ARK Invest analyst Chris Burniske calls bitcoin ‘digital gold’

ARK blockchain analyst and products lead Chris Burniske

Chris Burniske, blockchain analyst and products lead at Ark Invest, told CNBC that bitcoin could be referred to as digital gold.

Burniske described the similarities the cryptocurrency has with gold, including a limited supply and a relatively inert state. He went on to explain that investors should consider diversifying into bitcoin despite gold’s strong performance so far this year. Unlike gold or fiat currencies, bitcoin isn’t connected to one macroeconomic factor.

“When you look at the global markets, there’s lots of fear, uncertainty and doubts. You’ve got people worrying about the equity markets [and] you’ve got people fleeing into bonds… While gold has had a bit of a run in 2016, over the last five year period it’s been a terrible performing asset,” he said.

Of course, investing in bitcoin isn’t without its own set of risks. Burniske explained the upcoming halving of bitcoin mining rewards on July 9th and the community’s internal debate on how to scale bitcoin. Related to the halving of rewards is the potential risk to the security of bitcoin’s network.

“Part of the concern around the upcoming block award change is that if those miners make less money, then they are less incentivised to throw machinery at the network to secure it,” said Burniske.

Bitcoin price today hovered around $740 USD as of 5:17 PM UTC on the CoinDesk BPI exchange, down from yesterday’s close of $764.05.

Image courtesy of ARK Invest