Source: Cointelegraph Original: "{title}"
As gold prices continue to hit new highs, many Bitcoin supporters are seeking ways to gain exposure to gold, but they encounter several obstacles in the process.
While physical gold can be obtained in the form of jewelry, bullion, and coins, many industry executives express concerns about the quality of gold, liquidity when selling, and the premiums paid above spot prices when purchasing.
Nevertheless, gold supporters remain confident that buying gold is easier than buying Bitcoin, as Bitcoin requires the storage of private keys and has a steeper learning curve for novice crypto investors.
Both Bitcoin and gold can be obtained in the form of tokenized assets, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and other equity instruments, but the ways of holding these assets in their original forms reveal some differences.
Community View: Buying Bitcoin is Easier and Faster
“Buying Bitcoin is clearly much easier and faster than buying physical gold,” said Ross Shemeliak, co-founder of the tokenization platform Stobox, to Cointelegraph.
He mentioned that Bitcoin can be traded instantly at any time and is available around the clock, without the need for a vault like gold, which also involves additional costs for transportation, storage, verification, and resale.
Adam Lowe, product lead for the Arculus self-custody wallet, also stated that purchasing physical gold faces many challenges and extra costs.
“First is maintaining quality and ensuring purity,” Lowe said, noting that investors must rely on the reputation of dealers and the supply chain when buying physical gold.
“Selling liquidity is also an issue because you have to find a buyer, and you are likely to sell at a discount below market price,” he continued, pointing out that self-custodied Bitcoin does not have these issues.
In addition to limited liquidity, Lowe also mentioned that retail investors often face significant spreads when purchasing physical gold, as they typically need to buy at a premium above the gold market price.
Gold Supporters: Self-Custody of Bitcoin is Not Simple
Unlike crypto investors, traditional finance (TradFi) investors and analysts are not excited about the self-custody opportunities offered by Bitcoin.
“If everything is set up, Bitcoin is indeed easy to buy, but if not, everything becomes very difficult,” said Rafi Farber, publisher of the gold-focused market service platform End Game Investor, to Cointelegraph.
As one of Bitcoin's biggest critics, Farber highlighted the challenges of self-custody of Bitcoin, which requires holders to securely store their private keys, or they will lose access to their coins.
When using a self-custody wallet, users need to “remember a string of random words, or write them down and put them in a safe, and then copy and paste a string of meaningless code,” Farber said. “If you lose any code, or if there’s a power outage for some reason, you’re done.”
Farber's concerns about the challenges of self-custody are well-founded. Trezor, one of the most well-known self-custody wallet providers, acknowledges that usability remains one of the key issues facing self-custody wallets.
While some have attempted to offer simplified self-custody options, others insist that holding private keys is the only way to own cryptocurrency, which requires learning and entry, but is not without costs.
Is Bitcoin a Direct Competitor to Gold?
On the other hand, Farber stated that physical gold is “very easy to buy,” suggesting options like coin or jewelry stores.
“Yes, buying gold bars at a jewelry or coin store is easy—but that doesn’t mean you made a wise investment,” countered Stobox's Shemeliak. “Without verified sources, proper testing, reliable storage, and a liquid resale market, you are likely buying a souvenir rather than a true store of value.”
“In contrast, digital assets like Bitcoin or tokenized gold offer transparency, liquidity, and verifiability,” he added.
Shemeliak does not view Bitcoin and gold as direct competitors.
“Gold will always have historical value, but Bitcoin is building the financial infrastructure for the next 100 years,” he said.
At the time of publication, the price of spot gold was $3,327, up nearly 27% year-to-date (YTD), continuing to set new highs, according to TradingView data.
The situation for Bitcoin is less optimistic. Bitcoin reached a new high of about $110,000 in December 2024. According to CoinGecko data, Bitcoin is down 10% year-to-date, trading at $84,525 at the time of publication.
Related: Bitcoin whales absorb 300% of the new mined Bitcoin supply—Is the next target $100,000?
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