On Tuesday, July 29th, Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong, in his consistent advocacy for Bitcoin, shared thoughts that Bitcoin might actually be better than traditional fiat currencies and every other form of money during the latest episode of the Shawn Ryan Show tagged “Mining 21 Million Bitcoins.”
While the statement has stirred reactions among market participants, with many showing support for the narrative, Armstrong has shared this bullish view despite Bitcoin’s negative price actions in the past days. This highlights investors’ unwavering stance on the asset and its relevance in the global financial system despite recurring market hurdles.
Armstrong scores Bitcoin as good money against gold
In his statement, Armstrong described Bitcoin as “probably” the best form of money ever created in comparison to gold and every other item ever used as money since the emergence of trade, emphasizing its solid monetary qualities despite regulatory limitations.
While Armstrong considers “money” as a common medium of exchange that specifically breaks the barriers of exchange caused by the diversities in human wants, he explained that certain qualities like scarcity, durability, portability, visibility, and more, required of good money, are found in Bitcoin.
According to Armstrong, gold is a good form of money considering its durability and significance in storing value, but it weighs far below Bitcoin when scoring its monetary qualities, as Bitcoin possesses all of gold’s monetary values and more.
He further explained that while gold is a good store of value, it cannot be easily moved about nor make cross-border transactions like Bitcoin can. While the Coinbase CEO has described Bitcoin as a digital gold, he emphasized that Bitcoin boasts the crucial properties of gold and additional qualities that gold does not have.
Nonetheless, the Bitcoin advocate emphasized Bitcoin’s decentralized nature, which allows it to operate on a blockchain that is not controlled by the government or a centralized authority, allowing users to execute transactions with adequate transparency, security, and global accessibility.
Although Bitcoin portrays certain limitations in the face of market volatilities, the asset’s decentralized nature and scarcity present the leading cryptocurrency as a good form of money against traditional fiat money.
In contrast to speculations from critics, Bitcoin stands beyond a mere speculative asset, but a viable financial instrument.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team