The gold analogy makes me so nervous. Gold has specific and permanent properties (eg, high density, an entry in the periodic table :P). Many detractors of gold claim those properties are not valuable, but it still has them and is specific and unique.

Bitcoin has mathematical properties that can be 100% cloned. The only thing that makes bitcoin unique from some random bitcoin clone is that it has the backing of a big mining networks.

I firmly believe that whatever value bitcoin has is tied to the size of the mining network, and by extension to the energy burned to transact bitcoins. This simply isn't close to being permanent in the same way gold is. It could potentially work like a social thing, and go the way of, eg, MySpace. I don't see how that can hold its value for a generation; the risk of current prices being a blip is still very high.