Bitcoin is NOT a currency debate!

[Borisz]

Bitcoin is can be commodity and can be a currency too, it's depends on you used it, you look at the value of btc to fiat exchange, and you see bitcoin as commodity which only can exchange to fiat only, you need see is widely, now a lot merchant or company accept bitcoin as payment processor, it's prove if bitcoin can be a currency.

Yes bitcoin can be a commodity but no for currency. not all the thing that can be as a payment must be a currency..let say a cheque or travelers cheque can be a payment but it is not a currency but it have a value of money and same as bitcoin we can use it as a payment but it is not a currency but it have a value of money

I would give a name this kind of currency as the secondary (less important than the fiat currency (primary currency)) so it is a currency but like a secondhand

But the fact is secondhand currency is more valuable and effective as compared to the primary currency. Like if you are travelling abroad you cannot carry fiat after a certain extent, but bitcoin can, as no one would be aware as it is safe in your digital wallet and no one can access it.

By this analogy, you can carry as much cash as you want, provided they don't find it on you, just like Bitcoins
More seriously, your Bitcoin wallet is more like a "personal bank without countries or borders", so its probably a different category than cash. (Cautiously saying...) like PayPal, where I don't doubt border controls ask how much you have on your PP account.

[jt byte]

Bitcoin is can be commodity and can be a currency too, it's depends on you used it, you look at the value of btc to fiat exchange, and you see bitcoin as commodity which only can exchange to fiat only, you need see is widely, now a lot merchant or company accept bitcoin as payment processor, it's prove if bitcoin can be a currency.

Yes bitcoin can be a commodity but no for currency. not all the thing that can be as a payment must be a currency..let say a cheque or travelers cheque can be a payment but it is not a currency but it have a value of money and same as bitcoin we can use it as a payment but it is not a currency but it have a value of money

I would give a name this kind of currency as the secondary (less important than the fiat currency (primary currency)) so it is a currency but like a secondhand

But the fact is secondhand currency is more valuable and effective as compared to the primary currency. Like if you are travelling abroad you cannot carry fiat after a certain extent, but bitcoin can, as no one would be aware as it is safe in your digital wallet and no one can access it.

Well to exchange the money is the same i think like the bitcoin and like the fiat.
If you want cash then it is the same.
The good thing would be If Google would implement bitcoin as a payment method to Google Wallet

[knowhow]

well bitcoin is global and will be everywhere soo you should just convert your btc when you change country since prices are diferent and they have a coin ,looks eurozone ,they made it work... one coin for several countries why cant bitcoin become the coin worlwide ?soo lets say i would pay 0,1btc buying a ball in europe at chine the same ball would cost just 0,02 btc thats what i mean,not a fiat to convert....

[neurotypical]

I like what andreas antonopoulous says when he is comfronted with the "bitcoin is not a currency" argument, he simply says: "I've been living on Bitcoin for 2 years, not using anything else but Bitcoin. No amount of PhDs and research will prove to me that Bitcoin isn't a currency."

[Gumara]

of course it is.. how can you even say this?

[bank of bits]

Bitcoin is a store of wealth / currency / whatever you want to call it that one holds and which may increase in value over time.

[EndTheFed321]

Bitcoin is a store of wealth / currency / whatever you want to call it that one holds and which may increase in value over time.

Or decrease in value 

[goosoodude]

Bitcoin is NOT a currency!

In it's simplest form it is just payment rails. Stop thinking about is as currency and what is left to regulate?

If a merchant selling a pair of jeans for $250 accepts a 1 bitcoin and customer 2 weeks later asks for a refund with a value of a bitcoin going up to $300. Is he going to get 1 bitcoin back or a value of the jeans he bought? Naturally, the value, which means 3/4 of a bitcoin at the time of the refund. So, how does it make bitcoin a currency. ITS NOT!

What do you think?

this is always what i say and concerns me.

bitcoin is not "YET" a currency, you can use it as a currency but it is still an investment with somewhat of a high risk.

this is why all the places that are accepting bitcoin, they immediately dump it for fiat instead. so as for your example if the price goes up to $300, you won't get a 1BTC refund instead you will get ~0.83BTC refund because the shop is dealing in fiat not bitcoin. they are just accepting bitcoin which is then converted into fiat.

also that is why you will always see the prices in USD and the equivalent in bitcoin, not a fixed bitcoin price.

If i would follow your argument then this would mean that a hyperinflating currency, like the zimbabwean dollar, is no currency too. I mean merchants would do good to only accept US-Dollar instead, or exchange their zimbabwean dollar to something more worthy instantly. Only then they can be sure that their money isn't worth half next day.

