Jeff Christian: Bitcoin Is Not The Safe Haven You Want, Stick With Gold

(Kitco News) – Bitcoin is not a safe haven, gold is.

This was famed precious metals expert Jeff Christian’s main message to investors.

Instead, the managing director of CPM Group called the leading cryptocurrency the “ultimate fiat currency.”

“I don’t know anybody who believes that bitcoin is a safe-haven asset,” he said in an interview with BNN this week. “Bitcoin is no tangible asset, it is based on the full faith and credit of anonymous people who create it on the internet, some of whom may well be criminal.”

As North Korean missiles flew over Japan earlier in the week, both gold and bitcoin saw significant increases in demand. Gold prices managed to hit an 11-month high on safe-haven demand while bitcoin continued to trade at all-time highs. Gold was last seen at around $1,324.10 an ounce, while bitcoin traded at around $4,723.

However, to Christian, the cryptocurrency is no more than a speculative play and is no threat to gold’s safe-haven status.

“What we find with our gold investors around the world is that there are some people who will trade Bitcoin on a speculative basis, on an intraday basis, but they will go home neutral every night,” he noted. “They don’t see Bitcoin as a substitute for gold, they don’t see it as a tangible asset, they see it as a speculative play – kind of like going to the casino.”

Affirming his faith in the yellow metal, Christian said the “optimal portfolio” had up to 30% of its assets in gold, and the rest in stocks and bonds.

“We think gold will back off in the near-term, but in the next five years, we’re looking for record nominal annual gold prices,” he said. “We’re looking for gold prices on the nominal annual average basis to be north of $1,700/oz. by 2020 or 2021.”

By Sarah Abu-Shaaban