Bitcoin Forum

The automobile obsoleted the horse and buggy as a means of daily transport. Email obsoleted the old snail mail system as a means of written correspondence.

Are fiat currencies at risk of being replaced by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies? And if so, how soon?

I don't think we will see this happening anytime soon and as future is quite unpredictable anything can happen like another new form of currency may challenge cryptocurrencies/bitcoin or law makers try to ban use of bitcoin completely due to its increasing number of criminal use.

Fiat currencies are one of the source of profit for banks by manipulating price and supply, so i don't think they will allow bitcoin to replace their income source.  ;D

No, right now they are pretty far from any sort of extinction level event.

The closest they have ever been to becoming extinct has been the prevalence of Bitcoin, and to be honest it's not even that big compared to the huge power structure of fiat currencies.

The closest replacement time is something like 20 years (if you're generous), assuming growth rates are the same for Bitcoin.

well if bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies become as efficient and easy to use as fiat then yeah, it is possible to replace fiat.
but for now because they are as efficient (for example the limited number of transactions bitcoin can handle) and also because they are decentralized and that is a big problem for government to let it happen, i say it is hard for them to replace fiat and make it extinct.

I believe fiat can never be die or extinct. Thats not gonna happen. In terms of stabilty. Fiat is more stable than bitcoin. We all know that. Imagine if bitcoin is our main currency. Decrease and increase of price happens to often. What will happen to economy? Bitcoin is for investment. And not a main currency of a country.

This thing wont really happen at all even thinking that sooner we would have cashless society but bitcoin will surely remain on its place and cant really be considered to be the main currency of the future.Extinction of fiat wont happen as long there are governments would able to backed it up.

The fiat money might be replaced by some personal bio data like fingerprints or technologies that scan the human eye.
Maybe the cryptosurrency developers will embrace such technologies too.

Soon or later fiat won't get replaced by the bitcoin or other digital currencies. The better part is that email and other innovations reduced the work force with its acceptance in a short, at the same postal services still in use. The same is with our bitcoin its getting acceptance little by little and even if the digitization happens it functions as a alternative. 

In some country with poor economy that is certain but i bet they will be replaced mostly with an enchaned fiat system than bitcoin, like a centralized blockchain that reduce their cost

since bitcoin is not contorlled i highly doubt any government will ever allow it as a main currency, but only as a side one

Fiat in its physical form is already slowly disappearing. Card transactions are rising, as well as NFC payments through mobile devices.

The system behind fiat is a different beat ofcourse. It will only be replaced when the governments decide to and if it takes the form of a cryptocurrency, you can bet it is a centralized one.

Fiat can die but now is not the right time, change will come to make a replacement fiat in the future.

There's tons of payment services supported by fiat so it's hard to say that fiat is at risked of getting replaced.

Yeah. I notice that.. I seldom used physical money in my wallet as of now because it is annoying to carry in my pocket especially coins. I'm just using my atm card on paying bills and buying on shopping malls or online store.  But i'm not agree that physical will be abolish and just replace it by cryptocurrency. There is a lot of risk in crypto world and i'm afraid to lose all my money when i'm sleeping just because i have weak password.  ;D

well automobile didn't put horses out of business the first day it came out, it was first a big thing that needed to be started with a turning of a handle in front of the car and it was a slow vehicle at first. the same as any other technology it takes time to become more advanced and get adopted.

and the least thing we can expect is the extinction of the current form of fiat.

I think Fiat is useful for our life at the present but Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies are increasingly dominant in purchase, investment and exchange of goods. Bitcoin is not popular as like as fiat in the world but it will become central digital currency in the near future.

Taditional money exchange systems were replaced long ago. The current fiat system is based on virtual currencies with no PoS or PoW basis.
The initiative now is to remove cash, and to promote the electronic recording and transfer of fiat currencies. The systems already exists, but there are likely to be some slight changes and enhancements.

The real question is - can governments ban cash? If they do, what will replace it? precious metal coins are one alternative that is re-emerging. Bitcoin is another. It is likely that other cryptocurrencies will gain popularity as they try to block cash transactions.

Fiat currencies will not face an extinction level. It can never be replaced by cryptocurrencies. I am not against cryptocurrencies but fiat currencies is controlled by the government and they will not allow it to perish since it is the life force of the society. Instead of cryptocurrencies replacing fiat currencies it is the fiat currency that is going digital using blockchain technology.

Unless the whole world adapts a single fiat currency I doubt it's extinction, even though cryptocurrencies are evolving by the day. The worst that could happen to fiat is promotion of cashless society by respective governments around the world which would restrict us to use electronic forms of fiat.

Fiat and bitcoin still consider as different money.

