Gold is a commodity that has been prized for its stability and ability to represent the concept of money. Some people believe that gold is money that allows fiat currencies to exist. However, many economists argue that money is a form of social relationships and nothing more. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, you have to admit that gold has been performing well for many institutionalized investors.
Many trust funds working with precious metals survived several recessions and managed to make millions for their partners. The low volatility and relatively stable growth of value separate many precious metals from other commodities and investment options. Even real estate has weaknesses, as was demonstrated in the 2008 financial crisis.
Vitalik Buterin believes that the global economy will dramatically change by 2040 allowing crypto to overtake gold as the most stable and reliable destination for large investments. In his interview with Noah Smith, the co-founder of the Ethereum network mentioned that crypto is here to stay and there’s not much anyone can do about it. The rate of adoption is slow, but it is inevitable. Simultaneously, many VCs and CEOs of large corporations are moving forward with plans to invest in blockchain products.
Buterin says that “existential questions” will be worked out by 2040 and will turn into a flexible technological foundation for scalable and dynamic economies. When cryptocurrencies become an irremovable part of the global economy, individual events and news stories will have little effect on the overall price dynamic creating a less volatile environment appealing to large investors.
Currently, we have a very different crypto market dominated by hyped-up projects that often do not have any use cases. Bitcoin and Ethereum are two notable exclusions alongside a couple of other projects, but many tokens are volatile and often get pumped instead of gaining value naturally. When the period of rampant speculative trading ends, we will have several stable ecosystems offering valuable services and low-risk investment opportunities.
We just need to weather the crypto winter and keep the big guys like BTC strong when it ends.