Bitcoin: fool’s gold or the new gold?

With bitcoin hitting new highs last week, and close to becoming a mainstream investment, is it really gold for the 21st century?

Bitcoin
Bitcoin is flourishing because investors want an “apocalypse hedge”.
(Image credit: © Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Is bitcoin “fool’s gold” or the new gold? asks James Dean in The Times. The cryptocurrency hit a new record high of $42,000 late last week, only to plunge by more than 20% over the weekend. Yet at around $34,500 in the middle of this week, bitcoin has still rocketed since October, when it cost $11,000.

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.