Why Timothy Coles is selling his $2 Million Gold Mine for Bitcoin

With more than 30 years of experience in the gold mining industry,
Coles brings a unique perspective to digital currency and the concepts
that underly the technology. He sees bitcoin as a one-of-a-kind type of
asset.

Coles told CoinDesk that he first learned about bitcoin while
wintering in the Philippines. Casual research grew into more active
investigation, leading to discussions about how bitcoin might fit into
plans to sell off his gold interests in the Yukon.

With the mine now for sale on the luxury exchange, Coles is optimistic about bitcoin’s prospects, saying:

“I believe bitcoin has nowhere to go but up. In the long run, it’s just going to get stronger and stronger and stronger.”

He added that although he currently owns no bitcoin, he sees a future
in it should the BitPremier sale succeed. While he has no active plans
to invest were he to enter the market, Coles expressed an openness to
invest in the broader bitcoin industry, including the mining sector.

The mine is currently on sale for $2m and reportedly generates $1m in annual revenue.

When discussing the similarities and differences between gold and
bitcoin, Coles cited the fact that the prices in digital currency
markets are set by supply and demand.

By comparison, gold is subject to geopolitical pressures that have,
in his eyes, made it a less attractive option over the years:

“The people that have the bitcoin are the ones that can
drive the price up, or drive it down, depending on what ups. Whereas
gold, the people that have the gold are really at the mercy of
politicians, financial institutions, London fixes that we really know
nothing about. People that have gold really have no control over the
direction that goes.”

He went on to suggest that these influences could one day take a toll
on bitcoin. However, he said that the decentralized nature of digital
currency technology makes it “less susceptible to manipulation compared
to gold”.

Coles added that the price of bitcoin
went too high too quickly, resulting in an equally swift correction. In
the months since – which has seen a raft of both positive and negative
news for bitcoin – the price, he said, has risen on the merits of its
strength rather than pure hype or speculation.

One of the key problem areas of bitcoin, Coles said, is a lack of
education among the broader public. This is due to the novel
characteristics of bitcoin that make it not quite a currency, commodity
or property. Instead, it lies somewhere in the middle.

As a result, Coles reckoned, bitcoin’s success – and its price –
hinges on whether or not more people learn about how it works, how they
can acquire it and, most importantly, how they can use it.

He explained:

“I believe that bitcoin needs some advertising the world
over to learn more about what it’s all about. Nine out of 10 people I
talk to have heard of bitcoin, but they don’t know about it, they don’t
understand and they don’t want to because it’s out of their realm of
understanding.”

Pointing back to the topic of political impact on bitcoin, having an
environment in which more people understand how to use digital currency –
and do so – could enable the bitcoin market to operate without
manipulative influence from the outside.

While citing problems in the global gold market, Coles said that
after the sale of his mining interest in the Yukon he’d stay on the
lookout for new opportunities. Issues aside, he said that he makes a
“good living” in the gold market, joking that the industry was “spoiled”
in 2012 and 2013, when gold prices surged above $1,700 an ounce.

He explained:

“I would still always keep my eyes open for opportunities in gold mining. It’s something that’s in your blood.”

As outlined in the BitPremier advertisement, Coles is offering to
help provide logistical and managerial support to a potential owner. The
sale actually has two components: Canyon Creek, a developed, three-mile
property with drilling and exploration already conducted on the plot,
and an existing lease in the Bonanza Creek region.

Coles explained the real prize in the sale are his interests on Bonanza Creek,
a waterway in the Yukon made famous for the abundance of gold
discovered in the region. He suggested they are the heart of something
that offers “big potential” to interested investors.