Quoting from the article: "So ... bitcoins are without intrinsic value as assets, yet they have risen too fast in value to be much use as a currency. Kind of makes your head hurt, doesn't it? But it also sounds a bit like a familiar commodity, gold, that's also been on a roll, with its dollar price quintupling over the past decade. Gold has, over time, not been the greatest of assets to invest in. It's not the greatest of currencies, either: Back when the gold standard was widely adhered to, nations struggled regularly with deflation. There's persuasive evidence that the primary cause of the Great Depression was a refusal to unlink currencies from gold until too late. Still, gold has held onto its purchasing power over time."
I agree with the author: bitcoins are very similar to gold ("the people's currency"), except they're digital and their supply is mathematically fixed. So ... how much would a Bitcoin sell for if the world ever comes to value it like gold?
Granted, that's a big if, but let's entertain the thought for speculative fun. All gold mined since the start of civilization is currently valued at around $8.8 trillion.[1] Divide this figure by the maximum of 21 million bitcoins that can ever be created, and the figure is over $400,000 per Bitcoin. So the answer is, in the order of a few hundred dollars per milli-Bitcoin.
For reference, all bitcoins in existence are currently valued at $0.002 trillion.[2]
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