Bitcoin can already function as money when people hold it to preserve purchasing power, even before it becomes a routine payment method, economist and author Saifedean Ammous argued in an Oct. 14 post on X. Ammous said Bitcoin could eventually become less volatile than gold and grow beyond gold’s market value, framing day-to-day payment use as only one stage in a longer monetization process.
The comments responded to Lawrence H. White, author of Better Money: Gold, Fiat, or Bitcoin?, who has argued that Bitcoin’s fixed issuance schedule creates a problem for its use as a payment currency. White wrote in a Monday post on X that Bitcoin cannot adjust supply when demand changes, leaving its price too unstable for people and businesses seeking a dependable unit for transactions.
Their exchange puts a longstanding Bitcoin debate into sharper terms: whether an asset must first achieve price stability and widespread spending use to count as money, or whether store-of-value demand can establish its monetary role before payment adoption catches up.
Ammous argues store-of-value use is monetary use
Ammous’s position rests on the idea that money performs different functions that do not have to develop simultaneously. People can use an asset as a way to save before they use it regularly to price goods or settle small purchases.
Under that view, Bitcoin holders are already using the network monetarily when they choose it over cash or other assets to hold wealth across time. Its role would expand if demand becomes more established, ownership becomes more broadly distributed, and price swings decline relative to the asset’s total value.
Ammous went further by suggesting that Bitcoin could eventually become less volatile than gold. That outcome would require a much larger and deeper market than exists today, since smaller asset markets can move sharply when new demand or selling pressure arrives. Gold’s global value and long history of ownership have generally made it less sensitive to flows from individual holders or short-term trading activity.
Bitcoin’s supply is capped at 21 million coins, a design feature supporters view as protection against monetary dilution. Ammous treats that fixed supply as a foundation for long-term saving, rather than a flaw. As more market participants seek exposure to a scarce asset, the argument goes, the value of each available unit can adjust without an issuer creating additional supply.
White sees volatility as a payment barrier
White’s critique focuses on the same fixed-supply mechanism but reaches the opposite conclusion. In chapter six of Better Money, he argues that a currency with no supply response to changes in demand can experience destabilizing price movements.
If demand for Bitcoin rises quickly, its supply cannot expand to meet that demand. The adjustment occurs through price. If demand falls, the reverse can happen. For someone deciding whether to accept Bitcoin for wages, invoices, or retail purchases, that variability can complicate budgeting and pricing.
White also pointed to stablecoins as evidence that many users prefer a digital asset designed to keep a steady value. Dollar-linked stablecoins are typically structured to track the U.S. dollar, making them more practical for transfers, trading settlement, and payments where a recipient expects a predictable dollar amount.
That does not settle the question of whether Bitcoin is becoming money under Ammous’s definition. It does show that the market has separated two use cases: volatile, scarce assets held partly for long-term appreciation or hedging, and dollar-pegged tokens used where price consistency is the immediate priority.
Gold comparison sets a demanding benchmark
The claim that Bitcoin could surpass gold also involves a substantial gap in market value. In May 2025, André Dragosch, head of European research at Bitwise, cited an internal projection that Bitcoin could reach $1 million by 2029. Dragosch said that price level would place Bitcoin’s market capitalization around that of gold.
Bitcoin’s market capitalization was about $1.6 trillion at the time referenced, compared with a gold market value near $29 trillion, according to the figures cited by Dragosch. On that basis, Bitcoin would need to grow by at least 18 times to move beyond gold.
The comparison is common in Bitcoin market debates because both assets are often held outside the banking system and have limited supply characteristics. Their supply constraints work differently, though. Gold production can respond, at least gradually, to higher prices through additional mining. Bitcoin’s issuance follows a preset schedule that cannot be accelerated when demand rises.
Adam Back, chief executive of Blockstream, made a similar comparison in April 2025, predicting that Bitcoin would increasingly compete with gold as a monetary hedge. Back linked that view to financial instability and concerns about fiat-currency inflation.
Payment adoption may not follow a straight line
The Ammous-White disagreement leaves open a practical question: whether Bitcoin needs to become a commonly used payment instrument to justify claims that it is money.
White’s framework gives greater weight to a currency’s ability to support regular exchange with stable purchasing power. Ammous places more weight on saving and wealth preservation, suggesting that payments can remain secondary while an asset establishes itself as a long-term monetary reserve.
Stablecoins have become central to that divide. Their dollar pegs make them useful for people moving funds on blockchain networks without taking direct exposure to Bitcoin’s price movements. Bitcoin, by contrast, asks users to accept that short-term exchange value may change sharply between the moment a payment is sent and the moment it is received.
A future in which Bitcoin approaches gold’s market value would likely alter that calculation by spreading ownership and liquidity across a far larger base. Yet a larger market alone would not guarantee that merchants or consumers choose Bitcoin over dollar-linked alternatives for ordinary purchases. The debate is increasingly less about whether digital assets can move value globally and more about which type of asset people choose to hold, spend, and use to measure prices.
Curious whether Bitcoin can rival gold as money? Explore deeper in this in-depth guide on Bitcoin as digital gold.
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