Fiat is currency and bitcoin is investment like gold , etc. The advantage for bitcoin is they have value like fiat so people can use bitcoin like fiat
Some country still block bitcoin , makes their popularity difficult to grow exponentially but since I trust bitcoin, doesn't mean it impossible to happen

I believe that the fiat currencies will be replaced by digital currencies but I not very soon as people are used to using paper money and a lot of people don't even know about cryptos yet so I would estimate that in 10-20 years the crypto-currencies will be used more than fiat,but the complet replacement of fiat could only happen in more than 50 years in my opinion. ;)

Your linking up of the things that were replaced are nice but to link this with the extinction of Fiat is way to big. Don't get me wrong, I love btc, the power of the btc is amazing and it makes Fiat look obsolete but there's just one small problem, Fiat is unlimited Bitcoin isn't. Fiat every one btc few have, normally btc is exchanged for Fiat and very less other way round. For btc to be supreme we would have to make it unlimited and every one has to be owning it, which as we know is not going to happen so I don't think Fiat will ever be obsolete.

Fiat will never die because governments and big corporations like the banks can't and won't allow themselves to fal, BUT Bitcoin is gaining more momentum so that will just give BTC an edge and a way for people to guard their wealth as a safe haven in the future, a bit like gold.

Some people with power wants to abolish cash and use only digital money, so they will have total control of people's finances, but it still is far away from being reality, because still several people don't use digital money, either because they don't have bank accounts or because they don't know how to use computer(elder people etc)

FIAT have proven its worth ever since the civilization began. I mean there was no FIAT before and people are only using barter but since FIAT was invented, the trading became easier. The last time I know wherein there was a FIAT extinction was centuries ago. I just read those on some history books.

Fiat are centralized currencies, I know that. But FIAT can't go extinct. Regardless of the fact that Bitcoin makes things easy, You can't just leave Fiat out. So No, FIAT will still be around even If all countries legalize Bitcoin.

People nowadays are giving more preference to the digital and cryptocurrencies. But there is no way that Fiat currencies will face an extinction level event. Mainly because fiats are centralized and governments need them in order to run. Do you have any idea as how many countries are still unknown with even digital currency.? So the extinction level event is yet far in the future.

It won't be happening, fiat is really important for a country, it is the pillar of economy, without fiat the country economic can be struggle, bitcoin and other digital currency is only can be used as sub currency, and if a country rely too much on internet for payment it can be dangerous

Nah, no where in near future. I think fiat are safe for another decade or two even after that its hard to say if cryptos or bitcoin would take over the whole economy and right now the threat to fiat is almost negligible(comparing to what is needed for fiat to get extinct).

There no possibility at all.FIAT currencies will be safe and must be dominated in near future such as bitcoins that dominated other crypto currencies.Fiat currency has a long history,we can't imagine one day long without FIAT currencies.Any government don't support bitcoin instead of Fiat currencies while FIAT are one of the best source of profit and so more source of income.

Bitcoin is not a threat to any of the fiat currency.First of all bitcoin is not considered as a legal currency in many parts of the world. What to say, many of the population in the world haven't heard about this digital currency. So how bitcoin can cause a threat to any fiat currency. By chance if bitcoin rise up then governments will regulate it's usage. Because if everyone starts using bitcoin then government won't get any tax. If government doesn't get tax, it will affect the proper functioning of government which in turn will affect the economic condition of whole country. Governments Won't wait to happen that situation. before that itself they will regulate it's usage or may ban it. So in anyway it's not a threat to any fiat currencies.

Certainly not!
Fait currency of a country is regulated by Central Bank of the country. It is backed by reserves. Every country adopt different methods of reserves like'Minimum Reserve Requirement' etc.
Every country works hard to develop its own economy through strengthening its currency. No country gonna adopt Bitcoin as its main currency else it will blow its economy!

Probably not something that is going to happen in this decade, and perhaps not even in the next decade... but in the long run, the tendency is for fiat currencies to lose their value, as governments that are controlling these currencies make decisions based on individual interests, and people suffer the consequences of this by using a weak and centralized currency.

I don't think bitcoin would replace Fiat any time soon cause there are still a lot of number of people that are using fiat that cryptocurrencies, but there are a possibility that Cryptocurrency can become a replacement for the fiat but bitcoin would just become a sub and other countries would introduce their own altcoins that represent their country, well let's just see what awaits us in the near future.

I think electronic payment options as a whole, are placing Fiat currencies under pressure. How many people in 1st world countries still draw

cash to make payments? I think Crypto currencies will possibly grab a big percentage of the online payment market, because it has the

improved security over centralized services. { That is to say, once Bitcoin are used without 3rd party services } The 3rd world countries

might replace Fiat currencies because it is cheaper. { Minting and printing money is expensive }  ::)

Because Fiat currencies, by definition of being "fiat" are unbacked by anything but government edict, they are always vulnerable to a population choosing something with more durable value. The whole reason governments gravitated to Fiat was to enable them to manage and manipulate the currency to achieve political ends. Typically that means supporting inflationary trends so that governments can run deficits, buying votes in the short term by placing future generations (who have no vote) in debt slavery.

