We are talking about the physical gold (i.e, the gold which is in the form of bullion coins and bars), and not about the virtual gold (the gold which is being held in the form of exchange traded funds). Physical gold can't be manipulated, but the storage can be a bit of a headache. But looking at the wallet hacks and robberies which are ongoing with the Bitcoin sector, I have to say that gold storage seems to be less risky.
If the price of gold goes down the value of physical gold does too but it is not so easily manipulated and it will always come back bigger than what it was before because there is a serious demand for it and it's scarce in existence which is why I think it will always be a good investment whether in Physical or Virtual form. And easiness of storing gold can be different from place to place which is why I think Bitcoin Bonds provided by government are more easy to store safely since they can be redeemed only by the person they're issued to or the nominee.