Tens of thousands of years as being used as 'medium of exchange' (ie. the base definition of 'money') and a store of value - are against you on 'gold' actually having intrinsic value.
adjective
Of or relating to the essential nature of a thing; inherent.
Situated within or belonging solely to the organ or body part on which it acts. Used of certain nerves and muscles.
Inward; internal; hence, true; genuine; real; essential; inherent; not merely apparent or accidental; -- opposed to extrinsic.
"the intrinsic value of gold or silver; the intrinsic merit of an action; the intrinsic worth or goodness of a person."
Contrary to your assertion, gold has a LOT of 'commercial/industrial' applications, in addition to it's value and ease of use in creating objects of art. I encourage you to research that if you are of a mind to do so. One can also include lead, antimony, palladium, tin, platinum and just about any other 'rare/semi-rare' mineral in the list of 'monies' with INTRINSIC value.
Tell the Saudi's that 'oil is not 'money'' - they use it as a medium of exchange, recognized world wide, every single second of every single day. Is it 'convenient' to be used as a 'currency' -NO, yet it IS used every single day as a fungible alternative to 'hard currency'.
There is no such thing as a 'crypto coin' - that is a marketing term. There are 'ledgers' where debits and credits are recorded - that is called the blockchain. A positive entry in that ledger has been euphemistically termed a 'coin'. It isn't even some nebulous nor unique string of ones and zeros - supposedly 'securely encrypted'; - it is a straight, plain forward digital number entered into an account in a ledger that everyone can see.
And just in the fwiw department - I do own crypto, and own shares in a 'crypto' ledger keeping 'ie. mining' operation. That is ALL that a 'crypto' so-called operation is - plain and simple.
You can dress a pig up all ya wants - it's still a pig.
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