Bitcoin Forum

Recently I have read a debate if Bitcoin is a currency or technology. It stated there that it is a technology stock and not a currency since the governments have not approved it as a currency. I wanted to know your opinion in this debate. Is bitcoin a currency, or isn't it?

it can be a currency and it is being used as a currency but not vastly, which means it is more like a technology rather than a currency but it has nothing to do with whether or not government approves it

One does not exclude the other.

It's technology, yes (not a 'technology stock'). It's a commodity, too. And many people consider it a currency as well.

What the governments say about this is irrelevant. If everybody would use and accept Bitcoin as money, who are the governments (or anyone) to decide it's something else?

Yes you are right. People consider it as a currency. But then now Bitcoin faces daily hacking and theft risks, lacks access to a banking system with deposit insurance, and it is not used to denominate consumer credit or loan contracts. So I guess Bitcoin appears to behave more like a speculative investment than a currency. Am I right?

The Bitcoin is a digital currency. There is no official in any physical form of coins or banknotes,that no government recognizes as currency become about why he can not control it as we are all aware that governments want to have the upper hand..
however it is my opinion bitcoin is a digital currency which with the help of the technology and mathematics we can have a parallel payment system that is not controlled by any bank, any governent..

Much less so than the Euro or Dollar

There are several Bitcoin vault & storage services with 100% insurance.

True. Well, rarely you see prices denominated natively in Bitcoin, but it's merely incidental.

[q]So I guess Bitcoin appears to behave more like a speculative investment than a currency. Am I right?[/quote]
Currently, yes. Although it's definitely not all investing. People also use Bitcoin a *lot* already as a means of better, faster, cheaper,  easier, andmore efficient payments.

I would say that the Block Chain is the technology that handles and secures Bitcoin the currency (to those who consider it a currency).
Anything can be considered as money, as long as it's recognized as such (and of course it can't be forged).
This is a good read if you havent read it already: The History of Money (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_money)

Let's attempt at answering this, with a question. Do you think PayPal is a currency or a payment method?

Bitcoin has a token of value, which are being accepted as a payment for goods and services. It's also global, so it's not easy to say if it's regulated and accepted in all the countries where it's being used. Most people only

declare something as a currency, when it's widely accepted for payment and accepted by some government as a currency. In that definition, Bitcoin qualify as a commodity widely accepted on a global scale and it's been

regulated by most governments. Do these governments acknowledge it as a currency... nope ...but they do tax it as a commodity with trade value. There is no clear definition on how much people must accept it, before it

can be grouped as a "widely accepted" currency.     

Just a question of names  :D

That's the best part of Bitcoin in general.
One cannot generalize what it is.
It is a lot of things at the same time.

This is what I like about this great invention: Bitcoin cannot be handled easily. The potential is enormous and we are just seeing it now.

Blockchain is a technology and I think that's what government/companies are interested in.

Bitcoin is a currency. It fits all the definition of one

buy things with bitcoin
trade with bitcoin
sell it for fiat

etc etc

Though Bitcoins own more advantages than the current sovereign currencies and has won the embrace of some common publics, its vital disadvantages exists.It is the deadliest defect that Bitcoins are not protected by law， which leads to huge risks for the users，for minimum，the lost bitcoins could not be found back through legal methods and valid legal protection could not cover bitcoin transaction fraud, for maximum，the nation intervenes bitcoin transaction and regards it as illegal transaction. If so,bitcoins are worthless. American government banned two bitcoin transaction websites in 2013 which leads loss of many bitcoin holders. Whether the bitcoins will be used continuously depends on if people choose to believe the value of Bitcoins. As long as a part of people believe this, bitcoin could survive, however, the releasing limt of 21000000 is the vital defect of bitcoin for becoming main currency.

It's both. Obviously it's a technology but it's also a currency but one cannot exist without the other. States might not want to call it a currency because they can't issue or control it, and perhaps it isn't a currency by the old and now archaic definition, but if people are using it as a currency (which they are) then it is one in my opinion.

heres a lesson...
currency is an umbrella term that covers many things..
it can be cigarettes traded in prisons, it can be vodka, art, it can be anything that one person wants and another person has and they agree to trade.. it does not need government approval.

