Cryptocurrencies are gaining strength from the protests in the United States
During the past couple of weeks, there have been several events that have awoken the feeling of protecting human rights all over the world. Thousands of people went out in the streets claiming for human equality and rights. They also spoke and made social media campaigns for defending those who can’t. Thus, these events are generating collateral effects, especially in the United States.
The riots that have broken out are causing great uncertainty in the financial markets. Many stocks in companies plummeted over the first weekend of June 2020, and this has caused much concern in the US stock market. As the COVID-19 outbreak begins to decline in the United States, protests, riots, and an outbreak of violence are rapidly spreading. Fears about economic uncertainty and civil unrest have fueled a surge in the gold markets. Following this collapse, investors are betting on making future investments in gold, due to its primary characteristic, which is the safe heaven, where gold is stored. However, these recent events and riots are highlighting why Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are a much safer heaven than gold.
The recent riots and looting of physical assets that are occurring in several cities in the United States are forcing people to find other solutions to protect their wealth. Gold is one of the solutions they are acquiring. But storing physical assets, like gold, carries several risks.
Many people and investors are storing their gold in external vaults managed by third parties. This is a big disadvantage for this solution, as every movement for transferring the gold requires a long bureaucratic process. Appointments, legal documents, and signatures are some of the processes that are required to do for every owner. Basically, they do not have absolute control over their wealth. Security is another issue for storing gold, as some investors opt for storing their own gold bricks in safe-deposit boxes in their houses. This may sound safe, but these boxes are more likely to be stolen for what they store, in this case, the gold.
As mentioned before, the increase for investing in gold has increased due to the recent riots. But Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies’ investment is also on the rise. Unlike gold, Bitcoin and ¨Altcoins¨ have what is called digital benefits, among other advantages. These assets are not managed by third parties, but they are under the absolute control of the owner. This enables the capability of storing, sending, or receiving digital assets without the need of any intermediary. Digital assets are also more secure, as they are encrypted, which means they are more safely stored. But beyond these two advantages, cryptocurrencies share more than efficiency and safety. They are transparent. This characteristic will allow investors to track and be aware of their digital wealth all-time through a distributed ledger, where none transaction can be tampered, making this a more trustful solution.
Metaphorically speaking, you could say that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are like digital gold bricks, but that are strictly under the control of the owner -no intermediaries; and that can be stored in a digital safe-box that you can always carry with you and no one will be able to open it without your authorization. In a world of chaos and growing mistrust of government or third-party entities, cryptocurrencies are taking the gold crown by being the safest heaven that currently exists.
