Former Republican Congressman and gold standard advocate Ron Paul said that he was “surprised” to learn that more than half of his Twitter followers would rather invest in bitcoin than gold.
Ron Paul ‘Surprised’ His Followers Prefer Bitcoin to Gold
As CCN reported, the libertarian-leaning Ron Paul conducted an informal poll that asked respondents where they would invest a $10,000 gift that came with one string attached — you cannot touch the investment for 10 years. Voters were given four options to choose from: U.S. dollars, gold, bitcoin, or a U.S. Treasury bond.
A wealthy person wants to gift you $10,000. You get to choose in which form you'll take the gift. But there's a catch: You must keep the gift in the form that you choose, and you can't touch it for 10 years.
In which form would you take the gift?
— Ron Paul (@RonPaul) December 5, 2017
More than half of the 70,513 respondents chose bitcoin, while 36 percent signaled that they prefer the long-term stability of gold. Only 10 percent of voters responded that they would prefer to hold the investment in cash or government bonds.
Paul, who is currently chief ambassador for precious metals IRA provider Goldco, told Kitco News that he was somewhat surprised by the results of the poll, but he was reassured that they would not entrust their investment to a government-linked financial instrument.
“It was a reflection of what happened today,” Paul said, alluding to bitcoin’s cinematic ascent. “Of course, bitcoin is very exciting, and it’s booming, but [bitcoin investors] don’t have a long-term perspective. What’s it going to be like in 10 years? Nobody knows. But we have a pretty good idea of where gold will be, in a general sense.”
Of course, this is not a scientific poll. For one thing, the fact that Paul framed the investment as a gift — not money the investor had personally earned — could have made respondents more willing to make a bet on a riskier asset.
Moreover, the poll was posted on Twitter, whose users tend to skew younger — just like cryptocurrency investors. Goldbugs, on the other hand, tend to be of an older generation that uses social media at a lower rate. Moreover, Consequently, it may not be an accurate reflection of the current investment landscape but rather where it could head in coming decades.
Ron Paul Not Joining the Bitcoin Bandwagon
But although the apparent demand for bitcoin among his followers caught Paul a bit off guard, there was one aspect of the poll that did not surprise him.
“I wasn’t surprised that only two percent would store away Federal Reserve notes, that was good,” reflected Paul, who has authored a book titled . He took this result as evidence that investors are frustrated with inflationary monetary policy that devalues currency over time.
Nevertheless, Paul said that although he finds cryptocurrency fascinating as an experiment in competing currencies, he will not be joining the bitcoin bandwagon.
“I have not been tempted at all,” he said.