gold is backed by thousands of years of history.

Also, gold has some qualities that Bitcoin does not have. On the other hand, Bitcoin does have some qualities gold ddoes not have. They are complementary.

Yes, I think the biggest fear they have is the fact that gold has been used as money for centuries. With that being said, gold gains a significant increase in value. Also for centuries mankind has used gold to show off wealth in the form of jewelry. The other major use of gold is to produce coins or bars which is obviously used for investing. The reason people invest it/hoard it is simply because at one point it was used as money.

If this idea that gold is money is ever put at jeopardy then guess what happens to the value of gold? Falls off a cliff. Bitcoin puts seep competition against gold because lets face it, bitcoins are finite, difficult to obtain, and easier to transfer than gold.

Just to put it into perspective: Bitcoin is the cubic zirconia of the diamond industry. Why buy a real diamond when you can buy a zirconia diamond at a fraction of the cost?

The only real uses for gold are in the dental industry, electronics industry and scientific industry which only consume about 10% of the mined production. The rest goes into investments or jewelry. Most of the world entire history of mined gold is still in existence (ie. not thrown away). This is because most of it is recycled.

Should be interesting to see how that unfolds since bitcoin is impossible to stop just like torrents or wikileaks. If you ban bitcoins in the us then you can still use them in other parts of the world. Many people think that the us government can just write a law and shut down bitcoin network or something, as if there is one central server controlling the whole network.

In many parts of the world, the government has alot bigger issue to worry about than some kids using bitcoins. Also, lets face the fact that some countries stand to gain if btc is widely used.

Salt was backed by thousands of years of history ... until somebody invented the refrigerator.

In spanish, wage is called "salario", and that comes from being payed with "sal" (salt).

You have to understand there is a major correlation. The reason gold trades at the value it does is primarily because people place a value on it. In most parts of the world gold is the symbol of wealth and money. It is the stuff of kings and empires. There is a huge value being placed on gold for those qualities. BUT that value ONLY exists if people think that gold = wealth. If that idea is ever lost, then gold will be like just any other metal and will trade primarily at the value placed on it by industrial consumers.

I understand that. I don't understand how that contradicts anything I've said?

I was explaining why goldbugs fear bitcoin. Most goldbugs believe that gold is money and will eventually be used as money again. Thats why they hate bitcoin. If the dollar collapses and people start to use bitcoin instead of gold, there goes their big plan of gold going up 10,000,000%.

But of course many libertarians (such as myself) see bitcoin as just another currency and yes I agree with you that gold and bitcoin can compliment each other (but I prefer to hold silver, myself).