Crypto following same evolution as fiat?

[tomwalsh]

As cryptocurrency gain more traction and 'normies' begin to become more accustomed to it, we will soon see it proliferating into mainstream usage.

There are many similarities between the evolution of crypto and fiat.

Before fiat gold was the currency of choice. It held value to people for a long time but had many problems as a currency, most importantly in liquidity. Fiat evolved to solve this problem, yet was originally set against a gold standard in order to convince people of its value. As fiat matured the FX markets allowed each currency to find a natural value and replace the gold standard. As the financial system matured other assets came into circulation including securities such as bonds and shares.

However fiat was from the outset a physical store of value, and had a very hard time adjusting to the instant, widespread and annonymous nature of the digital world.

Enter bitcoin. In the crypto world bitcoin has held the role of gold, a speculative commodity and the standard at which other cryptos are valued. As it grew in use people began to believe in its value, giving it merit. However there are many problems within its network, like gold, which prevent liquidity and use as a widespread currency. Just as fiat did altcoins emerged to solve this problem. Set against the value of BTC they attempt to solve liquidity issues. Bitcoin, as with gold, has began to transition to a commodity asset, allowing altcoins to take the role of highly liquid currency. Exchanges have yet to stop using what i call the 'bitcoin standard', but efforts are being made which will allow the value of altcoins to be positioned against each other much like the FX markets. In the place of securities we see tokens emerging, each with their own unique monetary benefits.

Cryptocurrency has democratized currency. It has opened up the financial system to anyone and everyone across the world.
What i would love to see soon is a new state formed with no fiat in place, instead allowing its economy to develop with cryptocurrency.
Im not sure that cryptocurrency is mature enough for it yet, but it would be an interesting experiment in use case.

Fiat will continue for a very long time. However, btc will cease once it's completely mined out. Crypto is different from fiat it started digitally without much market cap whereas fiat is controlled by the government which makes it so powerful when compared to alts and btc.

I'm not suggesting fiat will ever stop to exist. As long as sovereign states exist i believe so too will fiat.

You make a good point about fiat being born at a set price whereas crypto started from nothing and built market cap.

However once bitcoin is mined out surely price will only continue to increase at an increasing rate?
Currently new BTC dilutes the value of old BTC keeping price down.
Once mining is over supply will actually start to decrease due to natural loss of BTC in circulation, pushing up the value of each remaining BTC. Also there will be no new supply to dilute growth.
So BTC will only grow faster than ever.

[quantumcomputing11]

Give it time like you said this is a new industry and we are infants yet barely learning how to walk. Once we get our feet under us and are able to walk which with the addition of the futures market will happen much quicker now it will be interesting to see if Bitcoin can become a worldwide currency. I would love to live in a world where bitcoin is our one and only currency but for that to function and work everybody must be on that system. Easier said than done and the transition may take 25 years or more to get done. I however think if this does occur though the whole world will be better off including those who are in the middle class and lower the distribution of wealth will make it so that the common person has more power than they normally would have.

[kevoh]

talking about evolution in the crypto world. at this time crypto has evolved almost the same as fiat money. which distinguishes, bitcoin is limited and can not be affected by anything  while fiat can be taxed by the government

Sorry I beg to differ, Bitcoin can be affected. Are you aware that the high transaction fees and high volume and delay  of unconfirmed transactions are major issues affecting Bitcoin?  How will there be a mass adoption of Bitcoin when simple transactions that cost  under $50 are burdened with transaction fees of $12 and delay in processing the transaction?

[Roukawa]

As cryptocurrency gain more traction and 'normies' begin to become more accustomed to it, we will soon see it proliferating into mainstream usage.

There are many similarities between the evolution of crypto and fiat.

Before fiat gold was the currency of choice. It held value to people for a long time but had many problems as a currency, most importantly in liquidity. Fiat evolved to solve this problem, yet was originally set against a gold standard in order to convince people of its value. As fiat matured the FX markets allowed each currency to find a natural value and replace the gold standard. As the financial system matured other assets came into circulation including securities such as bonds and shares.

However fiat was from the outset a physical store of value, and had a very hard time adjusting to the instant, widespread and annonymous nature of the digital world.

Enter bitcoin. In the crypto world bitcoin has held the role of gold, a speculative commodity and the standard at which other cryptos are valued. As it grew in use people began to believe in its value, giving it merit. However there are many problems within its network, like gold, which prevent liquidity and use as a widespread currency. Just as fiat did altcoins emerged to solve this problem. Set against the value of BTC they attempt to solve liquidity issues. Bitcoin, as with gold, has began to transition to a commodity asset, allowing altcoins to take the role of highly liquid currency. Exchanges have yet to stop using what i call the 'bitcoin standard', but efforts are being made which will allow the value of altcoins to be positioned against each other much like the FX markets. In the place of securities we see tokens emerging, each with their own unique monetary benefits.

