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0 pointsmrtksn5y ago0 comments

The idea behind it is that it is useful beyond the accounting.

Gold has a very little intrinsic value. Decorative and tool making value due to its physical properties are there but they are minor comparatively.

BTC has none. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a value, of course but it’s simply a value within a certain ecosystem.

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6 comments · 2 top-level

hutzlibu5y ago· 4 in thread

"Gold has a very little intrinsic value. "

Not really true, the only reason it is not used much more widely in electronic components, despite being superior to copper, is the high price it has, because of its function as value storage.

xxs5y ago

Gold is not superior to copper for everything - incl. the most important one feature: conductivity. Gold (22.14 nΩ⋅m) is, of course, a lot less chemically active which makes it ideal for terminals, contacts, etc. (and mostly as plating agent), however as a sole conductor it's worse than copper (16.78 nΩ⋅m). Gold has worse thermal conductivity as well... and it's a lot heavier.

That being said, it's still a very valuable material for electronics.

hutzlibu5y ago

Thx, for some reasons I believed it was also superior in conductivity.

lagadu5y ago

One of the most important features gold has is its ductility: it can be made into extremely thin, unbroken wires.

mrtksnOP5y ago

Gold is simply one of the metals in the universe and has different strength and weaknesses depending on the application.

It's not true that gold is naturally superior, in fact Gold is often mixed with other metals to create alloys to overcome certain issues. Pure gold is too soft for most of the practical uses like jewellery for example, so they add copper to it.

timdaub5y ago

OK but then considering your definition, I'd disagree. Bitcoin but more importantly general purpose blockchains (e.g. ETH) give rise to digital economies where real people can participate and earn money through work. Since 2019, I've now - for multiple months - been able to make an income by coding for various DAOs. Surely, BTC/ETH was used for accounting. But the social structures that formed and enabled me to have an income I can pay my rent with are of value to me and only existed because of the blockchain's technological capabilities (e.g. smart contracts). Ergo, there's intrinsic value beyond accounting.

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