Is Bitcoin money?

[SkustaClee]

Bitcoin is something radically new. Nothing like Bitcoin has been possible until now. I would go so far as to consider it sui generis; "in its own class".  This makes it important to understand what Bitcoin actually is before we try to describe it to others.

We're getting a good handle on the code, and of course on Bitcoin's function and utility, but what words should we use to describe Bitcoin itself? There has been some debate in other threads [mostly my doing] over how it is like/not like money, cash, dollars, etc. I'd like to start this thread by focusing on the term "money", and play Devil's avocate by asking for your best arguments that Bitcoin IS money.

My legal dictionary states "In usual and ordinary acceptation it [money] means gold, silver, or paper money, used as circulating medium of exchange, and does not embrace notes, bonds, evidences of debt, or other personal or real estate." [cites omitted]

Wikipedia says "Money is any object that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally, a standard of deferred payment." [cited omitted]

Webster's Online Dictionary defines money as:

• 1. The most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender; "we tried to collect the money he owed us".
• 2. Wealth reckoned in terms of money; "all his money is in real estate".
• 3. The official currency issued by a government or national bank; "he changed his money into francs".
• 4. A piece of metal, as gold, silver, copper, etc., coined, or stamped, and issued by the sovereign authority as a medium of exchange in financial transactions between citizens and with government; also, any number of such pieces; coin.
• 5. Any written or stamped promise, certificate, or order, as a government note, a bank note, a certificate of deposit, etc., which is payable in standard coined money and is lawfully current in lieu of it; in a comprehensive sense, any currency usually and lawfully employed in buying and selling.
• 6. In general, wealth; property; as, he has much money in land, or in stocks; to make, or lose, money.

[links omitted]
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I maintain that per these definitions, Bitcoin cannot possibly be described as "money". And further, I think that those who do describe Bitcoin as "money" are doing this community a disservice.

But that is just my point of view. Are there any that can convincingly argue otherwise, that Bitcoin IS money?

Yes for me becuase if you earn a lot of btc you can convert it into real money but even if btc in your wallet you can use this as transaction or paying bills or you can use this for many ways.

[mrayazgul]

Bitcoin is a virtual currency developed in 2009 by someone under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto. This currency is like Rupiah or Dollar, but it is only available in the digital world. The concept may sound like eGold, although it is actually much different...

Yes, agree with you , bitcoin is just like the dollar but just in electronic form but still it is a currency therefore it is money which will be converted to fiat so it can be use in public market and real economy to circulate. The only drawback for bitcoin is that not many people know about it and very few physical stores accepts it till now.

[necromastery]

Bitcoin can be considered money because it is a cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is a digital currency that enables you to trade things with maximum privacy it cant be tracked. Bitcoin can be considered money because it has marketvalue, economyvalue and can use to purchase things.

Bitcoin can be considered as money because he can be changed to money on crypto exchanger/market. In fact bitcoin is just an online payment method nor cryptocurrency. One more thing, the money value is permanent but bitcoin value is always changing every times.

[johan36]

bitcoin is a virtual money that can help you to buy many things online or you can even have cush if you convert the bitcoin to dollars and with a master card you can make it cush and use it for real life

I agree with you buddy it is a virtual money ,we can use it as medium of exchange or payment like other fiat money like Dollar or Euro.

[KaranRaut]

Bitcoin is something radically new. Nothing like Bitcoin has been possible until now. I would go so far as to consider it sui generis; "in its own class".  This makes it important to understand what Bitcoin actually is before we try to describe it to others.

We're getting a good handle on the code, and of course on Bitcoin's function and utility, but what words should we use to describe Bitcoin itself? There has been some debate in other threads [mostly my doing] over how it is like/not like money, cash, dollars, etc. I'd like to start this thread by focusing on the term "money", and play Devil's avocate by asking for your best arguments that Bitcoin IS money.

