Investment Banker - Bitcoin is not a "real" currency ;->

[Kprawn]

I had a most interesting discussion with a investment banker today.

I asked him the question... "Do you see Bitcoin as a disruptive technology or a threat to the traditional banking system"

His answer {Most arrogantly} ....We do not consider Bitcoin as a "real" currency.  

I then asked him to define a currency in his opinion ...and he said ..." a system of money in general use in a particular country "

I then told him...Bitcoin is a global currency... He then replied.. "But nobody use it"  

They are clearly in the "Let's ignore it" phase of the disruption cycle... When they wake up... it will be to late to change.  

[1714910151]

1714910151

[nachoig]

The typical confusion between currency and legal tender.

But by a banker? Careful with your money...

[NyeFe]

Sometimes, when you listen to bankers ignorance about Bitcoin, don't you just wonder "How did a baboon such as you get into banking?" On the positive side, the longer they can ignore Bitcoin, the longer we'll have to make them jobless . So it's a Win Win situations

[Meuh6879]

electricity have no tangible value
gaz have no tangible value
air have no tangible value
bitcoin have no tangible value

but all of this things ... cost a lot of a life.

so ... what ?
it's real for a part of people.

and that's good.

[Carlton Banks]

"No-one" has sure as hell been sending alot of transactions, although presumably this non-entity was sending these funds to their non-existent self

[cakir]

He's right Bitcoin is not a "real" currency. It's far better than fiat currency and it's Crypto Currency.
You can't proove the money flow on illegal activities if they've used fiat in cash form.
But You can see even satoshi's transactions from the begining.

[Kprawn]

His friend, did not want to believe me, when I told him that Bitcoin is currently sold for +/- $250 and it sold for +$1000 a while ago.

I had to go onto the internet and prove to him that it actually sells for that amount.... {He looked interested... but the banker stayed arrogant... with a superior attitude}

I was amazed at how very little they cared to learn more about this technology.

[Denker]

Banker=Bankster
Banker= ignorant fools

Ask your Banker again in a few years. I bet he will have changed his mind.

[Meuh6879]

I was amazed at how very little they cared to learn more about this technology.

well, if you tell someone about gold coin ... it don't care, too.

because nothing of educated people see the INFLATION (less pound for the same price).

the first thing for bitcoin is to protect against this.

but it's complicated to explain at people ... at the first time.
because, they don't want to trust this (more tax, morecost, less money).

[Jybrael]

If that is his logic that Bitcoin isn't a real currency...then he should actually look at the fact that money in reality holds on real value as well...it is only dictated by the government and how people use it. Cause at the end of the day it is nothing but a piece of paper with ink on it.

[IDKwhatimdoing]

Typical bakster. Only sees in front of him, and not around... So it is an expected answer!

These guys fear Bitcoin as a disruptive tech, so they want nothing to do with it!

[countryfree]

I had a most interesting discussion with a investment banker today.

I asked him the question... "Do you see Bitcoin as a disruptive technology or a threat to the traditional banking system"

His answer {Most arrogantly} ....We do not consider Bitcoin as a "real" currency.  

I quite agree with that. BTC isn't a real currency, but it's definitely disruptive technology, and a threat to the traditional banking system, albeit a small one at this stage.

[TaunSew]

He is right - nobody is using Bitcoin.  We have estimates from the FRB, ECB and Jeffrey Robinson which indicates the user base is under 250,000.  Schmucks like Coinbase and previously MtGox loved to claim "millions" but addresses =/= unique human users and most of their addresses are empty.  Risto Pietila, here on Bitcointalk, has spent countless hours analyzing Bitcoin's adoption.


If this was any other industry or the tech sector then Bitcoin would be considered a fail.  A fail in the sense that if it couldn't attain the proof of concept (viral adoption) over 6 years and it probably never well. 

In the mean time - Whatsapp is newer than Bitcoin and it has attained 600 million users.  Even Telegram app is 2 years old and has 50 million users.

Inb4 "Digital Currency is new" - blockchain might be new but that is about it.  We had older stuff like eGold and older predecessors and it goes back to the 1990s.  Even estimates indicate that eGold was bigger than BTC in both capitalization and users but it wasn't really covered as much in the media.   

Bitcoin got a lot of attention because it made a lot of random people millionaires.  Whereas, nobody got rich off eGold except for the scammers and hackers.  The media loves that rags to riches story..

[nachoig]

He is right - nobody is using Bitcoin.  We have estimates from the FRB, ECB and Jeffrey Robinson which indicates the user base is under 250,000.  Schmucks like Coinbase and previously MtGox loved to claim "millions" but addresses =/= unique human users and most of their addresses are empty.  Risto Pietila, here on Bitcointalk, has spent countless hours analyzing Bitcoin's adoption.


If this was any other industry or the tech sector then Bitcoin would be considered a fail.  A fail in the sense that if it couldn't attain the proof of concept (viral adoption) over 6 years and it probably never well.  

In the mean time - Whatsapp is newer than Bitcoin and it has attained 600 million users.  Even Telegram app is 2 years old and has 50 million users.

Inb4 "Digital Currency is new" - blockchain might be new but that is about it.  We had older stuff like eGold and older predecessors and it goes back to the 1990s.  Even estimates indicate that eGold was bigger than BTC in both capitalization and users but it wasn't really covered as much in the media.  

Bitcoin got a lot of attention because it made a lot of random people millionaires.  Whereas, nobody got rich off eGold except for the scammers and hackers.  The media loves that rags to riches story..

Block size is still 1 MB.

Bitcoin is still an experiment. I think it would be very risky to achieve an adoption at WhatsApp, CandyCrush or even Telegram levels at this moment. Also, all these platforms are centralized.

Even more, Bitcoin is not just an end-consumer product. To being functional as everyday money, it needs to be accepted by merchants. And this is a slow proccess. It doesn't have commercials on TV. It doesn't have the "hey, I'm using it and you should use too".

Just to compare, even debit and credit cards still didn't get an universal adoption. Here in South America, there are a lot of informal and formal places which don't accept them, they only work with physical cash.

[mercistheman]

I'm of the belief that bankers are the last ones you want to wake up... let them dream of little money printing trees... sleep well my friends.

[Undermood]

Not all of the bankers are ignorant.
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/19864/ubs-open-blockchain-innovation-lab-london/

[LiteCoinGuy]

[Amph]

fiat money are not real currency either, because a real currency should not lose its value over time

also a true currency must not be necessarily a tangible thing, digital one are considered true currency in the same way

so no, bitcoin is a true currency much more than any fiat

[deisik]

I had a most interesting discussion with a investment banker today.

I asked him the question... "Do you see Bitcoin as a disruptive technology or a threat to the traditional banking system"

His answer {Most arrogantly} ....We do not consider Bitcoin as a "real" currency. 

I then asked him to define a currency in his opinion ...and he said ..." a system of money in general use in a particular country "

I then told him...Bitcoin is a global currency... He then replied.. "But nobody use it" 

You should have asked him (do it next time without fail) how it happened that gold is still considered a global currency, though no one actually uses it in everyday transactions. If he says that gold isn't by any means a global currency either, then ask him how come that central banks of most developed countries are still hoarding it?

[btcxyzzz]

Time will come when he will realise Bitcoin is the first real money in history.