On Saturday, Jan. 3, Samson Mow sparked a new debate across the crypto ecosystem, declaring a clear distinction about Bitcoin’s scarcity in contrast to that of gold, which may soon become flexible.
According to the pro-Bitcoin advocate, Bitcoin’s scarcity remains stable at the mathematically fixed supply of 21 million coins, and nothing can be transmuted into Bitcoin.
"Gold alchemy" from Fusion threatens scarcity
Mow’s assertion on Bitcoin’s stable scarcity came after scientists at Marathon Fusion declared a successful discovery of a scalable method to transmute mercury into gold.
According to the researchers, future fusion power plants will be able to use mercury to produce roughly two metric tons of gold per gigawatt of thermal energy each year.
They further stressed that the newly discovered gold production system does not reduce electricity output, and could double the overall revenue of fusion plants.
Over the years, gold’s value is believed to be majorly dependent on its natural scarcity and difficulty of extraction, however, this may not be the case for long.
Once the research becomes implemented, gold’s scarcity will become flexible as it could be engineered rather than geological. As such, this could make the physical asset become less valuable compared to Bitcoin, which is a digital asset.
In response to this research, Samson Mow triggered the long-standing debate on Bitcoin versus gold in terms of value and scarcity.
Following his statement, the crypto community acknowledged that Bitcoin’s supply is hard-capped at 21 million coins, and its digital nature makes it impossible to replicate. This is unlike gold, whose supply could soon be expanded by breakthroughs in nuclear science.
Although Bitcoin can be mined, it stands within its fixed supply of 21 million tokens, hence no discovery, no laboratory, no technological advancement can change its limit.
Other commentators stressed that Bitcoin is enforced by mathematics and global network consensus, not by geology or chemistry.
Caroline Amosun
Dan Burgin
Arman Shirinyan
