nothing against bitcoin, but how has gold failed?
plot gold vs example the euro since its inception
see here
http://imgur.com/VTbRyDxhow do you see that as a fail? looks like gold is kicking ass to me.
Gold is doing very well long term. But it does not beat the inflation since the 1980 bubble.
There is no problem for gold to be an investment. But it is difficult to buy goods with gold at present.