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Give it a couple of years, and Bitcoin may be the talk around the water coolers at work, and one of the biggest sectors of trading on Wall Street.

Move over gold, Bitcoin is becoming a legitimate form of currency.

For those in my generation, there was once nothing better than owning gold. Gold prices would skyrocket, as a hedge against inflation during years in which it occurred.

Among economic measures undertaken by President Richard Nixon in 1971, in response to increasing inflation, the most significant of which were wage and price freezes, surcharges on imports, and the unilateral cancellation of the direct international convertibility of the United States dollar to gold, he ended the gold standard, which resulted in the U.S moving to a fiat currency.

It allowed the U.S. Congress to approve budgets larger than the gold reserve, and in theory, control inflation, if the printing of money wasn’t abused. Under the Gold Standard, the law prevented budgets that were larger than the worth of gold reserves, unless it was a national emergency, such as during WWII.

Bitcoin is often referred to as digital gold, but now the cryptocurrency is supposedly replacing real gold. Times are changing, and the younger generations have embraced digital currency, as have a few counties, major businesses, and banks.

A recent report from JPMorgan says institutional investors are turning to Bitcoin, perceiving the cryptocurrency as a better inflation hedge than gold.

The catalyst for the new investment strategy into Bitcoin may be due to countries around the world (including the U.S.) printing money at an alarming rate, with nothing to back up its worth.

In the JPMorgan note, analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou pointed out“The recent rise of the Lightning Network and 2nd layer payments solutions helped by El Salvador’s bitcoin adoption” as one of the main causes driving Bitcoin adoption.

The statement by Panigirtzoglou likely means nothing to you, but in a more simplified explanation, paying with bitcoin will become as easy and simple as paying with a credit card, with credits and debits processed and verified almost instantaneously. It’s a recent development in Bitcoin transactions that didn’t exist a couple of months ago.

The re-emergence of inflation has forced investors to think about the usage of bitcoin as an inflation hedge, he said. Assurances by U.S. financial watchdogs saying that there is no intention to ban crypto has boosted confidence among investors, Panigirtzoglou added.

Moreover, since the beginning of 2021, more than $10 billion has flowed out of gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). In the same period of time, more than $20 billion has flowed into Bitcoin funds, according to the bank. Keep in mind, that doesn’t even include inflows on exchanges.

Bitcoin has climbed 86% this year (remaining firmly in bull territory, despite turbulence in the last few weeks.) Meanwhile, gold is down 7% YTD. So much for being an inflation hedge.

Making Bitcoin more legitimate is the fact that the U.S. government is realizing it isn’t just a digital commodity used by “nerds,” as it gains acceptance.

The Biden administration, reports Forbes, is considering an Executive Order with the ultimate goal of regulating Bitcoin. “Regulating” being an attempt at government control on an asset designed specifically to be uncontrolled, or manipulated by any government.

Some analysts are predicting Bitcoin, now worth about $54,000 per coin today, will hit $100,000 by the end of this year, $300,000 by the end of 2022, and a mind-boggling $1,000,000 per coin in 5 years.

Such predictions may be hard to fathom, but in 2010, when a single Bitcoin could have been purchased for 8 cents, who would have thought $10 worth of Bitcoin back then would be worth $6.75 million today.

Not only are investors buying Bitcoin outright, but they are investing in Bitcoin mining companies that trade on Wall Street. Mining companies run specialized computers that are specifically designed to “mine” bitcoins, by solving complex mathematical equations.

These mining companies aren’t cashing in the coins they are awarded, either. They are holding them in anticipation of a more valuable Bitcoin in the future.