Why FED Chairman thinks Bitcoin is a substitute for gold

Reynaldo Marquez

4 years ago

2 mins read

Reason to trust

Strict editorial policy that focuses on accuracy, relevance, and impartiality

Created by industry experts and meticulously reviewed

The highest standards in reporting and publishing

How Our News is Made

Strict editorial policy that focuses on accuracy, relevance, and impartiality

Ad discliamer

Morbi pretium leo et nisl aliquam mollis. Quisque arcu lorem, ultricies quis pellentesque nec, ullamcorper eu odio.

In the Bank of International Settlements Innovation Summit, the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell referred to cryptocurrencies and their position next to the dollar.

For Powell, assets such as Bitcoin present very high fluctuations in their price and have no “underlying valued”, a position familiar to the official:

Crypto assets are highly volatile — see Bitcoin — and therefore not really useful as a store of value. They’re not backed by anything. They’re more of an asset for speculation.

This time he stated that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies could be a replacement for gold. For the first time, Powell seemed to hint at Bitcoin as a legitimate part of the global markets.

However, his main focus is fixed on stablecoin and the potential to create a new system with a better experience for the consumer. Powell said:

Stablecoins may have a role to play with appropriate regulation, but that role will not be to form the basis of a new global monetary system. A global currency governed by the incentives of a private company is something that will deserve and will receive the highest level of regulatory expectations.

All in place for more BTC price appreciation

Analyst Ben Lilly has published a report on key events that might set Bitcoin’s price outlook for the incoming days. The analyst believes that Powell’s intervention has taken into account the recent interest of institutions in the cryptocurrency.

Therefore he considers that the chances of Bitcoin being “banned” are decreasing. This favors the cryptocurrency in the long term, due to the loss of confidence people might have in the current global reserve currency and its ability to maintain its purchasing power.

I think bitcoin is the threat for policymakers in terms of where does capital go when government’s currency/financial system experience capital flight? Aka when people lose trust in your currency, where do they go? Bitcoin has properties that gold can’t compete with.

According to the analyst, the Fed chairman has two additional appearances during the week. Therefore, he expects subsequent announcements to continue to impact the performance of the traditional market and the Bitcoin price.

Reflecting on the macro outlook for Bitcoin, Ben Lilly believes the bull market still has room to grow. Citing data from Glassnode, the analyst has determined that the percentage of active Bitcoin supply over a year stands at 56%.

Comparing the current price action to previous bull markets, Ben Lily believes that BTC will top out when this metric stands between 47% and 48%. Setting October 2021 as a potential date for Bitcoin to reach its top, the analyst added:

That’s approximately where I think we currently are if this cycle were to be the same as the last bull cycle. Meaning this cycle has more room to push higher.

Bitcoin price is still moving sideways with a negative 0.9% performance on the last day. Although in recent weeks the gains have not been significant, the cryptocurrency has been resilient and has managed to hold key support levels above $55,000.

Bitcoin BTC — Bitcoin with side movement in the 24-hour chart. Source: BTCUSD Tradingview

Reynaldo Marquez

A literature major, Reynaldo Márquez has been deeply immersed in the crypto industry since 2017. His journey began with translating articles for various crypto news outlets, a role he took on with zeal. In 2018, amidst a challenging market, he embraced his first writing assignment, demonstrating his unwavering commitment to the nascent industry and the promise of change it bears for many people worldwide.
In March 2021, he joined the prestigious crypto news outlet NewsBTC and Bitcoinist, where he not only reported on the latest crypto news but also had the privilege of interviewing some of the industry's most influential figures. A year later, his dedication and hard work were recognized, and he was promoted to Managing Editor, a position he currently holds with pride.
He believes in honesty, good communication, hard work, and the power of cryptocurrency and its potential to transform people's lives, especially those alienated by the legacy financial system. Born in 1992 in Venezuela, Reynaldo is familiar with how governments and central banks can negatively affect people, their everyday lives, and their futures by creating inflation and erasing their hopes for a better future. Thus, like many Venezuelans, he embraced this new technology to help him and his family navigate difficult times.
In another life, Reynaldo would have pursued a career as an investigator, most likely tracking down the origins of the Cyberpunk movement with the publication of William Gibson’s ‘Neuromancer.’ The intersection between fiction and reality, with the materialization of Bitcoin in 2009, would have allowed him to dive deep into the crypto sphere as something more than a financial phenomenon but also a cultural shift in society that was brewing since the XX century, and maybe even sooner, in the XIX century with the publication of Henry David Thoreau’s ‘Civil Disobedience.’
But that’s for another life. In this one, Reynaldo has been trading to improve his trading skills. Since 2023, he has been trying to learn Python to create successful strategies and find ways to execute them. It is a difficult task, which continues to keep him busy today and will most likely continue to keep him busy in the near and long term.
In his free time, he enjoys lifting heavy objects, reading, watching movies, and listening to his favorite music. Some of his favorite authors are Walt Whitman, William Faulkner, Allen Ginsberg, James Baldwin, Raymond Carver, Ray Bradbury, George Orwell, Mario Vargas Llosa, Reinaldo Arenas, Rafael Cadenas, and many others. Lately, he has been primarily interested in reading about dystopic societies, a topic that deeply resonates with the crypto industry.
Since 2023, he has lived in Spain with his wife. He loves the weather, the food, and the people and their culture. They both expect to travel much more within the country they now call home and beyond its border. He hopes to retire with his wife, maybe in a quiet place near a beach, but most likely in a city close to a library and a university with his kids and, hopefully, grandkids.

Disclaimer: The information found on NewsBTC is for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.