'money' however, is the government stuff they force people to use based on tax laws and minimum wage laws that make it the dominant and compulsory form of currency..

so.. lets give a better comparison.. gold vs bitcoin:
gold is a natural resource
bitcoin is a technology ledger

gold is a commodity
bitcoin is an asset

gold is a currency
bitcoin is a currency

both are not money (legal tender (government accepted for debts, court fines and taxes))

who cares what bitcoin is being considered. the most important thing is how people use it. that's all that matters. naming it a currency or a technology won't make a difference.

No matter how you call it, Bitcoin is great store of value. Better than anything invented since man kind era.

Exactly we need to focus on the use of bitcoins and the benefits that bitcoin is giving us in return, And for me it is both currency and technology, as I can purchase goods using bitcoins so for me it is a currency and that really matters for me.

Yes bitcoin is a currency, no doubt it is an digital currency but it is used as equal as fiat, and blockchain can be treated as technology that is for sure, at this point we can't say that bitcoin is a primary currency but it is a currency for sure.

Bitcoin is both currency and technology. You can say it is "techno-currency".

https://i.imgur.com/c7NJRa2.gif

You can buy things with bitcoin, so that makes it a currency.

not sure if stupid or trolling

Well at the end, who gives a rats ass what governments are saying!
For me, Bitcoin is everything, a currency and a technology. A technology that will allow many different uses for people in the future, of course as it advances and behind all of these use cases will be a blockchain as a backbone of this technology.

On the other side, yes bitcoin is a currency. Today I can buy and pay 5 different goods and services online with bitcoin, doesn't that make it a currency?

That's a great idea, a Techno-Currency.
So, it means that Bitcoin is a mashup of a technology and a currency. :D ;)

As defined by Andreas antonopoulos: "Bitcoin is programmable money." So basically, it's a currency, and it's a technology that allows for you to develop around it. It's essentially both.

well said my friend.

BTC is a digital-techno-currency-blockchain-token-asset-protocol.

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, and cryptocurrency is defined as A digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank. This means that bitcoin is an integration between digital technology and currency, making it digital currency. I have serious doubts if you are serious or you're trolling

Yes, it is both, and it totally depends on an individual what is his perception about the bitcoin, and whether it is technology or a currency, as a bitcoin users it is helping us and benefiting us in various ways, let it continue with the dual role.

Bitcoin is not a traditional notebased currency but similar to commodities like gold, silver etc , some would call it a cryptocommodity which is indeed intrinsically accountable and can be proven to exist if required. Other currencies like notes are impossible to trace intrinsically and are essentially contract papers wheras a bitcoin stores the entire transaction history(under the larger bitcoin framework).

It's so beyond a currency it's mind blowing.  The term doesn't make sense.  Bitcoin is a billion times better than a "currency". It's really a new form of money. Most people just can't grasp that and when the world does.. hold onto your bitcoins boys.

Bitcoin is a technology that is being used as an alternative currency. That is why it is not treated as a pure currency yet. But if it does achieve some of the goal-mark, it will be accepted as currency at some point.

I believe that if we compare the rise and fall of fiat and bitcoin, it helps us analyze that if there is any time that fiat fades away, it is because of the mistakes and scams brought through and people realize how terrible fiat is, they turn their head around for an alternative and there is our sweet little bitcoin up to the rescue, making transactions smarter and banking easier.

Bitcoin is private, free market, world money.

It's an interesting topic.  In the US, different regulators treat it differently and even call it different things.  The IRS considers Bitcoin property.  However, many Bitcoin businesses are considered money services businesses because financial regulators consider virtual currency transactions equivalent to fiat transactions as far as compliance goes.  It seems most of the world is still in a grey area on the issue.

Yeah, a few countries are busy determining which kind of property they should consider bitcoin and setting different taxation rules on bitcoins..Different types of property means different kind of taxes, and one of them can be paying tax on everything you exchange bitcoin, so I don't know what is really going to happen but its not looking so good.

 I think both,it is technology for sure,blockchain is new technology  and it is also currency,you can exchange and you can buy and sell products in btc

Its currently an alternative currency mainly to fiat

Bitcoin is both a technology and a currency witch has the potential for many applications in the future. Right now we can exchange currencies, send payments, make purchases, shop online as well as various other things. Many people had lots of similar questions about the internet in the 1990s.

This question is like asking if I am a mammal or a human being, when both of the answers lead to the same conclusion that I am a human and also that I am a mammal, and both of these facts compliment each other but do not guarantee any of it. Similar are bitcoin and block chain technology, both are entirely different, a little similar to each other but their relationship is far more complicated.

I heard that God created heaven and earth. Is it true?

