Will gold’s ‘infinite mint bug’ make Bitcoin more valuable?
A US fusion startup says it has turned mercury into gold. Could a potential increase in the gold supply strengthen Bitcoin’s claim to be a better form of digital gold?
A US fusion startup claims to have created gold from mercury using nuclear transmutation. This "infinite mint bug" could potentially impact Bitcoin's value as digital gold, given its hard-capped supply. Marathon Fusion's research suggests high-energy neutrons from a deuterium-tritium fusion reaction can irradiate mercury-198, producing gold-197.
While the underlying nuclear process is scientifically plausible, turning it into an economical industrial process remains a significant challenge. At present, the quantities produced are microscopic and thousands of times smaller than global gold production. Marathon aims to reach macroscopic milligram quantities by 2027, but scaling production of enriched mercury and building a fusion reactor are additional hurdles.
The gold produced would also be radioactive and require storage for a decade before it becomes safe for investment. Despite these challenges, some experts suggest that if gold production becomes significantly cheaper through nuclear fusion, it could potentially put downward pressure on Bitcoin's price as an alternative digital asset.
Written by urgent.news from Cointelegraph's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
