Are bitcoins real money?

[strannik1998187]

And can I cash them whenever I want? Bitcoin has value that can be converted to regular currency or used to make purchases from merchants who accept bitcoins. In this sense, they are real money and will remain so as long as there is a market and people willing to buy bitcoins. To "cash" bitcoins, you need someone to sell them, exchanging for dollars or other currency. The exchange markets which process these transactions often have failures that prevent some people from accessing the account or making transactions for some time, especially during periods of significant changes in the value of bitcoins. So do not think that you can sell bitcoin at any time when you want.

[pooya87]

being able to sell something for fiat doesn't make that thing "money"!
for example if you have a gold necklace you can sell it for fiat anytime you want but that doesn't make "gold necklaces" money.

money is a medium of exchange which in simple terms means something that you can use as payment for goods or payment for services,... and bitcoin can do that. you can "pay" with bitcoin and receive anything you want as long as there is someone else accepting it. you may not be able to convert it to fiat easily but it won't change the fact that it is "money" it would be like having some other fiat (like Russian Ruble) wit you in some other country like US and trying to convert it to local currency. the hardness of that conversion doesn't change the fact that Ruble is a currency.

[dothebeats]

Depends on which 'reality' you're living in.

Kidding aside, I consider bitcoin as real money, as some stores and services gladly take it as a payment in exchange of what they sell or provide. It holds value, and can be used for real-world purchases and online transactions. As long as people accept something as a form of payment, it can be considered as 'money' and it does not need to be confined on a definition that it has to be 'state-issued' for it to be considered legal.

[maman567]

Bitcoin could be real money if have higher price, but when bitcoin still on lower price we always get lost or our investment, never get profit with bitcoin at this situation where bitcoin and altcoin really at lower and drop price.

[Kakmakr]

I have been using Bitcoin for many years and I have never had any problem converting bitcoins into fiat currencies and also the other way around. There are several different platforms and methods to do this, so you just need to swap methods if one of them fails. Say for instance that you have a problem with an exchange platform, then you just go onto a site like Localbitcoin and do your exchange there or alternatively use direct person to person trades. 

Bitcoin does not have to be converted to fiat to be useable, you can do transactions directly with people and even some merchants. 

[DaCryptoRaccoon]

Bitcoin can be sold very quickly via many methods.

Some people use exchanges where you can sell your bitcoin at market price for USD GBP or other FIAT money.
You could also use a bitcoin debit card service where you load the coins to your bitcoin debit card depending on your country some good places to look would be

BitPay Debit card.

https://bitpay.com/card/

Wirex

https://wirexapp.com/

both the above give you the opportunity to buy coins and convert back and forth from Fiat to crypto and vice versa.

Bitcoin is volitile I  price if you are new to bitcoin it can look a bit scary to put money into something and see it fall but there can only be a set amount of bitcoins so as time goes on this will become a very scares resource and as such price movement will come over time.  

If your new I would suggest looking into the above links and only buy a little bit of bitcoin to learn and understand it better buy say $20-30 of bitcoin to learn and understand how it works.

[Marshall14]

It depends on what your definition of "real" money is,if it's bases on physicality,then no,the bitcoin can neither be felt nor seen,but can only be used via the internet,which makes it even the more special.
Converting bitcoins to fiat and the other way round is rather quite easy and should not pose any problems to you,bitcoin in my opinion is definitely money as it could be used as a medium of exchange and a measure of value

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

What's real money? It's a currency used for the exchange of goods and service publicly recognized by a government body and in must cases can be feel or seen. Bitcoin isn't real money yet but it's a digital money and can still be used in the various ways other real (fiat) money can but with even more advantages. For your day to day shoppings/activities you still need fiats so we aren't there yet.

[btlzpr]

First you have to figure out what the money is.
Money can be the banknotes you usually see, or coins. In ancient times, gold and silver were also money. In the older days, people used shells as money.
If you have been to the Altes Museum in Berlin, its Numismatic Collection is one of the largest coin collections worldwide, you can find all the answers about money there.
Bitcoin has the most basic attributes of money: circulation, trading, depositing. So bitcoin is of course a kind of money!
Maybe after many years, we can also see bitcoin in the museum.