The average person doesn't like this, even if their understanding is vague. So yes, a real alternative to fiat currency does serve as an existential threat to fiat currency. HOWEVER, the alternative has to be flatly superior in every way that matters for fiat to be at risk of extinction. Current Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general exhibit several advantages, but others remain as open issues. To wit:

1. Ease of use. Crypto payments must be as easy as swiping a credit card or counting out cash, with none of this public key copy-and-paste nonsense.
2. Security. Bitcoin as a system is very secure. Bitcoin wallets and online services, not so much. Fiat suffers the same problem but has an infrastructure of insurance (FDIC) and so on to mitigate this problem.
3. Right mix of Privacy, Audibility and Traceability. People need privacy in a way the open bitcoin blockchain precisely lacks, and we need the ability to track down thieves that is also lacking. Auditability is ultimately important not just to businesses but also to governments and to honest individuals (who would like to be able to prove their financial health and/or tax compliance on occasion). While these seem like conflicting goals, progress in altcoins like Zcash is showing that it may be possible to have much better solutions than we have now.
4. Transaction capacity. Enough said.
More would be added for a complete list (widespread adoption, better tools to prevent erroneous AND irreversible transactions, etc.)

I'm hopeful these can be solved, but it will not happen overnight. So fiat has a little breathing room. But it may be extinct in the time of my grandchildren if these problems are solved.

20-30 years ago the internet was something hard to been used on real life and right now every where the internet can be used just on smartphone, it is same with digital coins. Today digital coins are hard to be used for daily transaction, sometime digital coins can be used with easy on real life and replace fiat currencies on 20-30 years later.

Maybe, if people lose their fear of technology, yes. While it is convenient for people to use fiat money they will continue to use it. Here in Brazil people are afraid to use internet banking.  :-[

The evolution of email and public transport has no relation with the current economic situation. Fiat can't be replaced by any crypto currency only because they are not governed by any central authority.

However, some government s can adopt the blockchain technology for future need of money but they will be restricted to that country. It will not become an international currency.

no they are not because apart from a amall portion of bitcoin users, nobody else in the world thinks about using anything other than fiat currency. even most bitcoin users are just using bitcoin as investment and nothing more than that.
this is sad but true

A decade before no one can even think that fiat has any threat of losing value to digital currency and now we see the current situation.  People still think that Fiat can never die but who knows in the next 10 years there shall be no fiat. I just cannot rule out this thing that fiat cant die, It CAN  ;)

Nope. Not yet. I honestly can't see it happening anytime soon.

I know that in some countries people are more and more dependent on cards and that digital currencies
are gaining some ground. But, it's nowhere near the point where it could take fiat's place.

For me, I use Bitcoin but still prefer using cash when buying/paying for things offline. It's just more convenient in my area, and cheaper too.(fees, interest, charges, etc)

I don't think it would be the same with currencies though. We've also seen upgrades with the xurrent fiat system but the basic cincept is still there. I dont think thr world is prepared to go full digital when it comes to monetary systems. It still would be the same currency for a long tjme but with advancements and im seing here that the role of cryptocurrencies would nit be to replace fiat but to support it as backup or an option for people who have access to it

They are both currency and they function as currency, they are both being traded except the other one is decentralized and driven by speculation.  I do  believe that fiat currencies are facing extinction but not soon.  It will take long years before electronic money take over.

I think that fiat will not on extinction, but governs could change to digital fiat in some years. Bitcoin can't be manipulated by governments, they will try to create digital coins under its control (not decentralized, and that they could change).

Yeah i thinks its more likely even that bitcoin would be extinguished before fiat ever could be. The fact that fiat is controlled by governments and big banks pretty much assures us that no other currency now or probably in the future could challenge fiat's supremacy

I think there is some difference between horse-car and fiat-bitcoin situations. Horse is obviously worse than a car, because you can only travel alone with a horse and you have no shelter in case of bad weather. Fiat has inevitable inflation and bitcoin doesn't. However, bitcoin is not and can not really be regulated by any government, whereas people mostly prefer some guarantees and stability instead of anarchy.

I agree with you also, I don't believe that fiat is already on an extinction level yet. Many still use it today in transactions to pay for goods and services that they need in their everyday life. Fiat is still needed to survive in this world so its not on an extinction level yet. Before it happen, there might be a crypto currency that is made by the governments to replace fiat and that crypto-currency is centralized I think.

Actually you got it reversed.  It's fiat that can't be regulated, as it is issued in private -- this means nobody really knows how much is issued / printed.  Corruption is inevitable.  Public coins like bitcoin on the other hand - are regulated perfectly and can have the regulation verified by any participant. 

Lol let me get this straight..  the fact that some people who call themselves "governments" or "banks" also claim to have some modicum of control over the issuance of a no-cost private issued note --  is an assurance that nothing will challenge it?  By the same logic, I claim to control all snails.  Therefore nobody will be faster than a snail.