The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has recently referred to Bitcoin as “digital gold” and Ethereum as “digital oil” in a new report shared by VanEck’s head of digital assets, Matthew Siegel. The report lauds the top two cryptocurrencies by market cap and emphasizes the strong market demand for digital assets that is driving innovation in the sector.
According to the report, Bitcoin is compared to gold due to its scarcity and asset attributes which are constantly strengthening. The cryptocurrency solves the problems of divisibility, authenticity identification, and portability that gold faces. In the case of Ethereum, it is praised for continuously upgrading its technology in terms of security, scalability, and sustainability. The platform’s Turing completeness, introduced through its exclusive programming language (Solidity) and virtual machine (EVM), allows for the creation of complex smart contracts and applications, making it a strong support for blockchain technology.
Despite the praise for Ethereum, the report also acknowledges some shortcomings within the network and believes that technological advances will address these issues over time. It also notes that Ethereum’s flexibility is widely recognized in the fields of decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFT), and is extending into the physical infrastructure network (DePin). Looking ahead, the report suggests that Ethereum developers will focus on achieving a balance between sustainability, security, and efficiency.
As of the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $66,502, down 5% in the last 24 hours, while Ethereum is trading at $3,464, down more than 6% on the day. Despite the fluctuations in prices, the ICBC report indicates a positive outlook for both cryptocurrencies, drawing parallels between Bitcoin and gold’s attributes and Ethereum’s role as a technological powerhouse in the digital asset space. Overall, the report highlights the significant role that digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum play in driving innovation and meeting market demand in the evolving financial landscape.
