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Cryptocurrency history has been made by Bulgaria. According to an article recently published by Trustnodes, Bulgaria is the first nation to register a higher Bitcoin reserve compared to its gold reserves. The country holds BTC worth over $2 billion compared to $1.5 billion held in gold reserves.

The BTC reserves grew to over 200,000 following an investigation that led to the seizure of BTC which was worth $500 million at the time. As reported by the South European Law Enforcement Centre, a cybercrime investigation on a specific virus led to the exposure of an organized crime group that included Bulgarian nationals. This resulted in the seizure of the BTC being held in Bulgarian reserves.

Is Bitcoin Becoming The New ‘Digital Gold?’

Gold is highly valued due to its demand that has lasted over thousands of years. Its appeal to the public and its scarcity remain its critical contributing factors to its high valuation. Currently, gold is valued at just over $1,400.

Turning to BTC, it has similar attributes to gold, which are also making it highly valued. Both gold and BTC share scarcity and public appeal as key attributes; however, unlike gold, BTC creates more appeal because of its usability, efficiency, and convenience. Its disruptive power against existing financial systems while also having the ability to complement them makes BTC a crucial chess piece in the global financial market.

The chart above shows the year-to-date price movements of BTC with its current price, at the time of writing, just over $10,000. The value of Bitcoin is more than seven times the value of gold, showing only how highly the coin ranks. It may not be the most valuable asset, globally. Nonetheless, it can easily claim the title ‘Digital Gold.’

Storing Value In BTC

Bulgaria has just made history. Depending on the price of BTC, the status of BTC reserves being higher in value than gold may remain unchanged.

Now, is storing value in BTC a good idea? Well, as aforementioned, BTC and gold have similar attributed that may help keep BTC’s prices high. However, a country storing most of its value in BTC may not be advisable considering the unwavering demands on cryptocurrencies being placed by other countries.

Many countries are still trying to understand BTC and how it may be of service to them. Incidences of insecurity and some obscurities in cryptocurrency operations are making it harder for countries to accept and adopt them fully. However, countries are also afraid of financial systems being disrupted, a scenario which is highly possible when using cryptocurrencies.

Despite the negativity surrounding cryptocurrencies, countries like China, which previously stood their ground on the technology, are now embracing cryptocurrencies. Platforms such as Bakkt are also releasing financial products around cryptocurrencies. With more of such examples likely to come as the awareness of blockchain and cryptocurrencies grow, the world will likely embrace cryptocurrencies eventually.

Today kicks off user acceptance testing @ICE_Markets for the Bakkt Bitcoin Daily & Monthly Futures contracts Testing is proceeding as planned with participants from around the world — Bakkt (@Bakkt) July 22, 2019

The twitter post references the test launch of a futures contract purely trading through BTC.

With platforms such as Bakkt making institutional investments in BTC possible, we may likely see an increase in BTC investment by the institution. Their success and positive growth in BTC value may influence governments to opt for digital coins as a store of value. The only hindrance may be price volatility; however, this too is being sorted out by a maturing market.

There are many in the community with the consensus that BTC is better than gold at being gold. Members of the crypto community such as Max Keiser on Twitter believe so, openly stating, “Stick to #Bitcoin. It’s better than Gold.”

However, as a store of value for governments, only time will tell.

Featured Image Source: Vacation To The World