S6 E11: Joshua Scigala on Bitcoin and Gold

Joshua Scigala isn’t just an early Bitcoin adopter – ever since 9/11, he has acquired an interest in gold and internet currencies that he could use to support his businesses. He was around for the Liberty Dollar, he witnessed the rise and fall of egold, and he eagerly sought to find something that is truly decentralized and solves the double-spending problem.

So when Bitcoin first came out, Joshua Scigala recognized the cryptocurrency’s merits and figured out that it is what he has been waiting for. Even back in 2011, a visibly younger Scigala would do YouTube videos to express his advocacy for Bitcoin as an extension of gold and silver (which he claimed to already own). At the time, he was mocked in the comments section for buying an asset that went below the $2 valuation mark. In hindsight, the situation is rather funny.

But unlike people like Barry Silbert (whose company Grayscale has launched the “Drop gold” campaign to encourage institutional investors to buy bitcoins instead) and Peter Schiff (who is the most famous goldbug who constantly criticizes Bitcoin), Joshua Scigala is somewhere in the middle. He describes himself as a “competition maximalist” and sees value in both physical and digital assets.

This mindset has also led to the creation of Vaultoro, an exchange which allows BTC enthusiasts to trade their coins for gold. For those who don’t mind the KYC process, this is a more stable way of retaining the value of an investment portfolio at the peak of a bull market, since gold is much more stable than fiat currencies. On the other hand, goldbugs can also take a leap of faith and give Bitcoin a try.

When we talk about Bitcoin as “digital gold”, we must credit people like Joshua Scigala for promoting the narrative and making it safe to regard an otherwise intricate internet currency as the digital equivalent of a millennia-old rare metal. And in a world where everyone seems to be tribal and defensive in favor of only one kind of asset, Joshua Scigala is here to remind us that there’s more to the picture than meets the eye.

This is the season 6 finale and I would like to thank Yegor Petrov (@yegorpetr0v) for designing the vintage zine-looking title card template. If you get the chance, follow him and check out his other works.

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