Analyst Jesse Eckel says lab-grown gold could give Bitcoin a scarcity edge
In brief
- Jesse Eckel argued in an October 21 X post that Bitcoin may have an advantage over gold.
- Marathon Fusion's claim that it turned mercury into stable gold prompted Eckel's comments.
- Commercially viable mass production of artificial gold remains a distant prospect, U.Today reported.
- Bitcoin's supply is capped at about 21 million coins; raising it would require new consensus rules.
What Eckel argued
Eckel's case is short. He wrote that lab-grown gold will eventually happen and that it'll be cheap, comparing it to what's already happened with diamonds. Then he drew the contrast with Bitcoin.
"There will never be lab grown $BTC," he added.
It's his opinion, and it's framed as a long-run view rather than a near-term call on either asset.
Marathon Fusion's claim
On October 21, Marathon Fusion announced it had demonstrated "high-rate alchemy", the company's own term. Marathon Fusion said it had turned mercury into stable gold and beaten CERN's record by a factor of 10. That figure comes from the company itself.
The startup also said it had built a plasma centrifuge for enriching isotopes that outperformed a Soviet-era record (one that had stood for four decades). It's now working on a fusion reactor in San Francisco aimed at record power density.
The proposed technology uses high-energy neutrons to convert a specific mercury isotope into gold through nuclear transmutation. In 2025, Marathon Fusion outlined a process that could theoretically produce approximately 5,000 kilograms of gold a year from a gigawatt-scale fusion power plant.
Theoretically is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
Commercially viable mass production of artificial gold remains a distant prospect, according to U.Today, and the company's claims don't establish cheap or industrial-scale production.
Why the supply cap matters to the argument
Bitcoin has a maximum supply of approximately 21 million coins. Gold works differently. Its total supply can grow through mining discoveries and technological improvements, and potentially through nuclear transmutation. Bitcoin's issuance follows a predetermined schedule, with mining rewards halving approximately every four years, and any attempt to push supply past the established limit would require a change to the network's consensus rules.
That's the contrast Eckel is drawing. New technology can, in principle, add to gold's supply; Bitcoin's supply can't grow unless the network changes its own rules.
Frequently asked questions
What did Marathon Fusion claim about turning mercury into gold?
Marathon Fusion said on October 21 that it had demonstrated what it called high-rate alchemy, turning mercury into stable gold and beating CERN's record by a factor of 10. The company's approach uses high-energy neutrons to convert a specific mercury isotope into gold through nuclear transmutation. These are the company's own claims.
Is lab-grown gold being produced at commercial scale?
No. Commercially viable mass production of artificial gold remains a distant prospect, and Marathon Fusion's claims don't establish cheap or industrial-scale production. The company said in 2025 that a gigawatt-scale fusion plant could theoretically produce about 5,000 kilograms of gold a year.
Why can't Bitcoin's supply be increased the way gold's can?
Bitcoin has a maximum supply of approximately 21 million coins, and its issuance follows a predetermined schedule, with mining rewards halving about every four years. Raising the supply beyond that limit would require a change to the network's consensus rules. Gold's supply can grow through mining discoveries, new technology and potentially nuclear transmutation.
