Can Bitcoin change the world's financial system?

[prettybuds]

Bitcoin fans always say that Bitcoin is changing the world.
Everyone I know doesn't care about Bitcoin, like at all, like absolutely not at all.
There are 1-2 million Bitcoin users in the world. That's like one grain of sand on an utterly huge shore.
HOWEVER it is a brilliant experiment, and I think it's absolutely fascinating.

Much could be done with Bitcoin, but it's not really used all that much. That's not exactly setting the world on fire.


Am I wrong? Can/will/has it change(d) the world?

Thank you for your posts guys!

[coinzat]

There are 1-2 million Bitcoin users in the world.

I doubt this number. I think bitcoin users are more than this number by many times. I agree with you that many people around the world do not care about bitcoin because they did not try it yet. so give bitcoin more time and you may get better results

[cryptoheadd]

People always say that Bitcoin is changing the world.
Everyone I know doesn't care about Bitcoin, like at all, like absolutely not at all.
There are 1-2 million Bitcoin users in the world. That's like one grain of sand on an utterly huge shore.
I don't know what all the fuss is about.
IMO Bitcoin can't change anything.
HOWEVER it is a brilliant experiment, and I think it's absolutely fascinating.
But that's about it for me.
Am I wrong?

Bitcoin has already changed a lot.
It has made money transfer so easy & convenient.

Right now, I can send 10,000$ to you and you'll receive it within 30 seconds. (Not counting the confirmations)
Plus, I'd only have to pay a 0.05 USD fee (0.0001BTC).

If I do a wire transfer, the fee is going to be a whole lot more, along with the turn around time of more than 2 working days.

[prettybuds]

There are 1-2 million Bitcoin users in the world.

I doubt this number. I think bitcoin users are more than this number by many times.

Yes, many doubt this number, but it is the truth.

Active users are even much, much less, only about 200-300k

Right now, I can send 10,000$ to you and you'll receive it within 30 seconds. (Not counting the confirmations)
Plus, I'd only have to pay a 0.05 USD fee (0.0001BTC).

If I do a wire transfer, the fee is going to be a whole lot more, along with the turn around time of more than 2 working days.

That's right my friend! You could do that. But nobody does
Do you understand what I mean?
Bitcoin is brilliant technology, but it's not changing very much.
Certainly not what Bitcoin hardliners are claiming.

[practicaldreamer]

Where to locate value - that is the question.

For me bitcoins value is derived from the utility (benefit) it confers over and above the alternatives.

And it offers a lot of utility (99% of which is yet unrealised) over and above fiat, and even gold/pm's.

[prettybuds]

And it offers a lot of utility (99% of which is yet unrealised) over and above fiat, and even gold/pm's.

I totally agree!  Still, it doesn't seem to change the world.

[cryptoheadd]

That's right my friend! You could do that. But nobody does Wink
Do you understand what I mean?
Bitcoin is brilliant technology, but it's not changing very much.
Certainly not what Bitcoin hardliners are claiming.

That's true.
But I think, that's because of the legality issues.

Why do you think most people aren't using it?

[Jhanzo]

bitcoin is already in the process of changing the world's financial system. why do you think the banks are trying to implement blockchain-like system? they have to make changes in order to compete with bitcoin.

[prettybuds]

they have to make changes in order to compete with bitcoin.

I personally don't think so, they just want to spend less on the system they're using (blockchain being efficient)

They don't have to compete with Bitcoin at all at this point

[practicaldreamer]

And it offers a lot of utility (99% of which is yet unrealised) over and above fiat, and even gold/pm's.

I totally agree!  Still, it doesn't seem to change the world.

I remember a vague buzz about the internet circa 1996. I worked at a college in the UK that had a pc on the top floor that was connected. I was eager to try it out. When I eventually did it only (in a very slow, interrupted and unreliable kind of a way) connected me to a very small library held by a US university - I can't remember which one, but it doesn't matter. It was shit.
Even as late as 2000/2001 I remember people expressing to me their scepticism regarding online trade(rs) such as Amazon.

Thats where bitcoin is today.

[RodeoX]

I think it has already had an effect on the banking sector. New payment systems are all the rage in finance right now. Credit cards and payments had not changed in decades. Then bitcoin shows up to disrupt things and now we have Apple-pay, Venmo and many others. This rush to develop payments is spured on by bitcoin. Even the conservative banks agree that payments will never be the same again. We won the war.

[prettybuds]

And it offers a lot of utility (99% of which is yet unrealised) over and above fiat, and even gold/pm's.

