A lot of people are using 'gold' as the measuring stick, but i dont think gold goes far enough.
The basis of all wealth is trust. Gold has value because people have trust that it won't be duplicated easily. The worth of all gold in the world is ~ 10 Trilion.
The stock market has value because people trust that commerce will continue to happen regardless of much else on the world. The value of all the world's stock is around 600 Trillion - which means there is more faith in the continued operation of companies than there is in the demand for gold.
The REAL breakthrough of bitcoin has nothing to do with money; it's the blockchain - an indisputable public record. If people trust that system to continue - a system oriented around an irrevocable record - it could easily be worth some fraction of the stock market. What happens if btc market cap goes up to 100T?
The basis of all wealth is trust. Gold has value because people have trust that it won't be duplicated easily. The worth of all gold in the world is ~ 10 Trilion.
The stock market has value because people trust that commerce will continue to happen regardless of much else on the world. The value of all the world's stock is around 600 Trillion - which means there is more faith in the continued operation of companies than there is in the demand for gold.
The REAL breakthrough of bitcoin has nothing to do with money; it's the blockchain - an indisputable public record. If people trust that system to continue - a system oriented around an irrevocable record - it could easily be worth some fraction of the stock market. What happens if btc market cap goes up to 100T?