Fun on Friday: You Can’t Do that with Bitcoin

How would you like to walk on gold?

You can do it at the Akron Art Museum.

Artist Rachel Sussman has filled cracks in the museum floor with gold.

Yes. Real gold. Stuffed in cracks in the cement floor.

It’s art.

I guess.

Sussman used an ancient Japanese technique to repair cracks in the floor with a resin made out of gold dust. Associate museum curator Theresa Bembnister explained Sussman’s work in a statement. (This is really highbrow, so you’ll get a better effect if you turn on some classical music and imagine this being read by an NPR reporter.)

Rachel Sussman’s installation should take visitors by surprise. She will ‘repair’ a system of cracks in the museum lobby floor using a Japanese technique known as kintsukuroi … Rather than disguise cracks or breakage, kintsukuroi is meant to honor a repair as part of an object’s history.”

I have to admit. It looks pretty cool. Maybe it is art after all.

According to the Akron Beacon Journal, Sussman made the resin out of tree sap, bronze dust, and 23.5-karat gold. The resulting compound is extremely durable, so the area will remain open to foot traffic.

Yes indeed,  you can go to Akron and literally walk on gold.

Cue the classical music again because I have some more highbrow narration for you.

This is a subtle yet beautiful work to come upon. Located near the main entrance and reception desk area, the installation does not overpower you. Rather, it highlights the building and the materials used to create it in a special way.”

On a side note, I found it amusing that the reporter who wrote this story for the Beacon Journal devoted an entire paragraph explaining how concrete is made – and that it cracks.

Thanks for that.

Now, I’m not altogether sure filling cracks in concrete is the best use of gold. I mean, like I said, the visual aspect did kind of win me over when I was scrolling through the pictures. But I don’t have any plans to powder up some of my gold and go to work on my driveway. I can just go to Lowe’s and pick up some crack-fill.

I do have to say this though – you can’t do that with Bitcoin.

Yeah, yeah. I know. The cryptocurrency blasted through $16,000 this week. But when you fill cracks in your floor with Bitcoin, you just end up with – cracks in your floor.

Because Bitcoin doesn’t really exist.

It’s not a real thing.

Before all of you hardcore Bitcoin people out there get all indignant and start pounding out nasty emails, sell .0000000001 Bitcoin and buy a sense of humor. I’m just kidding around with you. I recognize the value of Bitcoin. I’m not anti-cryptocurrency. I just think it’s amusing how some of the crypto people out there get all worked up and go apoplectic at the slightest criticism of Bitcoin. I’m going for the reaction. This is, after all, Fun on Friday.

But in all seriousness, I don’t understand the either-or attitude some people have when it comes to the crypto vs. gold debate. I’m not even sure why that’s a debate. I think a diversified approach to investing is wise. You would never buy one stock or one bond and call that an investment portfolio. Diversifying your cryptocurrency portfolio with precious metals can help mitigate some of the potential downsides and put you in an overall stronger financial position.

Plus, if you buy gold, you can always patch up your driveway.

Fun on Friday is a weekly SchiffGold feature. We dig up some of the off-the-wall and off-beat stories relating to precious metals and the economy, and share them with you – with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Click here to read other posts in this series.

Get Peter Schiff’s most important Gold headlines once per week – click here – for a free subscription to his exclusive weekly email updates.
Interested in learning how to buy gold and buy silver?
Call 1-888-GOLD-160 and speak with a Precious Metals Specialist today!