note: it doesn't take fiat deposit, whether it is out of ideological reason or not is unclear), just announced that it had partnered with DigitalTangible to offer a service allowing “investors to move value from physical gold holdings to bitcoin, which can then be stored or traded”. Who will use this service? If you are a gold believer (I didn't use the phrase "gold bug" because it implies disapproval that I don't have), but have yet been ready to make the plunge from analogue to digital, or doubt that Bitcoin is the ultimate answe, maybe you want to dabble a little before making a more informed judgement. Or if you are a Bitcoin traitor who decided to divest either because you are bored, disenchanted, nostalgic, or simply anticipating the price decline to continue and looking for ways to hedge, it seems that Melotic is just the place for you as well.
