Store of Value

Aug 24, 2025 | Updated Aug 24, 2025

An asset, currency, or commodity that maintains its purchasing power, and thus, its usefulness, over time.

What Is a Store of Value?

A store of value is any asset that can be saved, retrieved, and exchanged at a later time. The core idea is that the asset should not depreciate significantly, allowing it to hold its value and, therefore, its usefulness for future transactions.

Historically, assets like gold, precious metals, and real estate have been considered reliable stores of value. In the digital age, some cryptocurrencies, most notably Bitcoin, have emerged as potential new stores of value. The primary purpose of holding such an asset is to protect wealth from the eroding effects of inflation, where the general price of goods and services rises and the purchasing power of a currency falls.

How Does a Store of Value Work?

For an asset to function effectively as a store of value, it generally needs to possess several key characteristics:

Durability: The asset must not perish or degrade over time. Gold is physically durable, while Bitcoin is durable in its immutable existence on the blockchain.
Portability: It should be relatively easy to transport and exchange. While gold can be physically cumbersome in large quantities, Bitcoin is stored on the blockchain and can be accessed anywhere there’s an internet connection.
Fungibility: Each unit of the asset must be interchangeable with another unit of the same value. One ounce of gold is equal to another, just as one bitcoin is equal to another.
Divisibility: The asset should be easily divisible into smaller units to facilitate transactions of varying sizes. Bitcoin excels here, as it can be divided into 100 million smaller units called satoshis.
Scarcity: A limited supply helps maintain value. Gold is naturally scarce, while Bitcoin has a hard-coded, finite supply of 21 million coins.
Acceptability: People must widely recognize and accept the asset as having value. Gold has a long history of universal acceptance, whereas Bitcoin’s acceptance is rapidly growing but not yet universal.

Investors and corporations might allocate a portion of their assets to a store of value like Bitcoin through a Bitcoin treasury strategy. The goal is to preserve capital and potentially generate long-term returns, especially in an inflationary economic environment. However, it’s important to recognize the risks, such as price volatility, which can be significant for cryptocurrencies compared to traditional assets.