Bitcoin crash sparks investor appetite for gold
A major correction on the cryptocurrency market has revived investor interest in the world's oldest commodity. Gold has seen a breakneck-paced rally this month.
Bullion dealer Sharps Pixley said physical gold sales increased fivefold on Wednesday, as people were willing to sell digital gold and buy the real thing.
“Yesterday was a hell of a crazy day. Emails and phones did not stand still with customers asking how they could turn their crypto into gold,” Director Daniel Marburger told Bloomberg.
Investors having 1,000 bitcoins and more are willing to dump them and buy physical metal, a gold trader told the media.
“Bitcoin is a bit of a lobster pot – it’s easy to get in, but hard to get out. Gold also offers investors 4,000 years of history as a store of value, and that’s looking quite appealing right now,” he said.
While bitcoin and the US dollar fell, gold rallied 7.5 percent in December to a four-month high.
Bitcoin has appreciated 2 percent on Thursday, trading at above $11,000 per token. On the previous trading session, it dropped to as low as $9,400, marking more than a 50 percent loss in just a month.
With China preparing to expand the crackdown on cryptocurrencies, many investors are worried it could mean the end of the digital money rally or even worse.
Investors are saying bitcoin has similar advantages to gold, as it is also decentralized unlike fiat currencies. However, while you can hold gold in your hands, cryptocurrencies are held either on servers or hard drives.
For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section
