Although it may seem strange, the recent scramble for Bitcoin fortunes bears an odd but striking resemblance to the California Gold Rush in the mid-19th century. This time round, however, the miners are using computers and cryptography instead of shovels and buckets.

This is the final installment of our 5-part 2014 Gold Series. With input from some of the most important names in gold, such as Brent Cook, Doug Casey, Frank Holmes, Bob Moriarty and James Fraser, it covers gold trends that investors should be watching for through the rest of the year and beyond.

Bitcoin has the very real potential to disrupt the existing financial system. Take a look at today's infographic to find out how.

The S&P 500 continues to hit new all time highs, but is your portfolio built on a house of cards? The politics to kick the proverbial can down the road may unleash dynamics that could be hazardous to your wealth. Here's why and how to protect your portfolio.

There is too much debt. Debt works the same way for a country as it works for an individual or a family, which is to say if you borrow too much, then your life basically craters. Everything gets harder to do, and you end up doing things in order to deal with your past mistakes that you would never do normally. You start trying absolutely crazy things, and that’s where the world’s governments are right now. We are doing all these things that are essentially con games and getting away with it so far, because a printing press is a great tool for fooling people. I don’t see how we can get away with it too much longer.

Bitcoin is a decentralized, global, peer-to-peer, digital, online currency but, that said, most are unsure whether or not it is the future of currency and unaware of the potentially massive impacts this crypto-currency holds. The infographic below shows you the ins and outs of everyday Bitcoin use as a way to save money and provide more autonomy in your financial transactions.

The U.S. Dollar Index has fallen through support at 80 once again. If this current decline trend continues it will drop below 79.20 for the first time in nearly two years. This could pave the way for a deeper decline below the 76 level and signal a continuation of the downtrend that started in 2002.

For thousands of years, gold has been the international currency, and for good reason. Gold is a substance that is in high demand and there is a finite amount that can be produced. Bitcoin, through cryptography, was created on these very principles. Bitcoin must be mined, is in high demand, and there is only a finite amount that is available – just like gold. Let's take a closer look at the relationship between bitcoin and gold in this extremely informative infographic.

This infographic neatly covers many interesting bitcoin facts in a digestible form. It not only shows the versatility of the bitcoin market, but it also captures the difference of opinion on crypto-currencies: many embrace the technology, but some institutions show signs of hostility.

No one knows when gold and silver will rally and anyone who says otherwise has already been proven wrong. Despite a decent rally in both gold and silver over the past 7 trading days, a look at the charts shows that both remain in bear market conditions overall with no defined indication of ongoing strength.