Bitcoin Magazine California Senator Endorses Bitcoiner For $500B Pension Board California State Senator Ben Allen endorses bitcoin nonprofit founder Dom Bei for a seat on the $500 billion CalPERS pension board. This post California Senator Endorses Bitcoiner For $500B Pension Board first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Vivek Sen Bitcoin.

California Senator Endorses Bitcoiner For $500B Pension Board

The launch signifies a pivotal shift towards integrating digital assets into 
traditional finance, enhancing institutional access to blockchain.
The post Asia&#8217;s first XRP investment fund launches with Ripple as early backer 
appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Asia’s first XRP investment fund launches with Ripple as early backer

As gold prices break new highs, many Bitcoiners are seeking ways to get 
exposure to the precious metal, but have been met with some hurdles along the 
way.
Although physical gold is accessible in the form of jewelry, gold bars and 
coins, many industry executives are concerned about aspects like its quality, 
liquidity when selling, and buying at a premium above spot prices.
On the other hand, gold advocates are confident that the precious metal is 
much easier to buy than Bitcoin (BTC), given the complexities of storing 
private keys and a steep learning curve for new crypto investors.
Both Bitcoin and gold are available in the form of tokenized assets, exchange- 
traded funds (ETFs) and other equity instruments, but the question of owning 
these assets in the physical form exposes some differences.
## Community: Buying Bitcoin is easier and faster
&#8220;Buying Bitcoin is significantly easier and faster than buying physical gold,&#8221; 
Ross Shemeliak, co-founder of the tokenization platform Stobox, told 
Cointelegraph.
He referred to Bitcoin&#8217;s instant and 24/7 availability, no need for vaults, 
while gold is associated with additional costs like transportation, storage, 
verification and resale.
Adam Lowe, chief of product at the self-custody firm CompoSecure, agreed that 
buying physical gold is subject to many challenges and additional costs.
&#8220;The first is maintaining quality, assuring the purity is accurate,&#8221; Lowe 
said, adding that investors have to rely on the reputation of dealers and the 
supply chain when buying physical gold.
_**Related:**__**Bitcoin may rival gold as inflation hedge over next decade &#8212; 
Adam Back**_
&#8220;Selling liquidity is also an issue as you have to find a buyer and will most 
likely pay a discount relative to the market price per ounce,&#8221; he continued, 
adding that self-custodied Bitcoin has none of these issues.
As well as limited liquidity, retail investors in physical gold face widened 
spreads, Shemeliak said, as they often have to buy at a premium above the 
market price of gold.
## Gold advocate: Bitcoin self-custody is not easy
Unlike crypto investors, traditional finance (TradFi) investors and analysts 
are not so excited about self-custody opportunities offered by Bitcoin.
&#8220;Bitcoin could be very easy to buy if you have everything set up already, but 
if you don&#8217;t, it&#8217;s very difficult,&#8221; Rafi Farber, publisher of the gold-focused 
marketplace service End Game Investor, told Cointelegraph.
Farber, who has emerged as one of the biggest Bitcoin critics, referred to 
challenges for investors around Bitcoin self-custody, which requires holders 
to safely store the private key or risk losing access to the coins entirely.
While dealing with a self-custodial wallet, users have to &#8220;remember a string 
of random words or copy it down and put it in a safe, then copy and paste a 
gibberish code,&#8221; Farber said. &#8220;And if you lose any of the codes or the power 
goes out for whatever reason you&#8217;re screwed,&#8221; he added.
_Self-custody wallet providers offer onboarding sessions for $99 per hour. 
Source: Trezor_
Farber&#8217;s concerns over the challenges of self-custody are not without reason. 
Trezor, one of the most prominent self-custody wallet providers, admits that 
usability remains one of the key issues faced by self-custodial wallets.
While some have tried to offer simplified self-custody options, others insist 
that holding a private key is the only way to actually own a cryptocurrency, 
which requires onboarding and a learning curve &#8212; but doesn&#8217;t come without its 
own costs, too.
## Is Bitcoin a direct competitor to gold?
On the other hand, physical gold is &#8220;very easy to buy,&#8221; Farber said, 
suggesting options like coins or jewelry shops.
&#8220;Yes, buying a gold coin at a jewelry or coin shop is easy &#8212; but that doesn&#8217;t 
mean you&#8217;ve made a sound investment,&#8221; Stobox&#8217;s Shemeliak countered:
&gt; &#8220;Without verified origin, proper assay, secure storage, and a liquid resale 
&gt; market, you&#8217;ve likely bought a souvenir, not a serious store of value.&#8221;
&#8220;In contrast, digital assets like Bitcoin or tokenized gold offer 
transparency, liquidity and verifiability,&#8221; he added.
Shemeliak doesn&#8217;t see Bitcoin and gold as direct competitors either.
&#8220;Gold will always have historical value &#8212; but Bitcoin is building financial 
infrastructure for the next 100 years,&#8221; he stated.
At the time of publication, the price of spot gold stood at $3,327, up nearly 
27% year-to-date (YTD) as it continues breaking new highs, according to 
TradingView.
The picture is less appealing for Bitcoin, which reached new highs around 
$110,000 in December 2024. Bitcoin is down 10% YTD, trading at $84,525 at 
publication, according to CoinGecko.
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Bitcoin vs. gold: How do they stack up for investors?

WhiteBIT has announced the first global live-streamed crypto trading 
tournament, ICTC 2025, bringing top traders together for a high-stakes, 
educational showdown.

WhiteBIT reveals first participants for crypto trading tournament ICTC 2025

Spar, an international grocery chain, has begun accepting Bitcoin in a Swiss 
store, potentially paving the way for wider crypto adoption across its global 
retail network. In its April 17 LinkedIn post, DFX Swiss, a company which 
offers crypto-to-cash solutions,…

International grocery chain Spar pilots Bitcoin payments in Switzerland

Singapore&#8217;s current tone of caution on crypto could limit its future 
competitiveness, Coinbase warned, urging a more ambitious national strategy. 
U.S.-based crypto exchange Coinbase has urged Singapore to take a bolder 
approach to digital assets, warning that the country could…