Why arent we spending our BTC?

[Rogue]

I just finished reading this article.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/78-percent-of-bitcoin-currency-stashed-under-digital-mattress-study-finds/

So can someone please tell me why were arent spending BTC's. Just like any other currency the reason why its a currency is because people USE it. I know some people look at BTC as an investment but lets face it, if the fiscal cliff is met than BTC has very little to gain. Yet if the fiscal cliff doesnt pass then BTC could explode. We need the BTC to circulate even if it stays only in the BTC community. Right now everyone in my opinions sees the community as scared to take any real action (on an economic level).

[kwoody]

most people are still hoping that another bubble will happen and they can sell out for large sums of fiat currency. these are exciting times for bitcoin(though to me it's been exciting since its conception), with the block reward halving and the potential release for asic hardware, most folks holding 'coin are doing so because they have a "i'll wait and see" attitude; this is the wrong approach in my opinion.

people should be spending BTC on things they would normally pay for with fiat, and then use fiat to buy back the BTC they spent, period. this is the only 'savings' approach that is helpful to the bitcoin economy, and keeps bitcoins in your wallet simultaneously.

[kingcrimson]

When people are saying bitcoin will go to a hundred, or a thousand, why would anyone use it instead of hold on and get rich ? Maybe this will be the downfall

[Panoramix]

'we' are spending our BTC. For me, it goes a little like this:
I discovered bitcoin, got enthusiastic and bought myself relatively large amount of btc. Now, I have a percentage of my savings in btc that I feel comfortable with but I still buy for an x amount of fiat bitcoin every month. Most of that I spend, on anything and everything I can find that can be bought for btc. Most of the time I can't find enough useful stuff to spend my whole month's 'allowance' on, so what's left is my savings. The more I can find on the bitcoin market, the more I increase my monthly budget. So yeah, 78% doesn't surprise me. The more stuff the market has to offer, the more you'll see that percentage drop.

It all sounds too simple to even talk about. Isn't this the natural way people do things? in general.

[FreeMoney]

If anyone really thought bitcoin was going to the moon they'd have to spend them because they wouldn't have other kinds of money sitting around to spend. Starving or freezing to death doesn't get you to your vast riches. And unless you suck you should have/buy electricity, computers, an office so you can work to get more coins.

The reason that damn article that keeps popping up concludes that none are being spent is because they didn't bother to figure out what is going on.

Most people keep their coins in services that most people use. Even if every person used all their coins every week the service would still have coins that never moved if they use a first in first out method which makes complete sense since you would want the coins that sit still to be safe in cold storage.

[Reall Blue]

Some people "hoard" but i guess everyone who has them still spends a percentage of theirs? I'm slowing trying to work up to 100BTC from the ground up hopefully I'll have done so by next Year

~Reall blue

[Coinabul]

We had a record amount of orders yesterday from Bitcoin Friday!

So I would say slowly, from the efforts of many, we can convince people to start spending BTC.

[koin]

So can someone please tell me why were arent spending BTC's.

i don't spend frivolously.  if i needed web hosting, i'ld buy it with bitcoins.  if i wanted gold or silver bullion, i'ld buy it with bitcoins.  but i looked at the merchants yesterday and shrugged, there was nothing i would have bought that i could pay using bitcoins.

i just did need an electronic gadget.  the only place that even listed them was bitcoinstore.com but they were out of stock for this item.  but even if they had them in stock the $1,000 minimum order size would have made my purchase ineligible.   (i did, however, pay for the item at staples using a prepaid credit card which i loaded using a moneypak that was bought with bitcoins.)

a restaurant near me charges fifty cents extra when paying with a credit card.  i've talked to the manager but nobody else has ever asked about bitcoin so they don't see it as being worth it.   there was a site that sold restaurant gift cards for bitcoins but by the time i went to order the site had closed down.

i showed a friend bitzino video poker, and after she turned a bitcoin into five i ended up buying a couple btc back from her.

so the problem isn't that people won't spend their coins because they are going to go up in value, it is because the variety just isn't there yet.

[Akka]

most people are still hoping that another bubble will happen and they can sell out for large sums of fiat currency. these are exciting times for bitcoin(though to me it's been exciting since its conception), with the block reward halving and the potential release for asic hardware, most folks holding 'coin are doing so because they have a "i'll wait and see" attitude; this is the wrong approach in my opinion.

people should be spending BTC on things they would normally pay for with fiat, and then use fiat to buy back the BTC they spent, period. this is the only 'savings' approach that is helpful to the bitcoin economy, and keeps bitcoins in your wallet simultaneously.

That's exactly what I'm doing and IMO the best and easiest way to support bitcoin. Every time I want something I look if I can get it with BTC and only if I can't get it I use Fiat.

When I bought something with BTC I buy the spend amount of BTC back. This way you BTC savings stay constant you can buy things with BTC and don't need to care about the current price.

[Foxpup]

I am spending my bitcoins. I'm just not spending them right now.  It's called saving. This concept seems to confuse and irritate some people. I don't understand why; it should be obvious that I'm going to spend them eventually - why would I buy bitcoins in the first place if I'm never going to use them? And even if I don't ever spend them, that's my problem, not anybody else's.

When people are saying bitcoin will go to a hundred, or a thousand, why would anyone use it instead of hold on and get rich ? Maybe this will be the downfall

Because rich people gotta eat, too, and you can't eat bitcoins. Deflation is only a problem if people starve to death waiting for the price of food to go down. But that's not going to happen: as the fact that people buy computers demonstrates, the promise of cheaper prices tomorrow doesn't mean much if you want something today.