Gold has a physical form, while Bitcoin does not. With this, we can say that Bitcoin is more portable

Only a few years after its creation, many people compare Bitcoin with gold. They've dubbed Bitcoin "digital gold" because it has a low correlation with all other assets, particularly stocks, making it useful for storing value and hedging inflation. But just how related are Bitcoin and gold, and can Bitcoin ever replace gold?

What Is Gold?
Gold was discovered thousands of years ago, and it is challenging to credit its discovery to any individual as it was used in different regions of the world in the early days. However, the metal is widely used as a store of value, a function it has performed for thousands of years owing to its ability to maintain value over time and its immunity to adverse economic conditions. Gold has been a go-to asset to invest in during bear markets.

Gold has been widely used as a currency in many parts of the world. Presently, it is regarded as an asset for investment, a store of value, and is used for other purposes, including creating jewelry and adornments, medals and awards, and many other projects in the building and manufacturing industries.

What Is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a digital currency that operates independently of any intermediary, including banks and governments. It is built on blockchain technology and allows peer-to-peer transactions between its users. It was created in 2009 as the first cryptocurrency by a developer known as Satoshi Nakamoto. It remains the most valuable cryptocurrency to date.

Bitcoin is widely used as a payment method, and just like gold, it is also an asset that attracts investors and speculators.

4 Similarities Between Gold and Bitcoin
Let's look at some of the similarities between gold and Bitcoin:

1. Fungibility
   Fungibility refers to the ability of an asset to be exchanged for another asset of the same type. For example, both Bitcoin and gold are fungible, as you can exchange them for another identical asset of the same equivalent.

2. Rarity
   Gold and Bitcoin are rare and have a limited supply. The maximum number of Bitcoins that will ever exist is 21 million tokens, and it is projected to reach that number by the year 2140.

Gold also has a limited supply, and it is expected that the production of gold will decrease and that extracting gold will become harder because miners have extracted most of the gold close to the earth's surface. Their scarcity has made them, to a great extent, immune to inflation.

1. Hedging Opportunities
   Since they have a low correlation with the stock market, Bitcoin and gold offer a hedge against inflation. This quality makes them a possible go-to for investors seeking to hedge their positions.

2. Speculative Investments
   Bitcoin and gold offer opportunities for speculative investments. That is, you can make profits by predicting the price direction within many price fluctuations. Bitcoin is highly speculative, while gold isn't as volatile. However, investors also buy gold to make significant gains.

5 Differences Between Gold and Bitcoin
Below are some of the differences between gold and Bitcoin.

1. Regulation
   Gold is, to a great extent, a universal collateral. In many countries, you can access loans with gold as collateral. It is unusual to see the government frown on gold but rather on illegal gold mining and some unacceptable practices surrounding it.

On the other hand, Bitcoin cannot yet be considered a universal collateral. Moreover, Bitcoin has unclear regulatory status in many regions.

1. Tangibility
   Gold has a physical form, while Bitcoin does not. With this, we can say that Bitcoin is more portable than gold. You can move around with $100,000 worth of Bitcoin without problems since everything is on your smartphone as a virtual currency. It may be challenging to move around with the same amount of gold.