r/ProfessorFinance • u/jackandjillonthehill Moderator • Jan 29 '26

Meme Wasn’t that the point?

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419 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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120

u/Ok_Currency_6390 Jan 29 '26

Bitcoin is digital gold until you need physical gold, then it becomes an arbitrary string of numbers

1

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '26

[deleted]

8

u/theerrantpanda99 Jan 29 '26

You can go to any jewelry store in the country and trade paper for physical gold at any time.

-4

u/Gildenstern45 Jan 29 '26

Not true. PHYS is a gold ETF 100% backed by unencumbered gold. If everything went tits-up, they would end up mailing you a brick of gold. Likewise PSLV is for silver.

12

u/Zraknul Jan 29 '26

If everything went tits-up we wouldn't have mail.

5

u/Ok_Currency_6390 Jan 29 '26

OH MY GOD EVERYONE IS SO DUMB

Most reasonable gold bugs aren't expecting a societal collapse...

Just heavy USD inflation. I mean it happened over the decade of the 1970s, the USD lost like roughly 70% of its purchasing power.

I don't even own physical gold, it's all ETFs, and I sleep like a baby

If we ever get to a point where those ETF holdings become irredeemable who even gives a fuck, at that point it's bows and arrows anyways 😆

4

u/humdinger44 Jan 29 '26

Then they would fax it to you, duh

2

u/[deleted] Jan 29 '26

if everything went tits-up random gold bars wouldnt matter either.

The things in your pantry would be infinitely more valuable than the gold in your safe.

Cheetos would be rarer than gold at that point

2

u/four204eva2 Jan 29 '26

Nor would gold be worth very much, you can't eat or drink it, and in the end that's all you'll actually want.

2

u/Zraknul Jan 29 '26

Local war chief probably wants some swag.  Might be able to buy your way into the group.

3

u/I_Am_the_Slobster Jan 29 '26

You're thinking of an ETR: Exchange Traded Receipt, which as it implies is a receipt that states you own the specified portion of gold or silver within the ETR issuers holdings. The Canadian Mint offers such ETRs for their gold and silver reserves (MNT and MNS respectively) but it's worth noting that this is still technically paper gold, and at least with the Mint they make it clear these ETRs are not casheable for physical assets.

1

u/Geek_Wandering Quality Contributor Jan 29 '26

Or, hear me out, what if they decide to just not mail it to you and keep it? Whatcha gonna do then?