Is Bitcoin really too volatile to be a useful currency?

[kiver]

volatility is not the issue.

iam sorry for being noisy but how can explain when a company like Microsoft stopped accepting bitcoin as a form of payment they did specify the reason is the volatility  of bitcoin but in my opinion volatility  is an obstacle for bitcoin getting more accepted as a form of payment and also tx fee but this one come in second  

[Uberse]

volatility is not the issue.

iam sorry for being noisy but how can explain when a company like Microsoft stopped accepting bitcoin as a form of payment they did specify the reason is the volatility  of bitcoin but in my opinion volatility  is an obstacle for bitcoin getting more accepted as a form of payment and also tx fee but this one come in second  

Microsoft is accepting bitcoin again: http://fortune.com/2018/01/10/microsoft-bitcoin-temporary-halt/.

[pooya87]

We read all the time that Bitcoin cannot be a valid currency because it is too volatile.

haven't read that one exactly but it is nonsense.
the only thing that volatility or better said increasing price of bitcoin creates is less incentive for some people to spend their bitcoin. and it is not everyone. the amount of money that has been going to merchants through bitcoin is the living proof. you can check bitpay stats in the past few years and see that for yourself.

Does bitcoin's volatility hamper the dark web? Has anyone seen headlines like "Dark Web Sales Fall Flat as Bitcoin Skyrockets"?

the usage of bitcoin in dark markets has dropped in the past and continues dropping because people start to realize bitcoin has never been anonymous. and now coins with real anonymity are more popular!

[akdperry]

more than anything I think transaction speed will always keep bitcoin from being a useful currency.  It will become (or already has), become a store a value.  if bitcoin keeps up with it's trends, bucking from 20k to 7k in a month, nobody can take it seriously as a currency.  why would you use it to purchase something that can buy a new car one week to a mediocre used car a month later.  

[Maryverycool]

We read all the time that Bitcoin cannot be a valid currency because it is too volatile. The argument is that people won't spend bitcoins when their fiat value spikes. But wouldn't that only be true if everyone knew exactly how high the price was going to go and when it was going to get there? And in a volatile environment, isn't each transaction a zero-sum game? Would a decisive number of people consistently find such risk objectionable?

Does bitcoin's volatility hamper the dark web? Has anyone seen headlines like "Dark Web Sales Fall Flat as Bitcoin Skyrockets"? Are dark marketeers so careless of their money? And has anyone ever heard experts declare that stocks' volatility in effect makes the money that purchased them equally volatile --  although that is exactly what such volatility does?  Do people hold off using a shopping coupon in hopes that next week's Sunday paper will bring a better deal?

Volatility is a strawman. Merchants will adjust their prices and people who need a good or service will use whatever currency is the most practical or convenient for them at a given moment. Ultimately we want what we want now, and tomorrow be damned.

Yes, the price of bitcoin is not stable, which can be seen from the price of bitcoin in the past month.
Bitcoin has fallen from $20, 000 in January to $8, 000 today, a big move.
But I think it might be normal for bitcoin, because there are many factors that affect the price of bitcoin.
For example, when there is bad news about bitcoin, the price of bitcoin falls, which has been well received in the past month.
When bitcoin is stolen, the price of bitcoin fluctuates wildly.

[balanza96]

Currently, yes.

[Uberse]

why would you use it to purchase something that can buy a new car one week to a mediocre used car a month later.  

You wouldn't. But you don't know what it will buy a month later. Maybe a new car or no car at all. In the end you have to decide what you need now and what you don't need. If a bitcoin will facilitate a purchase that you need now, you will use it. Its volatility is irrelevant. Maybe you don't need a car. Maybe you need to invest in stocks through your 401(k) more than you need to hodl bitcoins. So you buy stocks, which are volatile, with a bitcoin, which is also volatile. See what I mean?

[BORNEO82]

Thats right, bitcoin is always volatile like that, and in fact many people prefer to sell bitcoin instead of having to keep it

[Uberse]

Thats right, bitcoin is always volatile like that, and in fact many people prefer to sell bitcoin instead of having to keep it

Yep. And this week many people preferred to sell their stocks instead of having to keep them!

[tweetbit]

It can’t be because it wasn’t supposed to be as a currency that the government may controlled. I don’t even think it this is needed to be mainstream on some point, it is a revolutionary currency that the people or the masses must be the one who benefited and not the elite. So I don’t care for that, as a matter of fact I only care for this community to grow with or without those corrupt public officials and they’re biases.

[Uberse]

Yes, Sad to say. Bitcoin's high volatility rate is one of the huge drawbacks of this amazing currency. So much that it couldn't be used as a currency because any country that would declare to use bitcoin as their respective national currency is sure to fall. Let's just hope that one day bitcoin's value would be stable so that it would be of greater use.

There are different kinds of volatility. Consider Venezuela. Its currency is certainly volatile -- but volatile in the same direction --down. Probably that nation will never declare bitcoin as its national currency, but certainly plenty of its citizens are using it as such. Bitcoin's volatility is unlikely to send them back into the arms of the Venezuelan bolivar. Indeed since every bitcoin transaction is a zero-sum game (one winner, one loser as far as daily gain/loss) they are likely to greater prefer it. As least with bitcoin they have a 50/50 chance of finding themselves with a momentarily practical store of value and a unit of exchange.

