Home Precious Metals
Options

Should someone only own gold, or also crypto

HalfDimeHalfDime Posts: 379 ✭✭✭✭

Owning both gold and cryptocurrencies—rather than only one—can provide a more balanced and resilient investment portfolio. Here’s why:

Gold is a proven store of value with a long history as a hedge against inflation and market downturns. It is less volatile, more stable, and widely recognized internationally. Its track record spans thousands of years, making it a reliable asset for wealth preservation.

Cryptocurrencies (especially Bitcoin) offer greater portability, easier storage and transfer, and higher potential upside due to their relative novelty and adoption potential. However, they are much more volatile and speculative, with risks tied to regulation and technological change.

Experts and financial commentators generally recommend diversification: holding both assets helps reduce overall portfolio risk and can improve long-term returns, as their price movements are not closely correlated. Gold can help cushion against sharp drops in crypto, while crypto can offer growth that gold may not match in the short term.

"Owning both bitcoin and gold in your portfolio could be a winning combination – so long as you rebalance from time to time."

"Investors who own cryptos would benefit from adding gold to their portfolios, to reduce overall risks and increase long-term underlying returns."

The ideal allocation depends on your risk tolerance, investment goals, and time horizon. If you are risk-averse, a higher proportion in gold may make sense; if you seek higher growth and can tolerate volatility, you might lean more toward crypto. Many suggest starting with a small allocation to each and adjusting over time as your circumstances and the market evolve.

The market capitalization of the global gold supply in 2025 is estimated to be between $20 trillion and $23.5 trillion, depending on the spot price of gold and the total supply figure used.

The total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies is approximately $3.36 trillion. This figure is supported by multiple sources, with CoinGecko reporting $3.46 trillion and CoinMarketCap listing $3.36 trillion, reflecting minor variations due to real-time price fluctuations and data aggregation methods.

The current market capitalization of silver is approximately $2.09 trillion. This figure is calculated by multiplying the current silver price (about $37 per ounce) by the estimated total amount of silver ever mined, which is around 1,751,000 metric tonnes. This places silver among the top ten largest assets globally by market cap.
.......................................................
This is the shocker of the day. Crypto has overtaken silver in market cap now. Nobody could have ever guessed this fifteen years ago.

Comments

  • HalfDimeHalfDime Posts: 379 ✭✭✭✭
    edited July 6, 2025 8:56PM

    Bitcoin itself just passed silver in Market cap. Gold blows everything else away.

  • jmski52jmski52 Posts: 23,209 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited July 7, 2025 4:31AM

    There is no real comparison between a physical precious metal vs. any crypto currency.

    There is however a direct comparison between a fiat currency vs. a crypto currency. The main difference is that fiat is created by a government entity and crypto is created by the tech industry. Both are created electronically out of thin air. This puts both fiat and crypto into the realm of mass delusion.

    Portfolio Theory holds that diversification among asset classes can provide more certainty of outcome, but does that really take into account that crypto is 100% fully dependent upon the internet and the internet connection?

    To be sure, even precious metals have an element of speculation that is based on real world activity such as mining or banking or industrial use. The difference is that crypto as an "investment" is 100% FOMO speculation based on ponzi-style software machinations that benefits the early adopters and virtually no one else.

    The fact remains, "One is real and I can hold it in my hand. The other is make-believe." I'll stick with precious metals.

    Q: Are You Printing Money? Bernanke: Not Literally

    I knew it would happen.
  • tincuptincup Posts: 5,361 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Agree with PerryHall and jmski52. As a comment, money has progressed from precious metals in hand (coinage), to paper promises, to electronic blips made up from nothing. That's progress? I guess. But not something that I put much trust into.

    Can you make money from Bitcoin / cryptocurrencies? Absolutely. As long as others continue to buy into the scheme, play the 'mining' game, etc.

    But eventually everything tends to revert back to whence it came. You know... kinda like the 'ashes to ashes, dust to dust'. An electronic 'blip' is...... just an electronic 'blip', until it isn't around anymore. At least a lump of gold or silver is still a lump of silver.

    ----- kj
  • tincuptincup Posts: 5,361 ✭✭✭✭✭

    But to each their own... we all make our decisions and place our bets.

    ----- kj
  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,547 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The shocker of the day is how dumbed down we are with artificial intelligence.

  • psuman08psuman08 Posts: 374 ✭✭✭✭

    I've said it before, but those that want to continue to call bitcoin make believe may want to read, The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking.

    My 84-year-old father read the book and now understands the value of bitcoin. Prior to reading the book he had the same feelings as the comments above. Many times, folks poo poo things they simply do not understand.

    I am not all-in on BTC but certainly have added it to my portfolio at levels consistent with my risk tolerances. As, @tincup said, to each their own.

  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 29,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Gold, keep the rest ;)

  • derrybderryb Posts: 37,593 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Bitcoin hit a new all time high today.

    No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left

  • JimTylerJimTyler Posts: 3,691 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @TwoSides2aCoin said:
    The shocker of the day is how dumbed down we are with artificial intelligence.

    I often think my intelligence is only artificial

  • MsMorrisineMsMorrisine Posts: 35,566 ✭✭✭✭✭

    should the holders of only bitcoin buy gold too

    Current maintainer of Stone's Master List of Favorite Websites // My BST transactions
  • blitzdudeblitzdude Posts: 6,463 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @MsMorrisine said:
    should the holders of only bitcoin buy gold too

    They should own both. RGDS!

    The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
    BOOMIN!™
    Wooooha! Did someone just say it's officially "TACO™" Tuesday????

  • ashelandasheland Posts: 23,696 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I started to tinker with crypto a few months ago… To me it’s kind of a gamble and it is kind of fun to keep an eye on it and watch but my true “savings” is gold and silver.

  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,547 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @MsMorrisine said:
    should the holders of only bitcoin buy gold too

    The question(statement) is : Should someone only own gold ,or also crypto.

    My question is “ Who is someone ? “ Anyone ? Many can ill afford either.

  • HalfDimeHalfDime Posts: 379 ✭✭✭✭

    The crypto with the highest market cap is bitcoin, but the crypto with the most market share for transactions is ethereum. This is what is going to be used for most of the stablecoins coming out.

  • blitzdudeblitzdude Posts: 6,463 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @HalfDime said:
    The crypto with the highest market cap is bitcoin, but the crypto with the most market share for transactions is ethereum. This is what is going to be used for most of the stablecoins coming out.

    The majority of my crypto holdings are in the BTC (The Gold Standard) but I do own/hold/continue to add the ETH as well. RGDS!

    The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
    BOOMIN!™
    Wooooha! Did someone just say it's officially "TACO™" Tuesday????

  • OnlyGoldIsMoneyOnlyGoldIsMoney Posts: 3,416 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @PerryHall said:
    One is real and I can hold it in my hand. The other is make-believe. Guess which one I want to hold onto. :)

    This

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,782 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @OnlyGoldIsMoney said:

    @PerryHall said:
    One is real and I can hold it in my hand. The other is make-believe. Guess which one I want to hold onto. :)

    This

    I'm not surprised that you agree with me considering your forum name. :D

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • If BitCoin were easier to buy (and hold) , then I would have bought some a few years ago.

    Gold is easy to buy and hold.

  • pcgsregistrycollectorpcgsregistrycollector Posts: 1,254 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Crypto is fake BS

    God comes first in everything I do. I’m dedicated to serving Him with my whole life. Coin collecting is just a hobby—but even in that, I seek to honor Him. ✝️

Sign In or Register to comment.