Consumers are also leery about labeling Bitcoin digital gold. Only 28% of respondents thought cryptocurrencies are the future of investing in 2019, down from 32% in 2018, according to an ING Groep NV survey.
“Ultimately, if the market agrees it is a store of value, it is,” said Sam Doctor, a New York-based cryptocurrency analyst. “And until then, it is an open question. I don’t think there is an objective criterion or moment that can definitively answer the question except in hindsight.”
That doesn’t mean that Bitcoin may not evolve into a store of value or a transactional currency or something else eventually. In an Oct. 22 tweet, Gemini Trust Co.’s Cameron Winklevoss said, “Because Bitcoin is open source software, its possibilities are boundless. I often talk about gold as a target market cap, but that’s really just the beginning...it’s digital gold, source of truth, etc...”
While Bitcoin may or may not have unique properties that make it useful as money, it still lacks the characteristics that protect investors seeking a store of value, let alone the “source of truth” level of hyperbole.
“Bitcoin has been different things to different people,” said Gil Luria, managing director at DA Davidson & Co. “Since no one individual entity controls Bitcoin, it is open for all these interpretations and uses.”
This article provided by Bloomberg News.