Cryptocurrency has democratized currency. It has opened up the financial system to anyone and everyone across the world.
What i would love to see soon is a new state formed with no fiat in place, instead allowing its economy to develop with cryptocurrency.
Im not sure that cryptocurrency is mature enough for it yet, but it would be an interesting experiment in use case.

I think if fiat currency will remove, third world countries will suffer this changes. In reality, cryptocurrency is not really matured in our world. Many of countries are behind this trends, it will take time just to spread cryptocurrency in the whole world. Bitcoin will not follows what fiat evolution had, I think before it was created there are different research that made. Bitcoin will not be successfully to launch if there are lots of critics. That's why bitcoin will lead to a great change in our economy but we have to acknowledge also the usage of fiat. Both fiat and cryptocurrency are needed in this world, no need to demolish one of them.

[tomwalsh]

Give it time like you said this is a new industry and we are infants yet barely learning how to walk. Once we get our feet under us and are able to walk which with the addition of the futures market will happen much quicker now it will be interesting to see if Bitcoin can become a worldwide currency. I would love to live in a world where bitcoin is our one and only currency but for that to function and work everybody must be on that system. Easier said than done and the transition may take 25 years or more to get done. I however think if this does occur though the whole world will be better off including those who are in the middle class and lower the distribution of wealth will make it so that the common person has more power than they normally would have.

On what grounds do you make the assumption that bitcoin would distribute wealth to the middle and lower class.
Many people in the community seem to mention this but there is no grounds for for this assumption and no reason why that would happen.

I think many people overestimate what bitcoin is.

[Hydrogen]

I feel like there's another side to this discussion which might need representing.

Divergence from a gold standard, in terms of fiat being printed without limit could encourage inefficiency, wastefulness and fraud on the part of governments. The illusion of being able to tax and print ones way out of debt could enable the extreme levels of deficit and debt we're witnessing today.

On that front, both bitcoin and gold with their limited supplies could represent a throwback to responsible spending and accountable in terms of governments and institutions not being able to spend money they don't have. This could incentivize more responsible spending and consumption of natural resources, eliminate waste and fraud and otherwise lead to more stable economies, better job markets and overall healthier living over the long term.

There's a school of thought which says gold and precious metals are not viable due to their value proportional to spending. However if gold were re-introduced as a legitimate currency and given greater utility and function in the world other than a store of value, it may be safe to say the value of gold could increase dramatically. There is a possibility the value of gold could increase enough for it to be utilized alongside fiat if it were adopted as a legit currency or token of exchange.

The real reason for the opposition to gold could be reducing competition to fiat and the irresponsible spending, wastefulness and otherwise vicious cycle of hyperinflation producing overprinting which goes with it.

[kaya11]

Nope I guess.. because for crypto itself is more of a natural deflation that the price grows naturally influenced by demand and supply factors also is not influenced by the government at all. Likewise with the development or evolution that will occurring, of course since from the more natural grows., I think it obviously would be different with fiat.

Fiat was created way back centuries ago which takes us back to the origin of civilization. It took hundreds and thousands of years to and evolve, even though it existed long time ago still it was prone to fraudulent activities. While digital currencies has anonymity over the the users and created a while ago and evolving faster than fiat. It's not likely to be a monetary system for now, it's still gaining acceptance for most developed countries.

[Sahyadri]

Indeed Bitcoin has evolved over the years. It has been rising as Satoshi wanted it to be. In my view Gold + Fiat = Crypto.
Bitcoin has the value of gold and a better system than fiat which is making it a lot worthy ans Satoshi knew it would be. There are issues in the current system such as the high fees and network issue but they will be solved overtime and as more people are involved in the crypto world the price will skyrocket in a few years.

[tomwalsh]

Indeed Bitcoin has evolved over the years. It has been rising as Satoshi wanted it to be. In my view Gold + Fiat = Crypto.
Bitcoin has the value of gold and a better system than fiat which is making it a lot worthy ans Satoshi knew it would be. There are issues in the current system such as the high fees and network issue but they will be solved overtime and as more people are involved in the crypto world the price will skyrocket in a few years.

Interesting thought that it is a hybrid of gold and fiat, and in many ways I agree with you.

However a mix of the two isn't a good thing, they hold separate roles and a hybrid could lead to major problems on the market.

Whatever the use of bitcoin one thing s for sure, as it is now it could never exist on its own, and needs other currencies and altcoins to disperse volume to.

[AbyssLagiaz]

They are both undergoing evolution but the crypto is what I observed that evolves the faster. The things is we're living already in a technological world and it brings us a lot of convenience. In money transaction, the crypto made it easier that's why it is continuing to develop faster than fiat. Many practical people were used to using fiat but whenever they experience something that is new and convenient, they intend to make a study about it and use it. This is one of the segments of evolution of bitcoin and cryptos.