What's a god without a little OD? Just a G ;) In terms of the question, I would not waste my time debating on it because of how insanely stupid it is. You all know what's the answer, good. I pray that people realize bitcoin's technology and its potential, people with vision might be able to imagine where bitcoin could be, how powerful it could be.

Bitcoin is neither a currency nor technology, it is money, it is like...

Bitcoins beauty is beyond compare
With flaming locks of auburn hair
With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green
Its smile is like a breath of spring

that is some soft shit bro. I don't think there's anything much left to say... So I guess we should leave this dicussion on the note that bitcoin is more than just a currency, more than just a technology and very complete in all the factors which make a currency worthy of being money. Something which had value and used widely, that's what I see bitcoin as.

I have no idea exactly if bitcoin is a currency or technology. But, imo bitcoin is a combination of money as a currency and gold as an investment tool, which it have made from technology by satoshi or some good guy else, to solve the problems in people's economic life. I think technology is a way to ease people life, so I can say bitcoin is a technology too. Just like that.

In my oppinion bitcoin is a new technology,a digital currency,with posibility to view in real time all transaction in the world.
I think blockchain has a good future.

Yes it is correct. Bitcoin so for no country officially considered as a currency until now it is considered as a some new technology or system.

Bitcoin is neither a Pure currency Nor a Pure Technology , its CryptoCurrency , a combination of both currency and Technology.
Its is not the Official currency of any country But is circulating in almost every country.
Moreover we can call bitcoin as a monetary system.

 Since bitcoin is not a centralised system it does not approved by our government.if it is a currency it should be approved by govt. And the society. It is a new technology opened by bitcoin to the world. :)  ;D

It is digital money.It is a technology and it is currency.Currency? Well, does it have a symbol?Yes. Is it widely convertable? Yes.
If you have USD in your pocket, USA (FED) is promissing to give its value.For BTC, each miner helps each user to keep their privacy.The BTC price is volatile due to supply and demand of the market.There is no authority or power to back BTC.

It is a technology as we are the people who valuate the prices of Bitcoin.
If we stop using it then the prices fall and with mass adaption, it's prices rise.
So we are the person due to whom the bitcoin technology have become currency.

Yes, a trustless, decentralized monetary system.
No central bank, just the faith of its users.

Bitcoin will become not only currency but a international currency.Since in my think, its not a technology !! :)

Yes, we can even rediscover the forgotten but holy word money. Who needs currency? Money is it that drives civilization. EDIT: With world money, we do not need to distinquish. Currency is related to an area randomly occupied by some mafia.

well if you look on it its actually both, becuse its like a money witch you can use to (gamble,buy something,sell,send etc which makes it a currency)
and its all made on pc so its technology too :)
so its like 50-50
regards.
-Katerniko1

I agree with this

I think you're wrong because in the world no big institutions will approve to become bitcoin as a official currency so it will be a new technology.

okey, so far we have see now, we as an used btc understand if btc is technology,
may be its like a for future us, like digital money, so in future we not use paper money again, but use btc.

a statement stating its acceptance in the future could only be speculated and not declared simply because future is unpredictable and there are n number of situations which could take place, creating a different number of outcomes in terms of different institutions and its adoption rate.

Yes it is true that Bitcoin is not a currency but is a technology.
The people who use a technology makes it valuable.

No it is not true.Bitcoin is currency which is technology based and already begins to be recognized as currency by Australian govt.This recognition will be first drop of water and sooner more countries will follow the Australian govt.

Bitcoin is digital currency.It already has completed the first step to be named as currency.BitLicense is its non-official recognition as currency.In near future it will be used as currency.

I do not classify Bitcoin as a currency proper, but only as a potential currency.  More precisely, it is a potential money.  Bitcoin acts as a medium of exchange (for the Bitcoin economy) and a store of value (admittedly a relatively poor one).  It does not however function as a unit of account.  Businesses do not use their nominal bitcoin costs and earnings to assess their profitability.  Shops do not price their goods in bitcoin; they price them in local fiat and calculate the a corresponding bitcoin price on the fly.  Very few users mentally measure value in bitcoins but think instead in terms of their local fiat.

Government approval is irrelevant.  "currency" is a word in natural language.  Natural languages are evolving, decentralised system.  Governments do not approve words into existence, language exists independently of coercive hierarchy.

