Having been watching the market for years, I recently came across an archaeological news story that made me think about the fundamental issues in the crypto world.

When the Norwegian archaeological team excavated at the Tønsberg historical center, they discovered a well-preserved medieval gold ring just 7 centimeters below the surface. This is no ordinary ornament—it’s inlaid with a deep blue gemstone, with intricate filigree craftsmanship that is astonishing, serving as a status symbol for women of high social standing in the Middle Ages. More importantly, the dating is very clear: between 1167 and 1269 AD, a standard medieval artifact.

The key data here is: there are only 63 medieval gold rings registered in the Norwegian National Heritage Database. Although this new discovery increases the circulation volume, its scarcity attribute remains unchanged.

You see, this is the core of the whole story—**scarcity is always the hard currency of value**. Whether it’s the Middle Ages a thousand years ago or today’s crypto market, the principle is the same. The logic behind Bitcoin halving actually comes from here: reducing supply increases the value of each coin.

From another perspective, medieval gold and modern gold-backed crypto assets (such as PAXG, XAU products) are essentially doing the same thing—using scarce physical assets to anchor value. Back then, there were no central banks or fiat currencies; gold was trust. Today, gold-backed tokens do the same, leveraging blockchain technology to make ownership transfer more transparent and transactions more convenient.

The fact that medieval gold rings can still be passed down today and attract so much desire precisely shows what is truly scarce and valuable. Those coins issued casually without real assets backing them are fundamentally on a different level from the value foundation of this ring.