[Screamshot]

Bitcoin can not considered as physical money but it has its value and the most used currency for pegging valuing bitcoin is the US dollar

[LbtalkL]

It is a Digital asset which can be converted into real money. Some people consider's bitcoin as gold but unlike gold bitcoin is volatile. You can consider it as a treasure, Compared to money, bitcoin needs to be traded first to fiat before you can call it real money but some merchants already accepting bitcoin which made it convenient.

[redhen787]

Are Bitcoins real money? Is Bitcoin real money? The coins are 'virtual', not 'real'. They can be neither seen nor felt. You can pay online, virtually, for certain goods and services with Bitcoin. But the goods and services for which you can pay online with Bitcoin are 'real', not 'virtual'. Bitcoin can be turned into fiat cash and even accepted 'as is'. Its source may differ from that of traditional currencies. But yes, Bitcoin is 'real' money. It's just relatively new. That's all.

[seebu4u]

Yes, bitcoin is a real currency. Its all demand & supply concept. So, the reason why its becoming too hot for investors because its demand is increasing.

[Hivalley]

Yes, bitcoin is a real currency. Its all demand & supply concept. So, the reason why its becoming too hot for investors because its demand is increasing.

What makes the bitcoin real money isn't down to its demand nor supply as you claim,bitcoin is money but in a digital form,that cannot be felt nor touched,but could still be used to carry out payments and can also be converted to fiat currencies.
While the demand and supply concept is what determines it's price,value,volume.
When the demand is high,the price tends to increase,but when there is low demand it leads to a dump in the price

[Kopyleft]

For now I consider bitcoin to be commodity money as it's value is pegged on fiat currency, and it can be used for purchases in stores off and online, but it's value is still calculated with it's equivalent in fiat (USD) and not for it's own worth.
With price consolidation and increased adoption it's true value would emerge.

[Ciscopro2000]

I look at bitcoin as a store of value that you can trade or conver to fiat money. 

[HODL2090]

I look at bitcoin as a store of value that you can trade or conver to fiat money.  

The price is very volatile and as such it is not suitable to store value as that value changes at short intervals. For now it is an investment option, where one can gamble on the price volatility and trust the technology to be more useful in the future and hence the value increases.

Stable coins like tether have attempted to create coins which have fixed values while still retains the quality of the blockchain technology.
You might want to consider them if you truly just want to hold onto your assets.

[mk4]

I look at bitcoin as a store of value that you can trade or conver to fiat money.  

The price is very volatile and as such it is not suitable to store value as that value changes at short intervals.

Definitely. But despite the volatility, I still think bitcoin is a good store of value for some countries that are going through economic crisis(see: Venezuela). I'd take an 80% drop in bitcoin's value rather than a 200,000% drop in my fiat money due to hyperinflation. This is the reason why I personally think that adoption would come first to countries like Venezuela whereas they need a better store of value, rather than the common notion that adoption is being able to pay for coffee with bitcoin.

Tweet by @santisiri:
"a friend who escaped venezuela 🇻🇪 tells me about government officials in the caracas airport confiscating gold from the families leaving. these families risk their life savings in their luggage and chavistas take advantage.

“but they can’t confiscate your bitcoin” he tells me."
Source: https://twitter.com/santisiri/status/1044728690700095488?lang=en

EDIT: damn. dbshck singlehandedly funding my way up to Hero member. Thanks!

[DdmrDdmr]

<...>

Your right there Id say. In fact, Venezuela is now holding the second place in BTC world commerce on Localbitcoins, having overtaken USA and with only Russia ahead (see Venezuela Overtakes United States’ Place as The Second Country With Most Bitcoins Traded on LocalBitcoins.com). It is likely being used as a store of value in an attempt to escape from the galloping depreciation of the Bolivar/Petro.

[Rona7do]

I think in the future it will be the only currency that will be approved throughout the world.