Related thought experiment:  Suppose some/all governments published documents stating that they considered the word "water" to refer to granuals of silicon dioxide and "sand" to refer to liquid H₂O.  Do these official definitions affect the real meanings of the words "water" and "sand"?

It's a technology used as currency by the community. :P
I like the idea of mining in bitcoin, it's like mining some gold in other way. So i think bitcoin is a commodity. :-\

bitcoin is a lot of thing for a lot of different people, that's what makes it good. For businessmen like me, it is a currency so I can do my trades anonymously and maintain privacy, for some its a mode of payment and gives control to act like your own bank. For some its investment and they treat it like capital, even profit made from value increase in btc is taxed as capital appreciation. To each his own :D

Yes what you said is correct. Bitcoin can be considered as a commodity or technology but no way a currency.

Well in my opinion BTC is not only a technology but a disruptive technology it’s probably the greatest innovation in money since coinage.

By the paragraph above it should very obvious that I consider BTC to be money(not currency that is something else) And by the way Gold and Silver are also money.

gold, silver and bitcoin are all taxed as capitals though, in the eyes of the law. All the gains from the increase of their value after purchasing it is considered as capital appreciation, ofcourse laws are different depending on place to place in the world, but it is obvious that fiat is the most widely used mode of payment right now, there are a lot of factors which decide what really is money, so I am not sure gold and silver are really money

It seems to me that this particular currency. Only in electronic form.

All what you wrote is true and your logic flawless. But I see it in a different perspective.

Gold, Silver and Bitcoin fit the characteristics of money, so to me, it doesn’t matter what the governments of world say, since the three fit the definition.

However, the three have the same problem: adoption. But this could change very rapidly if TSHTF, since Gold and silver have a long history of being money we could see the reemergence of currencies backed by gold, silver or both. But I don’t think we’ll ever see a world were you can go to the grocery store and buy stuff with a gold or silver coin. And this is why Bitcoin is so revolutionary; I do think that we’ll see a future in which you can buy anything with Bitcoin, so in essence Bitcoin will become the equivalent of electronic gold.

But of course that’s my opinion.

So basically everyone thinking like that way is wrong? lol.

What if they feel like its a currency as a gambling aspect for only gambling sites. Its still would be form of currency or not?

sir, here's something which makes it easier to know what truly is money by dividing it and comparing it in terms of qualities which defines what money is. I hope it helps you and makes you choose what is better. This is something I found on the internet so feel free to question it and debate about it, but I find it pretty accurate and actually understandable for all!

http://www.dugcampbell.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Traits-of-Money.png

It is so easy to discuss that thing. Bitcoin is a currency made from a technology which is disruptive and will affect most of the actual technology. This disruptive technology will support forever its first product which is bitcoin. It is like mother and child. The mother technology has made a child and has named bitcoin. This mother is very young and will have to many other children. One mother love its children and support and protect those always. The same with the technology behind bitcoin.

actually it depends on your point of view, because everyone has a different view  :)

Its more kinda of technology than a currency.... This because its technical mechanism and its emergence in the form of digitialised currency... Understanding bitcoin is the awesome thing....

As per me Bitcoin is a digital currency which has been produced by technology.

It's both.

You can say the fiat currency is a technology. Paper is a 5000 year old technology. However fiat currency is not really money if you think about it.

As These days bit coin can be stored in the form of physical coin. I think bit coin will be considered as a gold which is not a currency but considered as a currency. Bit coin is also easy to transfer worldwide and easy to store. I see lots of potential in bit coin as much as gold has potential.

First time that i hear this. And is totally wrong. Bitcoin have not physical form. There are not physical coins named bitcoin. Maybe are some but are only ornamentation product that don't have any value as currency. Nothing can be bought with those and no one will acept those as currency. Bitcoin is only an internet currency. So it exist only in a digital form as zeros and ones.

I don't think it matters whatever we decide to call it. It can function as a currency as it is a widely accepted medium of exchange which you can use it to buy, sell or even trade for goods and services. It doesn't matter whether a country endorses it as a legal tender because in reality bitcoin is not owned by anybody. Some will even refer to it as a commodity but i think that is even more confusing.

bitcoin is 3 things-- currency,technology as well as commodity  ;D
and i personally like it as currency ;)

I agree with this viewpoint, now paypal use bitcoin technology to create p2p payment, also more bank interesting to adoption blockchain technology

According to Wikipedia :


So yeah they are taking it as a currency , I personally think it's a currency As-well and the Blockchain is the technology associated with it .