Bitcoin may already be functioning as money even without widespread use for daily transactions, according to Saifedean Ammous, author of The Bitcoin Standard. He argues that holding Bitcoin as a store of value is itself part of the asset’s evolution toward broader monetary adoption.
In a Tuesday post on X, Ammous challenged the idea that Bitcoin’s price volatility and limited use in payments undermine its potential as a medium of exchange. He suggested that volatility could decline as Bitcoin matures, potentially allowing it to become less volatile than gold while eventually surpassing the precious metal in market capitalization.
“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,” Ammous wrote.
His comments came in response to an argument by Lawrence H. White, a professor and author of Better Money: Gold, Fiat, or Bitcoin? White contends that Bitcoin’s fixed supply makes its price particularly sensitive to changes in demand, limiting its usefulness for transactions that require relatively stable purchasing power.
“With no supply response to demand swings, BTC’s price is too volatile for people who want a reliable medium of exchange,” White wrote in a Monday post on X. He also argued that stablecoins have gained an advantage over Bitcoin in transaction volume because they offer greater price stability.
Bitcoin Faces a Steep Climb to Match Gold
The debate over Bitcoin’s monetary role comes amid predictions that the cryptocurrency could eventually compete with gold as a global store of value.
In May 2025, André Dragosch, head of European research at Bitwise, discussed the firm’s forecast that Bitcoin could reach $1 million by 2029, potentially bringing its market capitalization in line with gold’s, according to Cointelegraph.
Blockstream CEO Adam Back also predicted in April 2025 that Bitcoin could increasingly compete with gold as a monetary hedge, citing financial instability and inflation affecting fiat currencies.
However, the gap between the two assets remains substantial. Bitcoin’s market capitalization stands at approximately $1.6 trillion, compared with nearly $29 trillion for gold. Based on those figures, Bitcoin would need to increase its market value by roughly 18 times to overtake gold, assuming gold’s valuation remained unchanged.
Whether Bitcoin can achieve that milestone will depend on several factors, including investor demand, adoption, market volatility and its ability to establish a broader role in the global financial system.
For Ammous, the distinction between holding Bitcoin and spending it misses a central point: monetary adoption can develop gradually, with store-of-value demand potentially preceding widespread use for everyday payments.
