I remember my grandfather buying Gold every chance he could get. But I never saw him checking prices. There is some faith in Gold that generations of Indians have bought, stored, gifted, and celebrated for thousands of years.

Indian culture contains wisdom about how to live a peaceful and prosperous life. Wisdom such as Ayurveda and Yoga have received global recognition now. But few of us know that Vedic literature and ancient knowledge that is passed from generation to generation contain gems of financial wisdom that our EMI-addicted generation has little awareness of.

Gold, Gold Standard, and mining have been mentioned both in Sanskrit and Tamil Vedic literature.

So why is it that a 5000-year old culture places so much importance on Gold and there are no mentions of any sovereign currencies?

It is because Gold is seen to have the ideal properties to make money. Sovereign currencies and world reserve currencies have been changing with geopolitical tides. India has seen many empires come and go. The only thing that stayed was Gold.

However, Gold is the only form of wealth that is still scarce in supply and works trustlessly.

So what does Indian cultural wisdom say?

• Indian culture prescribes buying of Gold during good times so that it can serve as support during a financial crisis
• Storing a percentage of wealth in Gold and giving a small percentage of income to charity has been a part of our tradition for time immemorial
• Selling Gold to spend that money on consumables is considered bad

Do we see any similarities between the ancient wisdom about Gold and what we see in the Bitcoin market?

Today, as Bitcoin reaches $16,450, there have only been 10 days that the price has been higher than this. It means one could not make a loss just if they bought Bitcoin and hold it.

That being said, is Bitcoin Digital Gold? We do not know for sure. But it does have the properties of money that Gold imbibes.