I totally agree!  Still, it doesn't seem to change the world.

I remember a vague buzz about the internet circa 1996. I worked at a college in the UK that had a pc on the top floor that was connected. I was eager to try it out. When I eventually did it only (in a very slow, interrupted and unreliable kind of a way) connected me to a very small library held by a US university - I can't remember which one, but it doesn't matter. It was shit.
Even as late as 2000/2001 I remember people expressing to me their scepticism regarding online trade(rs) such as Amazon.

Thats where bitcoin is today.

That's a very interesting view.
But what makes us so sure that Bitcoin can indeed be compared to technology as disruptive as the Internet?

[Patatas]

When we talk about the "World",I think bitcoin would have scalability issues.Take an example of a country which wants to buy either a nuclear weapon or say any huge commodity from the neighboring country.Assuming,bitcoin has become the primary currency of both of these countries and they have no other option but pay the other using only bitcoins.What issues probably would arise ?
->The transaction size ?
->The network propagation ?
->Amount of time involved for conformation ? The required fees ?

Of course,buying a nuclear weapon won't be a small deal and sending that amount of coins (if they even exist) is a big problem.Maybe my answer is not convincing,hope you get the point.

[iv4n]

Bitcoin fans always say that Bitcoin is changing the world.
Everyone I know doesn't care about Bitcoin, like at all, like absolutely not at all.
There are 1-2 million Bitcoin users in the world. That's like one grain of sand on an utterly huge shore.
HOWEVER it is a brilliant experiment, and I think it's absolutely fascinating.

Much could be done with Bitcoin, but it's not really used all that much. That's not exactly setting the world on fire.


Am I wrong? Can/will/has it change(d) the world?

Thank you for your posts guys!

Some of my friends say the same. But ask yourself why you like bitcoins? Yes we all earn coins here and that coins worth a lot now, but is it just cause earning or there is something more?

I don't like system and for me decentralized network is much better solution, I support the idea behind bitcoin and that is what I try to explain to people when I talk about bitcoins. Fiat have monopoly over this world and just recently bitcoin started to take a piece by piece from that big cake. So I see changes, maybe they are not big, but for sure changes are happening.

For now things are going fine I think, step by step. Soon people will realize what is better and they will join.

[Jhanzo]

they have to make changes in order to compete with bitcoin.

I personally don't think so, they just want to spend less on the system they're using (blockchain being efficient)

They don't have to compete with Bitcoin at all at this point

at this point. but how about in the future? bitcoin will get more users over time as it spreads and when people realize that it have a lot of features that the other system have not. they won't just wait until it's too late, they will have to take precautions.

[Wendigo]

Where did you find these estimates - 1-2 million Bitcoin users in the world and 200-300k active users? I think there are at least 5-10 million users in China alone. How do you define an active user? Do you mean it's a person who uses Bitcoin every day as frequently as using fiat in the real world? I doubt you will get a concrete answer to that and I bet there are way more than 300k active Bitcoin users.
And I think the Blockchain technology has the potential to change the financial systems in the world, because Bitcoin is just a digital currency while the Blockchain is the blueprint that other future and current currencies can use to improve upon Bitcoin's legacy.

[gentlemand]

I think there are at least 5-10 million users in China alone.

Why? There are hardly any nodes there. You can't buy anything with it. The trade volumes are huge but most of them are going to be bots controlled by a handful of traders or the exchanges themselves.

As for the original question, Bitcoin's ideas certainly will introduce huge changes. Bitcoin itself? The jury is still out and waiting.

[Yakamoto]

Bitcoin already has kind of changed the global financial systems, with the blockchain now being a more and more invested and valued technology, more banks are starting to move towards something like it and see what kind of technologies can be formed out of it. I personally think this is a good thing, because it will slowly interest more people in the origin of this technology, which is Bitcoin, and we can see growth in the userbase.

[DarkStar_]

Bitcoin can and has changed the world's financial system, but not with bitcoin itself, rather with the blockchain technology. There have been many blockchain startups recently, and many banks and other companies are interested in using the blockchain to keep track of stuff.
Nice coindesk article about the blockchain and banks: http://www.coindesk.com/bank-of-japan-official-central-banks-need-to-watch-blockchains-closely/

[gentlemand]

But what makes us so sure that Bitcoin can indeed be compared to technology as disruptive as the Internet?

Er, have you been reading anything posted on this forum or elsewhere on the internet? Despite its many flaws and never ending drama, this is rather clever stuff.