Author of 'The Bitcoin Standard' predicts BTC will surpass gold in size while reducing volatility
According to Saifedean Ammous, Bitcoin is currently operating as money through its store of value function and will evolve to exceed gold in market size with diminished price fluctuations.
According to Saifedean Ammous, who penned the 2018 scholarly work "The Bitcoin Standard," Bitcoin is currently operating as a medium of exchange, and the impact of price volatility on this functionality is expected to decrease over time.
As Bitcoin (BTC) experiences reduced volatility compared to gold and exceeds the market value of the premier precious metal, it will be capable of functioning as a medium of exchange, Ammous stated in an X post published on Tuesday.
Holding Bitcoin is using Bitcoin as money, and its lack of widespread use as a method of payment is no evidence against its monetization unfolding.
Saifedean Ammous
These comments were made as a response to an excerpt from Professor Lawrence H. White's publication, "Better Money: Gold, Fiat, or Bitcoin?," in which he contended that the fixed supply mechanism of Bitcoin creates excessive volatility for it to function as a medium of exchange.
With no supply response to demand swings, BTC's price is too volatile for people who want a reliable medium of exchange.
Lawrence H. White
In an X post published on Monday, White made this statement while citing chapter six from his book. He further noted that this absence of supply responsiveness explained why stablecoins have "eaten BTC's lunch transaction volume."
Additional market observers have similarly forecasted that Bitcoin will ultimately exceed gold. During May 2025, André Dragosch, Bitwise's head of European research, informed Cointelegraph that their internal forecasting model anticipates a $1 million Bitcoin price by 2029, at which point Bitcoin would equal gold's market capitalization.
Nevertheless, Bitcoin's present market capitalization of $1.6 trillion would require expansion of no less than 18-fold to exceed Gold's approximately $29 trillion market cap and claim the position of the world's premier asset.
During April 2025, Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, forecasted that Bitcoin will begin competing with gold's applications as a monetary hedge, driven by worldwide financial instability and increasing fiat inflation.