Bitcoin and the blockchain are joined at the hip – so much so that a lot of people don’t distinguish between the two. Cryptocurrency and blockchain have almost become synonymous. But in fact, they are two different things, and it’s important to understand the distinction.
The blockchain is a technology. Cryptocurrency is a medium of exchange or a store of value that operates on that technology. You can have a blockchain without cryptocurrency, but you can’t have cryptocurrency without a blockchain. In fact, there are a lot of other possible uses for the blockchain beyond serving as a platform for bitcoin.
There is a lot of talk about Bitcoin versus gold, but the blockchain technology that serves as the foundation for Bitcoin may become an important part of the gold market in the future.
According to a Bloomberg report, the London Bullion Market Association (LMBA) plans to seek proposals including the use of blockchain to track gold ownership.
Markets in commodities from crude oil to diamonds and even tomatoes are looking at using the digital ledger technology that underpins cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin — known to some as ‘digital gold’ — to track ownership. Tracing gold supply is key to preventing metal that funds armed conflict from entering world markets, identifying owners and maintaining security from mine to vault.”
Financial guru Jim Rickards weighed in on the Bitcoin vs. gold debate and came down firmly on the side of the yellow metal. In fact, he’s said there really shouldn’t be a debate. Bitcoin and gold are two totally different things.
Rickards responded to a recent note published by Goldman Sachs declaring that Bitcoin is not the new gold in a column published at the Daily Reckoning. He said he doesn’t really like talking about Bitcoin and doesn’t think there is any real comparison between the cryptocurrency and gold.
We’ve heard a lot about Russian election hacking over the last year. But Jim Rickards said there is only one Russia story that really matters – that is the country’s efforts to break away from the hegemony of the US dollar and the dollar payment system that currently dominates global trade.
Over 60% of global reserves and 80% of the world’s payments are in dollars. But Russia is taking steps to free itself from dollar dominance. And As Rickards points out, the most aggressive weapon in the Russian war against the dollar is gold.
As we reported last month, gold creates a foundation for Russia and China to shift economic power from the West to the East.
