Bitcoin, Monero, and Gold are “Allies” in the Private Currency War

Bitcoin naysayers have often made the claim that bitcoin isn’t backed by anything. While the same can be said for fiat currencies, as the gold standard ended decades ago in most parts of the world, things are about to change once more yet another of one of the largest precious metals dealers is now accepting bitcoin for purchases. Another dealer is also taking payments in the privacy-centric monero (XMR).

Trading for Bitcoin for Gold, Silver, and Platinum

The American Precious Metals Exchange, APMEX, now joins the ranks of other precious metals dealers that accept bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies including JP Bullion, Amagi Metals, and several others. Through these companies, customers can purchase a variety of valuable metals including gold, silver, palladium, platinum, and copper, in a variety of forms including bars, coins, and other mints and forms. APMEX is also offering a four percent cash discount on all orders made with bitcoin. Purchases made with credit cards or PayPal do not get this discount. For those in Europe or the UK, Sharps Pixley Ltd. offers a variety of precious metals for bitcoin.

So how much gold can a single bitcoin buy at today’s prices? Assuming a bitcoin price of $17,000, this could buy about 13 ounces of Credit Suisse branded gold bars sold by the ounce. This is nearly one pound or approximately 370 grams of solid .999 gold. When it comes to silver, a single bitcoin can purchase a mind-boggling 1022 ounces, which are equal to a whopping 64 pounds or 29 kg of solid 100-ounce silver bars.

Turning Monero into Literal Gold

Bitcoin, however, is not the only cryptocurrency that can be exchanged for precious metals. Silverround.com is now the first metals dealer to accept Monero as payment. This will come as great news to privacy enthusiasts who not only want to store their assets on the blockchain but also in physical assets that have proven to be a good store of value for thousands of years.

In a post on Reddit from the official Silver Round account, the company noted that Monero appealed to them because they see “a lot of parallels between Monero and gold as a private currency.” The company ended their post by saying that when it comes to both gold and crypto, if you don’t hold it, you don’t own it.

Why are various precious metals dealers beginning to move into the cryptocurrency space? In an article written by Andy Hoffman, a financial analyst, and self-professed “gold bug,” bitcoin and gold are allies. Hoffman describes the current financial system as “the largest most destructive Ponzi scheme,” and that it is about to end. Hoffman believes that the current financial system is in fact on a rapid downward path from which it cannot recover. This is in large part due to the way debt is handled, such as the fractional reserve system employed by essentially all banks and financial institutions.

He further states that cryptocurrencies represent an ideal store of value. If stored properly, such as with a sufficiently secure hardware wallet, cryptocurrency cannot be seized by any government.

Famed Bitcoin evangelist Andreas Antonopoulos describes the processes for moving digital assets out of the digital realm as off-ramps. With these additional precious metals dealers accepting cryptocurrencies, those seeking non-fiat currency based stores of value now have more choices in what off-ramp they can decide to take. While precious metals do not have the dazzling returns of bitcoin and others, diversifying into physical assets may be a useful avenue for someone who has made a good fortune with cryptocurrency.