[goosoodude]

HMM BITCOIN IS A CURRENCY!!! AFTERALL IT A   GOOD SERVICE WE CAN CONVRRT IT INTO OTHER CURRENY WITH ANY SUCH PROBLEMS!!!

I would like to ask you to stop writing uppercase. It's considered shouting and so it's somewhat unfriendly since there is no reason you coming in here and shouting.

[Amph]

Bitcoin is a store of wealth / currency / whatever you want to call it that one holds and which may increase in value over time.

Or decrease in value  

now the all time chart is saying that is increasing, so we have the right to think that the chance to increase is with us and not against, which mean above 50%

surely bitcoin is not only a currency now(people are investing more than using it it seems), and i'm waiting when bitcoin will not be measured with fiat to consider it a 100% currency

[g1974ak]

Bitcoin isn’t Currency, it’s Money

Most people don’t even realize that money and currency are not the same thing. Although, people tend to see the similarities between each other, most of the times, they completely forget its differences.

Currency was invented to replace Gold as an independent, natural medium of exchange and it has been maintained by governments.  Currency has no limited supply and governments have been using this key feature to take value out from thin air. On the other hand, money came before currency. By definition, currency is inflationary and tends to lose value. The difference between currency and money is important because the global economy is increasingly unstable under a process based on fiat induced debt.

Money and currency have similar properties:

·         Divisibility

·         Units of account

·         Medium of exchange

·         Durable

·         Fungible

·         Portable

Money and Currency have the same components other than one very important one. Money has the ability tostore value. All Fiat currencies do not store value. If they did then you would still be able to buy the same amount of things you could have bought in 1920 with $1 as you could today. And we all know that is not possible. But to show you the real difference, 1 ounce of gold or silver in 1920 can still purchase the same items today. Currency is everything money is, except a store of value over a long period. That is the difference between currency and money. Money is a stable store of value and maintains consistent purchasing power over time.

Fiat currencies are built on trust. In fact, currency isn’t backed by anything of intrinsic value, and governments tend to deflate the value of fiat currency in order to take out value by issuing more currency.

Despite the volatility, gold has been able to maintain its value for centuries while currency has been devaluating since its first appearance. In this sense, Gold is a much more effective way of storing value. Considering this analysis and the fact that Bitcoin is the “digital Gold”, we can say that both gold and bitcoin are real forms of money and a much better store of value than any fiat currency.

[roadbits]

I use BTC as currency, and I use it as a store of value and a medium of exchange. You can tell people its not a currency all you want but it is used as a currency by many, and used not as a currency by many others.

[dollarneed]

I think bitcoin is still curency for now bitcoin is volatile but its gonna be awesome if someday there is a country or goverment that accepted bitcoin as full curency
and we could buy a jeans that worthed 0.5 Bitcoin and next month on the same jeans we still paid 0.5 Bitcoin i wish my dreams came true

[RodeoX]

Let's see, it is a medium of exchange and a store of wealth. So if it's not a currency then it's... a carrot I guess?

[knowhow]

already part of the list of currencies for a long time , only because some do not sympathize with your concept does not make it any less or more than the outras.A crisis that is spreading among the countries , will only show that the bitcoin and the best way to avoid .... making losses if the currency of the inves investment banks and their attractive proposals of rentability , someone already thought the economy of a country of only bitcoins ? our coins do not have more value , have lost much to the constant crises and inflation over time.

[hunnaryb]

I use BTC as currency, and I use it as a store of value and a medium of exchange. You can tell people its not a currency all you want but it is used as a currency by many, and used not as a currency by many others.

Yeah it is a currency as we are getting the goods in exchange of bitcoins, so for me it is a currency, if it would not be a currency then how can we make purchases or get phone credits, it has a value and if it has a value than it has to be a currency.

[misterycoins]

Just as the value of the dollar is built on trusting the people who accept it. There's no core difference between a service for bitcoin and one for another currency.

[xhoneyael]

the amount of bitcoin they pay you that also the amount you will refund..
where that idea came from bitcoin is another way of payment if they pay you in dollar refund it in dollar
if they pay you in bitcoin refund it in bitcoin in the exact amount and not in the price..

[artibg]

yeah ask the guy who receive 10k bitcoins for pizza for refund

[goosoodude]

From all of the anti-bitcoin arguments against it not being a proper currency that i've heard (and trust me i've read TONS) im yet to see a single one that justifies such claim. Every single claims end up being a critique of how it lacks intrinsic value or how it lacks a proper marketcap to be less volatile, both already refuted.

You realize that you used double negation? You need to use either one or the other. The way you wrote it you say "From all of the anti-bitcoin arguments being a proper currency" and because of that i first awaited you think it is no currency too.