Was bitcoin always digital gold? Buterin doesn’t think so…

• The co-founder of ETH, Vitalik Buterin was recently involved in an argument with a bitcoin developer on Twitter this week. 
• He suggested that the leading cryptocurrency was originally designed to be a peer-to-peer cash rather than digital gold.

The co-founder of ETH, Vitalik Buterin was recently involved in an argument with a bitcoin developer on Twitter this week. He suggested that the leading cryptocurrency was originally designed to be a peer-to-peer cash rather than digital gold.

In replying to an original tweet from the co-founder in regards to ETH having promising applications for the future, the conversation moved on to bitcoin. The bitcoin developer Zack Voell claimed that the leading cryptocurrency has always been, and always will be, digital gold. In response to this, Buterin highlighted that the story has changed since 2011.

I joined bitcoin land in 2011 and back then I remember a clear vibe that bitcoin was p2p cash first and gold second. pic.twitter.com/jSdkXPwSiE

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) April 1, 2020

The view that Buterin gives in this thread is that bitcoin was initially designed to be a peer-to-peer electronic cash. This is a thought that is very common throughout the industry and is even backed up by the very title of the bitcoin white paper published in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto.

But why does this debate matter? The argument between bitcoin and actual gold has been around for over 10 years now. Gold is valuable but rare and it's not very convenient when it comes to day-to-day payments. When it comes to bitcoin, there is no weight to it as it would be stored in an online wallet so would be much more convenient for buying your morning coffee on the way to work.

We could sit and make points for both sides all day long however, this debate will go on for many years with people back in both sides in large numbers.

It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out. For more news on this and other crypto updates, keep it with CryptoDaily!