The many faces of bitcoin

[notig]

I thought it might be fun to just go through some hypothetical examples of users who use bitcoins for their own purposes. I might miss some or get them wrong... and I am sure some of these examples will overlap. But here goes

The investor  -  the investor is someone who has a diversified portfolio and simply wants a small percent of bitcoins in that portfolio. Looking at the past price of bitcoins it's easy to see that you can lose a lot.......... or win so it is risky but it can also be rewarding to "invest" .

The gambler - this includes gambling establishments and those who gamble. Bitcoins are great for gamblers and for online gambling because of bitcoins superiority over regular money in this area. In fact it's probably even useful for not-online gambling places.

The storer of wealth - this person realizes that inflation is a problem and that it's getting worse... and could get really ugly. They don't want to keep their wealth in the form of dollars... but they don't want to invest in the stock market either. Gold is always an option.... but it just isn't as cool as bitcoins since you can't transfer gold as easily.  These people are probably also made up of what we like to call "hoarders" who want to hoard bitcoins. Just because they like hoarding wealth and maybe because they think bitcoins will go up in value. Also in this group would probably be those from countries which are in "crisis" and want to save whatever wealth they have from their government.

The day trader - these people don't really care about the price of bitcoin other than that they hope it goes higher than they buy it for so they can sell it. They probably watch the price all the time.

The gamer and virtual goods marketeer - Selling virtual goods such as money is usually a bad idea when it is for a reversible payment system. I can remember back in the day when star wars galaxies was released... I made over 30 million in the first month of the game. I decided to sell a small amount. The first time it worked just fine.. the second time I learned what a charge back is. I never sold a virtual good again. Anyways.... sites like ogrr are purposed for this. I think the popularity of this facet of bitcoins will likely grow.

The privacy monger - some people like privacy in what they do. One of those areas is how they spend their money. Considering how traceable everything is nowadays... bitcoin is good for those who wish to remain anonymous........ if you know what your doing. If you don't take care and have the knowledge to remain anonymous then you won't be.

The freedom wisher - This may be down the list but it is probably one of the most important and growing in popularity examples. A decentralized currency would be POWERFUL. any educated person should realize that.. and by educated I don't mean by the traditional schooling system. These people want bitcoin to succeed to give us freedom from banks.  At the moment... the government (speaking from the USA perspective) works hand in hand with the Federal reserve and can simply print the money they want to finance whatever war they want. I don't really see that changing if bitcoins succeed but at least bitcoins give us a great deal more freedom than we had before they existed. Bitcoins even allow us a way around economic sanctions.

The doomsday prepper - okay sure if the internet goes completely kaput then bitcoins won't do so well. but many th ing that doomsday is actually economic collapse. In which case having some bitcoins could prove useful.

the geek - likes crytpo stuff

the entrepreneur - has an idea related to bitcoins or simply wants to be involved in their work with bitcoins and wants them to succeed. An example would be someone who operates a bitcoin exchange.

the exchanger - there is a large contingent of people who want to send their money somewhere else for whatever reason. And bitcoins is a great way to do that and avoid international fees for example

the old man -Death tax. bitcoins would be a way to have your possessions not taxed at ridiculous amounts when you give them to your heirs. When you work you are taxed all the time.. even multiple times for everything you earn. Why can't you give your family something for all of that? something that will help them continue your bloodline and carry on your genes?

the drug runner - This I believe is not popular. Yet. But part of drug running is moving drugs... but also moving money. By using bitcoins you can do yourself a favor and eliminate the troubles that come with having to move large amounts of cash. I'm not sure if any cartels will catch on but it seems like a huge untapped market

the old woman - medications are super expensive. Buying them with bitcoins is possible from locations that don't try to gouge you. I personally know of several "old people" who spend upwards of 800 dollars a month on just drugs that doctors tell them they need.

the merchant - many merchants get scammed with chargebacks. It is better to have the burden of trust placed on the customer rather than the merchant. A merchant typically has public reviews.... and it is in their best interest to behave correctly. A customer does not have reviews typically... and it is not in their best interest. By bitcoins being irreversible this is good for merchants everywhere. And that goodness might even transfer over... maybe lower prices could be had simply because they no longer have to worry about chargebacks anymore.

the silk road black marketer - this includes drugs... and marijuana.

the criminal - i suppose there are those who might use bitcoins for more nefarious purposes. Kidnapping... terrorism... money laundering, and tax evasion are pretty much the ones off the top of my head.  Unlike what the tabloids and major news articles say I think they would be the minority of those who actually use bitcoin. They will probably stick to what they are already using.... regular money.

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[Phinnaeus Gage]

The soccer mom - Secretly puts a few coins in a wallet weekly, saving up for her kid(s) college tuition.

[julz]

The cryogenics customer
   -  Most coins in a brainwallet - some controlled by a key self-tattooed under the tongue, just in case the memory is a bit foggy upon revival.
       
      Heck - I'm so tired of waiting for Bitcoins to skyrocket, It's tempting to sign up and slit my wrists at the Alcor gates!

[payb.tc]

I'm so tired of waiting for Bitcoins to skyrocket, It's tempting to sign up and slit my wrists at the Alcor gates!

you need to be patient

[blueadept]

The atheist eschatologist - believes Bitcoin will lead to the Singularity, and is saving up money to upload his brain to Amazon EC2, with backups on Google and Wuala.

On that note, there's a new Doctorow/Stross book I've been meaning to read...

[yogi]

The service provider?

[notig]

The miner - this person either has free energy or they have dedicated hardware just for this purpose of mining as a project or they want to keep their room really warm through alternative heat!

[Lethn]

The Stateless - Not wanting to belong to any particular society or belief system or state, hence the term 'stateless', this person sees Bitcoin as one of the ways to actually achieve that as there are very few limits on when and where you can use Bitcoin compared to most conventional currencies which try to force people into their system if they want to use it

[finway]

Genius around the world.