Bitcoin wasn't designed to replace gold; it was designed to replace fiat currencies. There is a marked distinction. In the long term, bitcoin should stand on its own, but in the short term -- during the transition period -- bitcoin will be attached to a known value, such as gold, whether you like it or not. It's the market at work. Today, it is attached to myriad fiat currencies. This works, for now. But it cannot last.
I think you are confusing backing and measuring(or what you call attached).
Bitcoin is measured in dollars as is gold and everything else out there.
People measure the value of things by using the money they are accustomed to. When you go overseas to say UK, you will in the back of your head convert the GBP prices to SGD because that is what you are used to measuring in. That does not mean GBP or the stuff you buy is BACKING your SGD. A backing is a promise to exchange at a fixed exchange rate.
I admit to a poor choice of words. I should have said "measured" instead of "attached". But, so what? Would it be a bad thing if, during the transition, bitcoin was actually BACKED by gold? Gold has a very long history, and it is not something that can be easily dismissed. Bitcoin makes the movement of money convenient; gold gives bitcoin respect (is that the correct word?). Unlike fiat.
Personally i don't see the need for Bitcoin to be backed by anything. It's attributes make it an asset class capable of standing on its own. In case you missed it, the adoption in the past 4 years has occurred based on its own merits, not by anyone backing it or forcing it. Bitcoin as money has attributes superior to gold although Gold has 5000 years of history on its side.
Nagato, thanks for setting up the exchange in Singapore, when I am back in Singapore, first thing I am going to do is to open an account and verified with FYB-SG. Don't just go for SG, make Singapore the financial hub for Bitcoins, steady lah!
I have done this -- i.e., I have opened a bank account in S'pore. But to deal with FYB in amounts exceeding 1000 SGD you have to get "verified". The verification process assumes you are a citizen of S'pore, so it fails for me. So, for now, any transactions I make must be in amounts less than 1000 SGD. Highly inconvenient, but workable. S'pore is such a tiny state that one would assume much of their financial dealings are with foreigners, and things like account verification would be automatically tailored to foreigners. Unfortunately, this appears not to be the case. At least with respect to FYB.
Actually there is no requirement for you to be Singaporean. I have several users from other countries who have gotten verified without issue. Could you list the problems you are encountering?