Why bitcoin isn't currency.

[sublime5447]

First, I dont want this to be true but it is.

Currency is a unit.

It is a unit in the system of measurement of value. Just like an inch is a unit in the system of measurement for length.

Units (and there have been thousands of different ones) all have 2 things in common.

1- They are not real. They are all made up, everyone of them is just an opinion. Inch, pound, meter, cat 5, g force,currency --- not real.
the are all just an opinion that we chose to share. We all share the opinion that an inch is so long, if we all shared the opinion that an inch was a foot then it would be.

2- All units are equal to a constant and are objectively definable.

Bitcoin is not a currency because it is not a unit. It has to be definable it has to be equal to something.  An inch is not real but it is definable.

* note that the USD no longer fits the definition of currency either. It is not a UNIT 



 

[tysat]

Hurr durr semantics

A much more general use of the word currency is anything that is used in any circumstances, as a medium of exchange. In this use, "currency" is a synonym for the concept of money.

I think Wikipedia defines it a little better than you do, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency.

[Walsoraj]

It is becoming increasingly apparent that crypto-"currencies" have more in common with tech stocks than fiat-currencies or commodities.

[mootinator]

2- All units are equal to a constant.

So, what constant is a dollar equal to which makes it a unit?

[notme]

First, I dont want this to be true but it is.

Currency is a unit.

It is a unit in the system of measurement of value. Just like an inch is a unit in the system of measurement for length.

Units (and there have been thousands of different ones) all have 2 things in common.

1- They are not real. They are all made up, everyone of them is just an opinion. Inch, pound, meter, cat 5, g force,currency --- not real.
the are all just an opinion that we chose to share. We all share the opinion that an inch is so long, if we all shared the opinion that an inch was a foot then it would be.

2- All units are equal to a constant.

The US Dollar is not a currency because it is not a unit. It has to be definable it has to be equal to something.  An inch is not real but it is definable. 

[Mike Christ]

Fucking words, how do they work?

[mootinator]

Besides that BTC is clearly defined as 100000000 satoshis

[mootinator]

-snipped-

Take your definitions somewhere else; we're trying to argue a pointless semantic thing here.

[yvv]

Besides that BTC is clearly defined as 100000000 satoshis

No, you can't define units like this. You need to define satoshi first. A meter is not defined as 1000 millimeters. Since 1983, a meter has been defined

as "the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second."

Neither bitcoin nor USD are units. And this is bad.

[mootinator]

Neither bitcoin nor USD are units. And this is bad.

No, it's a good thing, because in that sense a bitcoin is objectively no worse than a dollar.

[yvv]

Neither bitcoin nor USD are units. And this is bad.

No, it's a good thing, because in that sense a bitcoin is objectively no worse than a dollar.

Objectively no better either.

[franky1]

bitcoin is a currency.

if you do not believe that then please commit a crime and go to prison.. then you will learn the hard way that not only FIAT can be used as currency.

how many cigarettes would you trade to save you anus from being violated. or would you prefer to deny non FIAT items as not being currency.. and take it like a woman...

[notme]

Neither bitcoin nor USD are units. And this is bad.

No, it's a good thing, because in that sense a bitcoin is objectively no worse than a dollar.

Objectively no better either.

Except for it's hard supply limit.

[elasticband]

bitcoin is a digital Finite resource

[mootinator]

bitcoin is a currency.

if you do not believe that then please commit a crime and go to prison.. then you will learn the hard way that not only FIAT can be used as currency.

how many cigarettes would you trade to save you anus from being violated. or would you prefer to deny non FIAT items as not being currency.. and take it like a woman...

No no no. You're missing the point of this pointless sematic argument entirely. A cigarette can be defined as a certain mass of tobacco, therefore cigarettes are currency and FIAT is not.

[franky1]

bitcoin is a digital Finite resource

bitcoin is many things dependant on what way you look at it.
for investors its a finite asset, something they own that has limited supply and potential to make them profit by holding longterm
for traders: its a speculative currency that value changes by how much miners mine and hoard (supply) and how much the community wish to have (demand)
for governments: it is not a FIAT so their tax and minimum wage laws ensure that contracted employee's remain paid in FIAT and pay their taxes in FIAT, thus keeping their FIAT circulation flowing
for entrepreneurs: its a new currency that doesnt require identity to open bank accounts to use it, or business plans to enable processing services to be available to them. it opens up many oppertunities that FIAT does not.

the list goes on but bitcoin is not just one single description that can fit easily into one box. bitcoins use and potential far exceeds that of gold, FIAT or prison cigarettes..

[justusranvier]

[CtrlAltBernanke420]

In our current paradigm of mainstream society <-- relative to your lifestyle(s) The dollar purchases oil, from there you can determine the most appropriate price for a banana or a ton of steel. The dollar is a monopoly. But because of the dollar/oil relationship you get relative price stability, something that does not currently exist in bitcoin, but would need to for it be able to determine how much each bitcoin unit is worth. As max kieser said, were trading beaver skins. Bitcoin market cap must grow beyond 100billion to truly define the notion it has reached 'escape velocity.'

Because of our military might, similar to Zimbabwe(military), they were able to print money, sieze land. The US is currently doing the same things, just on a global scale. Yes we are being fleeced by our leaders. But they got us by the balls, and I do not think they feel all that threatend by bitcoin and I am beginning to think, they should not feel threatend  by bitcoin, The elite will always dominate. Granted russia, china might be the ones calling the shots, but they are already harboring the elite just as the US of A is.

For now it is
-a payment system
-Risky speculative investment
-uncensored transactions

as the notion it is a store of value or a currency, I do not think those concepts are 'official' and it will take time to see which way things go.

It has many characteristics of a ponzi scheme, but it also has many characteristic of an honest, legitmate technology.

As for it being adopted by the world and become the world reserve currency by the will of the people, I think that carries a lot of risks. forget the govt, forget hackers, our sun could send us back to the stone age with a solar storm. Paper cash, and gold, would still reign surpreme in those events.

[mootinator]

Paper cash, and gold, would still reign surpreme in those events.

Skills and useful commodities for sure. Whether paper cash is useful at all depends on the disaster.

[yvv]

Why not? Go ahead, take a shovel, throw it on the fan.