My legal dictionary states "In usual and ordinary acceptation it [money] means gold, silver, or paper money, used as circulating medium of exchange, and does not embrace notes, bonds, evidences of debt, or other personal or real estate." [cites omitted]

Wikipedia says "Money is any object that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally, a standard of deferred payment." [cited omitted]

Webster's Online Dictionary defines money as:

• 1. The most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender; "we tried to collect the money he owed us".
• 2. Wealth reckoned in terms of money; "all his money is in real estate".
• 3. The official currency issued by a government or national bank; "he changed his money into francs".
• 4. A piece of metal, as gold, silver, copper, etc., coined, or stamped, and issued by the sovereign authority as a medium of exchange in financial transactions between citizens and with government; also, any number of such pieces; coin.
• 5. Any written or stamped promise, certificate, or order, as a government note, a bank note, a certificate of deposit, etc., which is payable in standard coined money and is lawfully current in lieu of it; in a comprehensive sense, any currency usually and lawfully employed in buying and selling.
• 6. In general, wealth; property; as, he has much money in land, or in stocks; to make, or lose, money.

[links omitted]
[/list]

I maintain that per these definitions, Bitcoin cannot possibly be described as "money". And further, I think that those who do describe Bitcoin as "money" are doing this community a disservice.

But that is just my point of view. Are there any that can convincingly argue otherwise, that Bitcoin IS money?

I like the article its really well written.. Looks like someone copied it  http://bbs.norn.ai/thread/is-bitcoin-money/

[Foromany]

Bitcoin is much more of an asset then income. It's far better to spread our funds ayovb assets in eny case. It doesn't matter what it is as lengthy as it is really worth somethingaand has values then perhaps if you make very good alternatives you can even earnings over it.

[bitllionaire]

It's not exactly a currency, but it's better to say a digital commodity, not a currency, I do not think it's a mission. The important thing is to make our life easier.

Bitcoin is conventionally acceptable and we have seen in our life that people paying bitcoin being a currency to someone and have trade in bitcoin so how can we reject bitcoin being a currency. Japan has declared bitcoin a legal currency in his country and many other countries are near to take an action like Japan so how can we reject bitcoin being a currency. In future only bitcoin would be a currency.

[mjnick01]

bitcoin is a literal currency,
so you can collect it and you can also buy anything using bitcoin

[blocklancer8]

Yes, Bitcoin is money. But this money exists only in the digital world. Although not legalized in the countries but many people from all walks of life welcome this Bitcoin. Many people who have used it even used as a future asset.

[Dannaey]

I maintain that per these definitions, Bitcoin cannot possibly be described as "money". And further, I think that those who do describe Bitcoin as "money" are doing this community a disservice.

+1 agreed.  It's a commodity, a digital store of value.

I think of it as a commodity, not yet money. Agree with you. Commodity is something that we can be bought and sold. In connection with Bitcoin, it is something that we are buying, then we sell it in exchange of money. Since it is not yet acceptable all over the world as payment, we cannot consider it yet as money. That's my opinion.

[KouroPotato]

Bitcoin is something radically new. Nothing like Bitcoin has been possible until now. I would go so far as to consider it sui generis; "in its own class".  This makes it important to understand what Bitcoin actually is before we try to describe it to others.

We're getting a good handle on the code, and of course on Bitcoin's function and utility, but what words should we use to describe Bitcoin itself? There has been some debate in other threads [mostly my doing] over how it is like/not like money, cash, dollars, etc. I'd like to start this thread by focusing on the term "money", and play Devil's avocate by asking for your best arguments that Bitcoin IS money.

