Many cryptocurrency supporters have referred to Bitcoin, the premier cryptocurrency, as a digital equivalent to gold. This statement, however, has not always been echoed by cryptocurrency skeptics. Nevertheless, one of JPMorgan’s former executives has now published an op-ed, arguing that this is increasingly becoming the case.

Bitcoin closer to becoming digital gold every day it doesn’t die

The professor in question, Alex Gurevich, is a professor of Mathematics and used to run JPMorgan’s Global Macro division. He has now published an opinion editorial on Yahoo! Finance, arguing that Bitcoin is moving towards becoming digital ”gold”.

More specifically, Gurevich poses the question of Bitcoin as an existential one – where ”what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”.

His main thesis rests on an assumption that every day that Bitcoin continues to exist, it proves itself further. Gurevich also prefaces his arguments with a rundown of why gold has been considered such an attractive store of value.

This stems from the fact that gold, and other precious metals, have been comparatively hard to corrupt. Moreover, how such metals ”do not oxidize easily and remain in an uncorrupted form” have allowed them to retain their value over time.

This is something that is equally true for Bitcoin, and indeed, other cryptocurrencies. Nevertheless, it is not as if gold has not faced competition from other precious metals. Gold is not the rarest precious metal, nor is it the rarest one.

Rather, its position was solidified by how it reached mainstream adoption all over the world. According to Gurevich, each day that Bitcoin becomes more ingrained in everyday life and society is a small victory for the cryptocurrency.

Gurevich: Time works for Bitcoin

”Despite the rise and fall of various altcoins and fork considerations, ’time’ works FOR Bitcoin, not AGAINST it. Every day it doesn’t disappear, it gets one step closer to a permanent status of digital gold,” Gurevich writes in his op-ed.

He also proposes that although Bitcoin seems set to become a type of ”digital gold”, there’s room for other cryptocurrencies. Gurevich’s prediction is that Ethereum will fight to become a form of ”digital copper”.

Specifically, this is motivated by Gurevich’s belief that the value of Ethereum will be motivated by demand for the technology. Demand for Bitcoin, on the other hand, will primarily be driven by demand for a store of value and liquidity.

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