Fort Knox, it ain’t.
A new controversy over fake gold bars has renewed enthusiasts pushing for Bitcoin as a transparent and verifiable asset.
William Suberg reports this morning in Cointelegraph on Reuters revelations that fake gold kilograms are apparently resting in bank vaults, leading to confusion and doubt about the verification of gold assets.
While 1000 of these counterfeit gold bars have been recovered so far, experts expect there are more in hiding.
J.P. Morgan spokespersons, in a press statement, called the bars “mismarked” and said it’s the bank’s standard practice to tell the appropriate authorities about fake gold uncovered during periodic checks.
With the price of gold per ounce up to around $1500, gold is a much sought-after precious metal in today’s economy as traders look to turn away from the turmoil in the global stock market.
However, another of these popular assets is Bitcoin the strongest cryptocurrency in the world with a current value of over $10,000 per coin.
In the past, Bitcoin and gold have tracked together through some of this market consternation.
As capricious trade wars between the U.S. and China roil markets, proponents of either very different type of asset see security and safety in gold and Bitcoin respectively.
Some say that gold is safer because it’s an actual physical commodity.
Others say that Bitcoin is safer because it’s verifiable and part of the transparent blockchain system.
With today’s fake gold news, Bitcoin bulls are coming out of the woodwork.
“Think of a Bitcoin full node as a ‘fake Bitcoin detector’ — all you need to verify ‘purity’ of your Bitcoin is a Raspberry Pi.” Wrote poster Bitcoin Wizard, as quoted in Suberg’s piece. ‘
Tech media people are taking note, too.
“Regulators and politicians may want to revisit their anti-crypto rhetoric in light of this development since Bitcoin cannot be faked,” writes Martin Young at NewsBTC.
The contest between gold and BTC probably isn’t going away soon, according to those watching from the commentariat.
“There is a war going on with bitcoin and gold right now. Which side will prevail is to be determined,” writes Leon Gibbs commenting on Suberg’s piece.