My legal dictionary states "In usual and ordinary acceptation it [money] means gold, silver, or paper money, used as circulating medium of exchange, and does not embrace notes, bonds, evidences of debt, or other personal or real estate." [cites omitted]

Wikipedia says "Money is any object that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally, a standard of deferred payment." [cited omitted]

Webster's Online Dictionary defines money as:

• 1. The most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender; "we tried to collect the money he owed us".
• 2. Wealth reckoned in terms of money; "all his money is in real estate".
• 3. The official currency issued by a government or national bank; "he changed his money into francs".
• 4. A piece of metal, as gold, silver, copper, etc., coined, or stamped, and issued by the sovereign authority as a medium of exchange in financial transactions between citizens and with government; also, any number of such pieces; coin.
• 5. Any written or stamped promise, certificate, or order, as a government note, a bank note, a certificate of deposit, etc., which is payable in standard coined money and is lawfully current in lieu of it; in a comprehensive sense, any currency usually and lawfully employed in buying and selling.
• 6. In general, wealth; property; as, he has much money in land, or in stocks; to make, or lose, money.

[links omitted]
[/list]

I maintain that per these definitions, Bitcoin cannot possibly be described as "money". And further, I think that those who do describe Bitcoin as "money" are doing this community a disservice.

But that is just my point of view. Are there any that can convincingly argue otherwise, that Bitcoin IS money?

Yes but it is an untouchable money or in short; "online money". Bitcoin is a money that can be generated, invested or even converted into a real money online. Rumors say that the bitcoin would be a future currency someday. Because of the internet, we can make money online through the wise use of bitcoin. Because we are in the 21st century, we can say that our internet is improving and we create a currency that we can exchange into a real money, the bitcoin.

And that's my reason why bitcoin considered as a money.

[endlasuresh]

Yes, Bitcoin is money not a paper as we see can exchange for local currency at any time. This is a new type of Digital money where we can use for betting, gambling etc.
In these days we see lot of online shops accepting Bitcoins to sell their goods.

[dfox101]

Of course Bitcoin is money,it is the cyber gold, it represents the value, that's why we all hold onto it.

[Chairul Muttaqin]

Of course Bitcoin is money,it is the cyber gold, it represents the value, that's why we all hold onto it.

the valuebof of bitcoin came from everyone who buy bitcoin in other word they put their money and change it to bitcoin. they buy some amount of bitcoin and giving trust that their money is equal with amounts of bitcoin they have been bought. Bitcoin made as cryptocurrency that people believe that it is has a value although the value came from themselves by putting their money into bitcoin.

[cotton ball]

Bitcoin is the most successful virtual currency in history, unfortunately the majority of countries do not want to acknowledge legally because of its unstable nature, I have confidence that decentralization will continue to bring price volatility, especially in the crypto market.

Supposedly many Japanese crypto experts are involved and explain their regulatory system in this forum because they consider the bitcoin legal and equivalent to the yen, but it still seems not transparent globally.

[poetra2501]

Of course Bitcoin is money,it is the cyber gold, it represents the value, that's why we all hold onto it.

Yeah I totally agree with you, Bitcoin is a "GOLD" in the future, this is will be
a assets for us, also I think Bitcoin can will be a great money to buy some products in Internet.

[eann014]

even better than money, we all know that money has many weaknesses, bitcoin looks perfect so I'm sure bitcoin is better than money.

really Bitcoin is better than money, how to get even better Bitcoin than money. money must work real, Bitcoin works online.

Agree, we can just convert the bitcoin into fiat to use it anywhere we wanted. Bitcoin just can be use online unlike money that we can use anywhere we wanted. I like how bitcoin works and maybe I still wanted bitcoin even if it is still the same in the future. We can still buy online using bitcoin but we cannot use bitcoin personally to stores. But for me it is still good as it is.

[shinno]

It is not money. It's digital currency. And it's also a artificial money as we usually call.

[aryaadikariyansyahsuwarto]

Clearly, bitcoin is money, money is a valuable means of exchange, whereas bitcoin also has value, in fact I think it is currently highest among other currencies in any country, but bitcoin is a digital currency that has no shape and form.

[ladydark]

Yes,bitcoin was early used as a currency when its price was very low.People used bitcoins to buy products and to pay for services.At that time,they were unaware of bitcoin's potential.But now,since its price has increased very high,people now started to treat it as a valuable return giving investment and they just don't want to spend it to buy any products which could be bought just with the fiat money.