Bitcoin Replacing Gold as Store of Value, Cathie Wood Says

Cathie Wood stated that Bitcoin is generally easier to purchase than gold, or at least it appears that way to consumers.

Bitcoin, like many cryptos, is hardly limited in what it is able to do. It is a medium of exchange, an investment vehicle, and, of course, a store of value. Over the years, many people have used Bitcoin to preserve value for the future and this has proven to be effective. So effective, in fact, that ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood has said that Bitcoin is fast replacing gold as a store of value.

Bitcoin Overtaking Gold?

This declaration was made in a recent YouTube video where Wood said that there was a correlation between Bitcoin use and economic issues around the world. Referencing the regional bank issues of 2023, she noted that as the regional bank index was declining, Bitcoin sue was going up.

This would suggest, she believes, that consumers are turning more towards Bitcoin as a “flight of safety”. This sort of behavior is not new, as people have been putting their money into certain ‘safe’ assets that can be relied on regardless of the state of the economy. But usually, this has been in the form of gold.

While gold is still used for this purpose, Bitcoin seems to be seeing faster growth. Wood illustrated a chart showing the Bitcoin to gold ratio, and this shows a clear pattern. Commenting on it, she said:

“There’s now a substitution into Bitcoin and we think that is going to continue now that there is a much easier way, less friction-filled way to access Bitcoin.”

It has to be acknowledged that Bitcoin is generally easier to purchase than gold, or at least appears that way to consumers. So much of crypto’s public perception is that it can be bought from anywhere, while gold doesn’t seem to have the same perceived accessibility. On top of cryptos’ popularity with younger people, it is not surprising that more are turning to Bitcoin to combat economic issues.

How the ETF Comes In

Wood also touched on the impact of the spot Bitcoin ETF, which made waves in the industry in January 2024. As she explains, the regional bank index is experiencing issues once again and this coincided with the approval of the ETFs. Because of the general excitement around the ETFs and the issues with the index, more investors flocked to Bitcoin.

And since there are more ways now to buy Bitcoin thanks to the ETF, we can expect this trend to continue. Many Bitcoin critics like to point to an alleged lack of use for the token, but this shows that Bitcoin provides a haven for investors when the economy is in distress. With several countries potentially facing economic challenges in the near future, it will be interesting to see what Bitcoin uptake will look like.

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