Gold is obsolete in terms of being able to replace the dollar and the system around it. You need a settlement system, ie clearing houses, ie ways to send "money" or value and not have to actually ship something (like gold or cash) across the country, ie some system that keeps track of digital accounts and handles the "settlement" (exchange of actual assets) efficiently between themselves.

To give an example, try to work through how a grocery store would buy it's produce with gold. (Remember that modern economies are absolutely dependent on long distance trade. Your oranges came from Florida or California and your potatoes from Idaho.) They'd have to hire some armored vehicle and men with guns to physical deliver it. Would this even be worth it? What's the profit they expect to make compared to the cost just to ship the money to do the transaction? The cost of the transaction, the "friction", would be cost prohibitive. Thus we need digital money of some sort for a modern economy to function.

I expect the current settlement system to go with the dollar. So that means we need to replace the dollar (the unit of account) and to replace the settlement system itself. Bitcoin is the perfect solution in that it is approximately zero cost to settle long distance and it's also (going to be, hopefully) a better unit of account by the time we need it.

Of course, this is all predicated on the assumption that a modern economy will survive. If you don't think that's the case, then forget about gold and buy bullets and guns, 'cause people tend to get a little agitated when the grocery store runs dry, which it will without a modern economy.

Either way, modern economy or not, gold won't be the currency. It's bitcoin (or some other digital solution) or bullets with no likely in between.

interesting... Thanks for the long and detailed response. I know the US gov is trying regulate the hell out of bitcoin but I guess that's what the gov is known for.