From Gold Bug to Bitcoiner: a decade long practical journey from Physical to Digital Hard Money
- Andrew B. White
- Nov 15
- 4 min read
The Early Days: From Sound Money to Heavy Metal
Before Bitcoin, I was a gold bug — like most people who believe in sound money and distrust the fiat system. I began accumulating physical gold in 2013, convinced it was the ultimate store of value in a world of central bank excess.
I never sold any, continuing to buy more through 2017, and kept it all safely stored in a private vault outside the banking system. The storage fees — roughly €300–400 per year — felt like a reasonable cost for financial independence.
But that illusion broke the moment I decided to leave my country for good and relocate outside the EU. That’s when gold, my symbol of financial freedom, revealed its hidden chains.
When Gold Became a Burden
Facing relocation, I had three options:
Take the gold with me.
Leave it behind.
Sell it.
Shipping it securely through a reputable courier like Brinks would have cost several thousand dollars — plus the hassle of customs limits, import rules, and the additional burden of taxes in my destination country.
Leaving it behind wasn’t appealing either. I didn’t want to leave my wealth trapped inside the EU, subject to whatever new laws or capital controls might appear, which is an increasing likelihood considering the EU’s totalitarian move towards a digital prison made of Euro CBDC and digital IDs.
So I considered exporting it to Switzerland, the old-world “safe haven.” But even there, I’d have to declare it, pay taxes, and pay even higher costs for storing it in a private vault.
Most importantly, once I was overseas, the gold would be practically inaccessible if I ever needed it, unless I decided to leave it in the hands of the Swiss custodian who could also handle the sale and the wire transfers at the right time. But that involved trusting the gold dealer with a relevant portion of my wealth. What if the custodian went bankrupt or if the gold was stolen? Insurance was mandatory, it had additional costs and did not even cover the full market value of the gold. That’s when I realized that physical sovereignty isn’t the same as functional sovereignty.
Selling Gold: A Good Exit with Expensive Lessons
When gold prices started ripping higher, I decided to sell my holdings into the increasing demand — cashing in average 220% gains over 8–12 years. Objectively, a great outcome. In that long period of time gold did well what was supposed to do: hedge my purchasing power against fiat monetary inflation averaging 10% in the eurozone (and over 13% globally for all currencies).
But the hidden costs were also eye-opening.
Even in favorable conditions, the bid-ask spread was 3.3%, which was considered low due to strong demand (bid). Commissions were heavy, and liquidity came at a price.
Compare that to Bitcoin, where the bid-ask spread averages around 0.01% — just $11 at a Bitcoin price of $110,000.
Moving Bitcoin to cold storage cost me 0.000015 BTC (about $1.65). Moving gold across borders, by contrast, would have cost thousands — and required permission from multiple authorities.
Bitcoin moves in minutes.Gold moves with paperwork and armored vehicles.
The Shock: How Easy It Was to Sell “Unverified” Gold
But what truly stunned me wasn’t the cost — it was the lack of verification.
We’ve all heard horror stories about counterfeit bullion bars — even tungsten-filled bars discovered at reputable refineries that supply the London bullion market.
So I expected rigorous inspection when I sold my bars.
I had invoices, serial numbers, and the original packaging. I thought the dealer would at least open the plastic, weigh the bars and test them with a spectrometer.
None of that happened.
The buyer — a major European gold dealer with branches across the continent — took the bars as-is, without opening the non-tamper-proof packaging or even checking the weight.
That’s when it hit me: the dealer did not have the incentive to check the gold.
My bar was likely resold the same day to another investor, who trusted the brand and packaging just as blindly. The entire process relied on reputation, not verification. It reminded me of the old saying, “Ignorance is bliss.” In a booming gold market, no one wants to test the metal too hard — because the truth, if ever revealed, could collapse the entire chain of trust. As I realized that day, the less they look, the more they believe.
And that’s the fragile truth about physical gold: its authenticity depends on trust, not proof.
Bitcoin: Verified, Not Trusted
Bitcoin couldn’t be more different.
Every satoshi, every transaction, every coin can be verified cryptographically by anyone, anywhere, at any time. There’s no need to trust a dealer, a vault, or a certificate.
Bitcoin’s supply is mathematically capped at 21 million, and every coin’s history is recorded immutably on the blockchain.
You don’t need permission to store it, move it, or spend it.You don’t pay for vaulting.You don’t need customs clearance to cross a border with it.
You can carry your entire net worth in your head — protected by a 12-word seed phrase.
In a world of surveillance, capital controls, and rising geopolitical risk, that level of self-sovereignty is priceless.
What Gold Taught Me — and What Bitcoin Revealed
Owning gold taught me the value of hard money.Owning Bitcoin taught me the power of self-sovereign money.
Gold is tangible, beautiful, and timeless — but it belongs to an era where wealth had to be guarded physically.Bitcoin is intangible but verifiable — built for an era where wealth must be protected digitally.
Gold showed me that central banks could debase currencies.Bitcoin showed me that individuals can opt out of them entirely.
Conclusion: Bitcoin Is Not Just Digital Gold — It’s the Evolution of Gold
Gold will always have its place in human history. It’s the original hard money. But in today’s interconnected and digital world, its limitations are clear.
Gold requires trust. Bitcoin requires verification.
Gold is heavy. Bitcoin is weightless.
Gold is slow. Bitcoin is instant.
Gold can be faked. Bitcoin can’t.
Gold needs vaults. Bitcoin is the vault
Gold can be sized, Bitcoin empowers your self-sovereignty
After more than a decade of holding both, I can say this with confidence:Gold preserved wealth for the past. Bitcoin will preserve both wealth and freedom for the future.
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