Potters traveled to goldfields in Australia to dig better clay
Public consciousness has recently undergone a big shift back into the mindset of gold and silver. Personally, I grew up in the region that hosted the world's second biggest gold rush so this is no surprise for me.
I don't want to make any predictions about how high the prices of these metals are going to go or how long it will take. In September last year, Goldman Sachs told us gold will go up six percent by the middle of 2026. If Goldman Sachs was wrong, I might be wrong too.
Nonetheless, it is a good opportunity to look at the wider industry around both bullion and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Insights from history help make better investment decisions for the future.
A case in point is the Bendigo Pottery. George Duncan Guthrie traveled from Scotland to Bendigo in the 1850s. While everybody else was digging for gold, he was digging for clay. He found a good source of clay and established a business providing ceramics for both household and commercial use.
Industrial gold extraction ceased in the 1950s but the kilns at Bendigo Pottery are still working to this day. Some local schools have their own kilns and they offer ceramics as an elective class to prepare people to work in the industry.
The story of Australia's oldest pottery is relevant to the evolution of the cryptocurrency industry. People who simply buy a single cryptocurrency like the Bitcoin and hope to make money may find themselves empty-handed on the day when the bottom falls out of the market.
Bendigo was severely impacted by recent fires. Residents in the region experienced loss of electricity, telephone, Internet and even the local TV and radio stations. Bitcoin and any other cryptocurrency that requires power or network access was not useful during the crisis.
Many of the businesses in the cryptocurrency industry have found ways to diversify. For example, data centers hosting cryptocurrency trading servers are also hosting many other businesses too. Data centers make money out of hosting cryptocurrency companies but it seems unlikely that any datacenter will collapse if the crypto industry has a downturn. It is the mum and dad investors who are going to feel the loss more than anybody else.
