A new report from Coinbase bets on Bitcoin over Gold, citing its independence from physical supply chains.
The US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has recently published a report, arguing in favor of Bitcoin as opposed to gold. In the report, Coinbase suggested that bitcoin is superior and more advantageous, as it is not dependent on any physical supply chain. Coinbase acknowledged that both bitcoin and gold are scarce and globally accessible. However, the report suggests that gold’s recent supply crunch amid the COVID pandemic has resulted in bitcoin’s greater superiority.
Bitcoin over Gold
The report focussed on COVID’S impact on gold. It also shed light on Bitcoin’s advantages over gold – given its independence from fragile physical supply chains.
Coinbase explained, “If you buy a gold ring, you have no easy way to independently prove its purity. While there are machines that can verify small quantities of gold, they are expensive and difficult to operate. Imagine if a gold purity machine could simultaneously verify a public record of all gold transactions ever made in history. Currently, there are over 52k nodes operating in 96 countries to verify Bitcoin’s network.”
COVID’s effect on Bitcoin mining
According to Coinbase’s report, Bitcoin’s core protocol is functioning as usual, despite the ongoing pandemic. Moreover, it’s hash rate is also moving towards an all-time high. On the other hand, the global crisis has disrupted gold refineries, miners, and supply chains. There is no denying the fact that, Bitcoin is nearly as scarce as gold. However, the report points out at a few key differentiators – teleportability, auditability, privacy, and divisibility.
Currently, Bitcoin’s yearly supply rate is 3.6%. After the Bitcoin halving event on May 12th, it will drop down to around 1.7%. The entire crypto community is looking forward to the event, and there is a lot of guessing going on around its potential trend post-halving.