It's an asset because of its intrinsic value. If you take 1 tonne of paper that money is printed from and you take 1 tonne of gold that coins are minted from, the paper might be worth ~$200, the gold will be worth ~US$40,000,000.
The fundamentals are another story. Fundamentals is what it should, could, would be worth. Intrinsic value is what it's worth now. Gold/silver have historical fundamentals of what an ounce could buy, so either GP should rise or everything should come down, historically speaking.