I never said bitcoin needs backing. I'm saying that I think that bitcoin will coexist along with other cryptocurrencies backed by precious metals. Because people are most likely going to prefer having a physcial asset backing their currency, if given a choice.
i understand.
id say having a coin backed by gold is far far far better, instead of a receipt/certificate number stored on a central database. BUT (for me a big but) this in my experience should be used for day traders to play the gold markets short term. i prefer for long term, where it does not require lots of handling.. to convert that coin/certificate/IOU into physical gold.
id never hold a certificate/independance coin for more then a couple months. but id hold a bar of gold for the rest of my life.