Digging deeper - Is bitcoin digital gold? A mining perspective

IF 3.7 4区经济学 Q1 BUSINESS, FINANCE

Journal of Commodity Markets Pub Date : 2024-05-10 DOI:10.1016/j.jcomm.2024.100406

Dirk G. Baur, Jonathan R. Karlsen, Lee A. Smales, Allan Trench

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Bitcoin is often labelled digital gold and many studies compare bitcoin and gold prices, returns and volatility. This paper digs deeper and compares the characteristics of bitcoin mining with gold mining to assess claims that bitcoin is digital gold. We identify 20 differences between gold and bitcoin mining. Gold miners locate where gold is present while bitcoin miners locate where cheap electricity is present. Gold mining has large barriers to entry relative to bitcoin mining making it relatively difficult to start and abandon a gold mine but much easier to start and abandon a bitcoin mine. This is reflected in a greater exposure of gold miners to gold prices and a smaller exposure of bitcoin miners to bitcoin prices. While the analysis demonstrates that bitcoin mining is less complex and less risky than gold mining, the similarities support the idea that bitcoin is digital gold.

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深入挖掘 - 比特币是数字黄金吗？挖矿视角

比特币经常被贴上数字黄金的标签，许多研究将比特币与黄金的价格、收益和波动性进行比较。本文深入挖掘并比较了比特币开采与黄金开采的特点，以评估比特币是数字黄金的说法。我们找出了黄金开采与比特币开采之间的 20 个不同点。黄金矿工在有黄金的地方挖矿，而比特币矿工则在有廉价电力的地方挖矿。与比特币挖矿相比，黄金挖矿的准入门槛较高，因此开矿和弃矿相对较难，而比特币挖矿的开矿和弃矿却容易得多。这反映在黄金矿商受黄金价格影响较大，而比特币矿商受比特币价格影响较小。虽然分析表明，比特币开采的复杂性和风险都低于黄金开采，但其相似性支持了比特币是数字黄金的观点。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Commodity Markets Multiple-

CiteScore

5.70

自引率

2.40%

发文量

期刊介绍： The purpose of the journal is also to stimulate international dialog among academics, industry participants, traders, investors, and policymakers with mutual interests in commodity markets. The mandate for the journal is to present ongoing work within commodity economics and finance. Topics can be related to financialization of commodity markets; pricing, hedging, and risk analysis of commodity derivatives; risk premia in commodity markets; real option analysis for commodity project investment and production; portfolio allocation including commodities; forecasting in commodity markets; corporate finance for commodity-exposed corporations; econometric/statistical analysis of commodity markets; organization of commodity markets; regulation of commodity markets; local and global commodity trading; and commodity supply chains. Commodity markets in this context are energy markets (including renewables), metal markets, mineral markets, agricultural markets, livestock and fish markets, markets for weather derivatives, emission markets, shipping markets, water, and related markets. This interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary journal will cover all commodity markets and is thus relevant for a broad audience. Commodity markets are not only of academic interest but also highly relevant for many practitioners, including asset managers, industrial managers, investment bankers, risk managers, and also policymakers in governments, central banks, and supranational institutions.