[Uberse]

Currently, yes.

Your answer has earned you $1,000. Paypal or bitcoin?

[fiulpro]

 I think it's only useful as a currency in limited number of cases for example:- the ones involving big international transactions , instead of paying heave taxes and fee you could do that transaction through Bitcoins.
It is true that Bitcoins is too volatile to be used in place of normal currency but in my opinion it was made to be used as an investment not as a currency.
Thus Currency thing is an additional benefit.. not something that's it's supposed to function as.

[newwest]

It is volatile now, but it may stabilize in the future. Who knows what will happen? But I think its volatility doesn't affect its potential uses.

If a country has to use it as a currency then it needs to be stable like your country's currency which is not the case with the bitcoin. So potentially it cannot become a currency of any country if this not regulated or does not become fully stable like the other national currency.

[Ciscopro2000]

Yes it is too volatile to be thought strictly as a currency.  I look at it more as an asset, a huge value asset.  Some people liken it to gold.  Just like you wouldn’t use gold to buy everyday items, you probably wouldn’t want to use Bitcoin to buy everyday items.  I think eventually some other crypto will become the USA standard for everyday transactions.  

[Michellekking]

We read all the time that Bitcoin cannot be a valid currency because it is too volatile. The argument is that people won't spend bitcoins when their fiat value spikes. But wouldn't that only be true if everyone knew exactly how high the price was going to go and when it was going to get there? And in a volatile environment, isn't each transaction a zero-sum game? Would a decisive number of people consistently find such risk objectionable?

Does bitcoin's volatility hamper the dark web? Has anyone seen headlines like "Dark Web Sales Fall Flat as Bitcoin Skyrockets"? Are dark marketeers so careless of their money? And has anyone ever heard experts declare that stocks' volatility in effect makes the money that purchased them equally volatile --  although that is exactly what such volatility does?  Do people hold off using a shopping coupon in hopes that next week's Sunday paper will bring a better deal?

Volatility is a strawman. Merchants will adjust their prices and people who need a good or service will use whatever currency is the most practical or convenient for them at a given moment. Ultimately we want what we want now, and tomorrow be damned.

Yes, the bitcoin as one of the most popular currency in the market now, its price is very unstable, he in a very short period of time the price can happen very big change
 In the past one month, the currency fell by $10000, so when are you going to investment COINS, you need careful consideration

[QuestionAuthority]

Volatility isn’t really a problem because companies like BitPay remove the risk.

From BitPay’s website:

Accept bitcoin payments for your business

Use BitPay's retail, ecommerce, billing, and donation tools to accept payments from customers anywhere on earth.

Receive settlement for bitcoin payments directly to your bank account in your own currency, with zero price volatility or risk.

Your customer chooses to pay with bitcoin during the checkout process.
They pay the BitPay invoice at a locked-in exchange rate.
BitPay instantly converts the bitcoin, shielding you from any volatility risk.
You get direct deposits into your bank account.

That’s the reason I’ve said for a very long time that there are no businesses really accepting bitcoin. Businesses accept fiat just as they always have, BitPay accepts bitcoin.

[jpespa]

Imagine the hassle of a store always changing the price of their product if you will pay in bitcoin since its value changes all the time or what if the bitcoin was payed at high value then suddenly the value go down in large amount. It is like you just sold a product at loss. Well still many store online has now accepting bitcoin as payment method perhaps they have their own strategy on how to manage sales through bitcoin. As for the situation right now the price movement of bitcoin are at small difference. But if large scale of decrease happens again then it might be very hard for most of stores to remedy their loss.

[Vektrum]

Volatility is an impediment to use as a currency right now, but it won't be in the future. I think high fees are the biggest impediment to adoption, right now and in the future.

Nobody can say for sure what will happen with the volatility of bitcoin in the future, when its price will increase significantly. Perhaps the range of volatility, on the contrary, will increase, as this possibility will also be greater. This is roughly the same as the bitcoin course and the range of its correction. We see that the higher the price of bitcoin, the deeper its correction.

[Falgorn]

Bitcoin clearly demonstrates its unpredictability. Then he sets another record, taking off, and less than a day later his course suddenly drops sharply.
Bitcoin has rather high volatility; The high amplitude of fluctuations in the cost graph in equivalent to the classical currencies. This indicates the instability or even the absence of a fundamental basis for the value of the crypto currency. Other trading instruments, be it currency or stocks, have a real material base. Equity is the equivalent of the market value of an operating business, classical currencies have a course that depends to a large extent on the policy of the state and the policy of central banks regulating monetary circulation and controlling the risks for users in cash. At bitcoin, both the rapid growth of its value, and the rapid decline depend on the balance of supply and demand. Predict the future - what will be the course of bitcoin tomorrow, a week, a month - just unrealistic
Accordingly, while people have agreed that this means of exchange, bitcoin is. But if global economic actors put it in doubt, it will cease to be such a means