David Fickling, Columnist

Gold Wins, Bitcoin Loses

So much for the digital currency providing negative beta.

February 7, 2018 at 3:13 AM UTC

David Fickling is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering climate change and energy. Previously, he worked for Bloomberg News, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.

1517973067_GettyImages-897732422 — Photographer: Ulrich Baumgarten/Getty Images

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Oh, Bitcoin. Your problem was never that you were too unpredictable. It was always that you weren't unpredictable enough.

Bitcoin was never really going to cut it as a true currency. Its astronomical volatility -- which is a problem if you want certainty about the value of your transactions or wealth -- means that the likes of the Uzbekistani soum or the Ethiopian birr stand a better chance of supplanting the greenback.