Seventy-eight billion reasons why bitcoin's the new gold

COULD bitcoin be the next gold?

The idea has a lot of intuitive appeal. Gold bugs and bitcoin fetishists tend to share a deep distrust of fiat currency and the nation state, an impregnable bullishness about their favored asset class, and an obsessive attention to details of market movements combined with a blithe disinterest in bigger-picture issues.

The idea has become particularly popular as the value invested in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has marched upward over the past year.

 Even after this week's selloff, prompted by China declaring initial coin offerings illegal, the value of all cryptocurrencies in circulation is around $155 billion, according to Coinmarketcap.com.