Bitcoin is not just a potential new medium of exchange like fiat money - the money we use day in day out. It also acts like a store of value. A store of value is an asset, commodity, or currency that maintains, or even increases over time.

Popular stores of value assets are gold, silver and real estate.   Fiat money is a decent store of value in the short term but over the long term fiat currencies tend to lose value because of overprinting.

Over the long term fiat money is not a good store of value. In 1975 the average house price was just over £10,000. Even if you adjust for inflation it is calculated at just under £100,000. At the time of writing this article the average price of a house is around £280,000, in England. An item that cost £50 in 1970 would theoretically cost £780 in 2019's money. Money just doesn’t hold its value over time.  

Bitcoin has the qualities needed for a store of value asset. It is scarce: only 21 million bitcoins will ever be created. It also has limited and controlled supply, with roughly 900 new bitcoins being created per day. No central authority controls this supply so it can’t be ‘over-printed’ like fiat money. From a medium of exchange perspective bitcoin is of limited use right now.

The price remains volatile when compared to ordinary currencies so pricing goods and services in bitcoin is problematic.   As a store of value bitcoin is much better . When people keep their savings in fiat currency the value of those savings goes down over time due to devaluation and inflation.   Bitcoin is a protection against inflation because of its scarcity and limited supply. In fact, despite significant fluctuations, the value of bitcoin has increased over time. Even with fluctuations, the average annual growth rate for bitcoin is 408%. https://www.upmyinterest.com/fund?tick=bitcoin  

Is bitcoin the new gold? I certainly think it has a bright future.