American cryptologist and legal scholar Nick Szabo recently shared his thoughts on the comparative advantages of Bitcoin (BTC) and physical gold.
The expert (who, according to some theories, could be the same person as Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto) said the digital asset already offers lower costs than gold for individual users in terms of self-custody and international transfers, but warned: The institutional sector still faces technical and cultural barriers to abandoning centralized control systems..
In the post of
Similarly, experts emphasized the logistics efficiency of the network and said: Bitcoin is “much cheaper and faster to send”because it eliminates the complex “verification/purity verification and global settlement costs and risks” required for gold.
Despite the benefits for retailers, Szabo said: Cost parity is maintained at the corporate level. “So far, Bitcoin is neither significantly cheaper nor more expensive than institutionally held gold due to the trust/control issues associated with institutional custody,” the cryptologist explained.
For Szabo, the future of digital currencies lies in developing tools that promote financial sovereignty. However, this process is not instantaneous.
While this technology can make self-storage of Bitcoin significantly cheaper for both individuals and institutions, this set of technologies has been slow to mature, is not widely understood, and requires very different kinds of institutional support.
Nick Szabo, Cryptography Specialist.
In addition to this, Resistance of the traditional financial system. Szabo noted that Wall Street and banks’ long-standing institutional habit of centralizing custody must be “overcome,” a practice that conflicts with the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin protocol.
Finally, Szabo contrasted the innovation capacity of digital currencies with metals. For Szabo, this particular aspect will make Bitcoin invincible against gold.
After 6,000 years of history, gold has “much less scope for improving self-storage costs”; Bitcoin has open technology optimization potential.
Based on this premise, the computer scientist described the “current shameful centralization of Bitcoin at giant depository Coinbase” as “a temporary step on Bitcoin’s rocky path to maturity,” and predicted that unlike gold, Bitcoin could be effectively decentralized in the long run.
Szabo’s words are not just a given, they are consistent with current investment trends. As CriptoNoticias reports, gold stands out as a value haven in 2025, with gold reaching new historic highs so far in 2026.
The following graph shows the price of an ounce of gold over the past 10 years.
At the same time, Bitcoin has shown some weakness and is more than 50% off its all-time high of $126,198 hit on October 6, 2025, leading many to question Bitcoin’s “store of value” status.
