Does Bitcoin really need to *Replace* Fiat?

[beetcoin]

fiat is fucked up, but i think those who believe BTC will supplant fiat are reaching a bit far.

[undeadbitcoiner]

Do cell phones really need to replace home phones?

Great
Bitcoin will not replace Fiat these two will be supporter of eachother and Bitcoin will make easier for Global Fiat for conversion, For Transmiting and Secure Electronics Use.

[cbeast]

Does anything really need anything else? Did you really need to stop breast feeding at 3 months? Do we really need Canadian baseball teams in MLB? Let the "free market" decide.

[nodroids]

People's life time of work is pretty important to them. Capital controls, closure of accounts, massive inflation and thus deflation of your dollar. I think the thing that will hasten the end of fiat is when the banking cartels start using the state to persecute bitcoin. Then people will know that fiat is in real trouble and they will take the risk to maintain their life savings. People fight tooth and nail, their whole lives to get ahead, they'll risk jail to maintain their hard earned purchasing power, poor house for sure, or jail house maybe... Guess which one motivates more.

[viridisk]

It doesn't need and probably never will completely replace fiat, nor it should.

But in some optimistic scenario of future btc could become that 'global currency' that you can use to pay transaction everywhere with ease. It really should be main aim, if anything near that is achieved, other things will sort themselves out.

[smoothrunnings]

What if Bitcoin was simply the worldwide global currency?   The thing you could use anywhere you travel right alongside that given country's existing fiat?
A bad comparison:  You can use that country's cash if you want, or you can use Visa anywhere in the world.

Wouldn't that be a more realistic future for Bitcoin? 

Bitcoin doesn't have to replace the fiat currencies but it will because fiat currencies aren't stable to support themselves. As the Feds continue to print USD like there is no tomorrow their fiat currency has become very unstable, other countries have done the same thing and the writing is already on the wall. When the world market collapses (it could be as soon as April 2014) what other currency are they going to use? Likely they will want to use something that everyone uses around the world. It could be bitcoin or it could be some other crypto like currency they invent (so they can control it).

In the end there will be Gold, Silver, Bitcoin, and possibly another crypto currency that is regulated.

[luqash3]

BittBurger today almost every normal person dream to see bitcoin as the globally acceptable currency while fiat currency shall crash soon due to manipulation of it by central banks. I hope we shall be able to use bitcoins everywhere in entire world and no ore fiat currency in our wallets

[bryant.coleman]

If government gets in the way of the world, side with the world.

In a democracy, the majority opinion works, even if it is doctored. If the majority of the population views Bitcoin favorably, then nothing can stop Bitcoin. Not even the government. But as of now, a large part of the population is staying away from it, due to well known reasons (theft of coins, hacking, volatility.etc)

[igorr]

Only Fiat is safe, USD, RUR, YUAN, CHF, EUR, GBP, all other is shit

[Nancarrow]

Well I'm convinced.

[cbeast]

Only Fiat is safe, USD, RUR, YUAN, CHF, EUR, GBP, all other is shit

[bryant.coleman]

Only Fiat is safe, USD, RUR, YUAN, CHF, EUR, GBP, all other is shit

No. Fiat is not safe. A perfect example is the US Dollar. It is losing its value gradually, as the American fiscal deficit is increasing.

[black_swan]

I agree with you, bitcoin will never replace any fiat by people can replace their fiat with bitcoin :-)
a globabl fiat crash would only bring us probably the worst financial crisis ever

[augustocroppo]

Bitcoin does not replace fiat. Bitcoin allows people to escape from fiat.

Nope, utilization of the Bitcoin software binds people to use more and more fiat currency. Otherwise, why are people evaluating the BTC value with USD?

By the way, the majority of merchants accepting BTC just want one thing: fiat currency. The end goal is not to hold BTC, except if that could bring more and more fiat currency (a.k.a. speculation).

Some might believe that most of the population is very happy with fiat.

It is not a belief, it is a fact. The majority of the population everywhere is more than happy to utilize fiat currency.

They don't mind their purchasing power draining away over time, they enjoy restrictions on how they are allowed to use their currency, nothing pleases them more than having their bank accounts confiscated at the whim of distant politicians and used to bail out politically privileged groups.

If you believe that, there's no reason for Bitcoin to continue to grow.

By no means the Bitcoin software helps people to overcome the suggested situations.

E.g.

If a bank account is frozen, the owner of that bank account will be unable to receive deposits or make withdraws, which in turn will disrupt his ability to... guess what... buy or sell BTC.

On the other hand, if it turns out that most people don't actually enjoy those things then they will flee in ever larger numbers as alternatives to fiat become increasingly credible until nobody uses government-issued currencies any more.

That is a what I call a belief and not a fact. Whatever happens, people will keep using government-issued currencies.

[augustocroppo]

Bitcoin doesn't have to replace the fiat currencies but it will because fiat currencies aren't stable to support themselves.

They are likely stable and that is why fiat currency is widely used in the the global economy.

As the Feds continue to print USD like there is no tomorrow their fiat currency has become very unstable, other countries have done the same thing and the writing is already on the wall. When the world market collapses (it could be as soon as April 2014) what other currency are they going to use? Likely they will want to use something that everyone uses around the world. It could be bitcoin or it could be some other crypto like currency they invent (so they can control it).

"Something that everyone uses around the world" = fiat currency

BittBurger today almost every normal person dream to see bitcoin as the globally acceptable currency while fiat currency shall crash soon due to manipulation of it by central banks. I hope we shall be able to use bitcoins everywhere in entire world and no ore fiat currency in our wallets

In case you are not aware, inflation of prices in a capitalist economy are avoided due the manipulation of interest rate by the central banks. So you entire premise is based on a wrong understanding of how fiat currencies are issued and for what purpose they are issued.

[igorr]

Only Fiat is safe, USD, RUR, YUAN, CHF, EUR, GBP, all other is shit

No. Fiat is not safe. A perfect example is the US Dollar. It is losing its value gradually, as the American fiscal deficit is increasing.

USD is not the only option, we have RUR, YUAN, CHF, EUR, GBP, its much better than USD.

[Kenshin]

Do cell phones really need to replace home phones?

Does Email really need to replace Snail Mail? 

[Kenshin]

The only reason why USD was most dominant is because of oil market. All purchases need to pay in USD. If this goes, US is in BIG TROUBLE.

[Reece523]

There are some nice pretty graphs on the forum showing just how small Bitcoin presently is compared to fiat. Bitcoin can still grow a ton without replacing fiat. Fiat won't go away imo.

[JekyllIsland]

Government won't allow it to happen. Pure and simple. AKA China/India and soon to follow others.

If government gets in the way of the world, side with the world.

The majority of people DGAF about bitcoin and it honestly does very little to help the average person(besides confuse them).

To the normal person who is scared of new things, they will never use it. EVER.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has."