Gold has value because it's shiny, doesn't oxidize, is malleable enough to easily form conspicuous jewelry, is much rarer than base mining elements, and is not cheap to extract.
The not oxidizing and rarity are key. E.g. platinum is also not cheap.
Aluminium is close but it's orders of magnitude more common, and still oxidizes a little.
Value as a currency.
Sure it's the rarity, but also the lack of corrosion. If your coins maintain the same weight for 100 years that's good, because the value can be measured by weight more reliably. Contrast that with iron that degrades, or copper that actually increases in weight as it goes bad... now how do you weigh out a coin?
Because it's rare.
Re:Ending Bitcoin Support
by uncletammy on Tuesday January 23, 2018 @06:35PM
(#16218953)
Bitcoin's strategy is exactly that. And it would be a GREAT strategy if there was something about Bitcoin that made it the best "digital gold" available.
Sadly, the only property it shares with gold is that it's hard to move. In fact, Bitcoin Cash is functionally identical to Bitcoin and it's easy to move.
That's ignoring the hundreds of other digital currencies not named Bitcoin which make a better "digital gold".
Bitcoin doesn't have a strategy. The "value store" narrative is a post-hoc rationalisation for its continued, yet less and less rational, existence.
The proof that Bitcoin was intended as an alternative to cash, and to be used for small, everyday transactions is right there in the name: It's Bit"coin", not Bitgold, or even Bitbill.
But I don’t really understand why gold has so much value, so maybe it’s not really a good answer. It’s kind of like saying “Maybe Bitcoins will have value for a long time just like this other non-valuable, non-transaction asset that’s had value for a long time”...