The middle ground for all skeptics and enthusiasts

[PlasmaBit]

I saw a lot of skeptics of BTC and crypto in real life, and lots of enthusiasts who see crypto world through rose-coloured glasses. I must admit personally I am leaning towards skeptics, I surely believe that future economic relations will change thanks to what BTC already did, but all those who say again and again"BTC is future, fiat will die" just do not understand what they are talking about simply misunderstanding what experts want to say.

Here is an article, which I believe provide middle grounds for both sides and would be useful for everyone here, in case you missed.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/23/technology/bitcoin-tulip-mania-internet.html

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[qwertyup23]

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With a revolutionary payment method which deconstructs third-party trust system, the blockchain technology can arguably be the future of payments. But the implementation would be a challenge especially when considering the economic discrepancies between first and third-world countries.

Implementing cryptocurrencies as a standard medium is highly debatable topic among people since it is multi-factorial. In addition, there things to be considered, accepted, and adapted in order to change our conventional fiat system. But I do not see cryptocurrencies as our standard medium anytime soon. Who knows, maybe in the future we might actually see its full-fledged adoption.

[Haunebu]

In my opinion:

Bitcoin -> Primarily -> Currency
           -> Secondarily - > Investment asset

Majority of the world have a reverse point of view here which is the main problem which needs to reversed through adoption rates going upwards with time thanks to technological developments(LN fully ready etc).

[squatter]

I saw a lot of skeptics of BTC and crypto in real life, and lots of enthusiasts who see crypto world through rose-coloured glasses. I must admit personally I am leaning towards skeptics, I surely believe that future economic relations will change thanks to what BTC already did, but all those who say again and again"BTC is future, fiat will die" just do not understand what they are talking about simply misunderstanding what experts want to say.

Here is an article, which I believe provide middle grounds for both sides and would be useful for everyone here, in case you missed.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/23/technology/bitcoin-tulip-mania-internet.html

Regarding how big I thought Bitcoin could get, I began as a skeptic. I remember thinking things like "niche currency" and "internet novelty" back in 2014. At that time, "tulip mania" seemed like a plausible comparison. Not anymore, though. I'm definitely more of a believer now.

I think fiat will eventually be replaced by a return to a fixed exchange rate system with commodities like gold and silver. After enough time, I could maybe see bitcoins being used along gold and silver in the same manner too.

However, I don't believe Bitcoin will "replace fiat" and I don't think government-issued currencies are going away. I think Bitcoin is just gradually joining the ranks of commodities historically seen as "money" and I also think fiat money systems will eventually be replaced.

[Bitinity]

I my self one of those who do not believe that fiat will die because of the existence of bitcoin and other cryptocuurencies. I also have no ideas why some people believe that bitcoin will replace fiat in the future. Bitcoin is indeed was created as a way of peer to peer transaction but I think it has been changed since many people use it for trading purpose and investment purpose. I still believe that the number of people who use bitcoin as currency is smaller than the number who use it as an investment tool/asset.

[target]

Fiat will not die but there will be a transition to digital fiat. Its currently happening in China where people can buy just about anything with their mobile phones. Their old man are complaining about all thee but its the change they undergo right now. The transition in digital world is also happening, look how many stablecoins we have. That's not even enough, there's more coming. Crypto is the future.

[Indrawan77]

Bitcoin won't replace any fiat, fiat is used to control the country's economic and decentralised currency cannot be used to do that, btc main idea is to help people got a better payment system, its not for replacing any fiat, in the article it said that the transaction volume of btc is half from PayPal I think the reason of this is because some countries banning the crypto usage, I think bitcoin got a bright future because it offers something unique, bitcoin can be used as investment and currency at the same time

[joniboini]

Bitcoin is indeed was created as a way of peer to peer transaction but I think it has been changed since many people use it for trading purpose and investment purpose. I still believe that the number of people who use bitcoin as currency is smaller than the number who use it as an investment tool/asset.

In his whitepaper satoshi originally wrote that Bitcoin is a peer to peer electronic currency systems, so I guess it should be compared to the same kind and not fiat in general. If we compare it to PayPal or something similar, though the volume of Bitcoin is not that big, but it already provides that alternative.

And yeah a lot of people use Bitcoin more as an investment instead of currency, so that's that. But if the volatility becomes more stable, I think they might start using some of their saving as currency.

[Red-Apple]

but all those who say again and again"BTC is future, fiat will die" just do not understand what they are talking about

there are always parrots that repeat any crap they read online but i believe that others do understand what they are talking about, it is just that their purpose is to hype things up which is why they chose those words otherwise they don't think fiat will die, they just want to say it so that people get hyped up and they can make profit. somewhat similar to those saying "bitcoin is dead" that want to buy it at cheaper prices.

[pooya87]

i think everyone starts as a skeptic and for good reasons too. bitcoin is new and different from everything we knew before, so it is only logical to be skeptical about it. but to say it will replace fiat is going too far as i have always said bitcoin has never meant to replace anything. it offered a very needed alternative to the corrupted and centralized monetary system.
anybody who says otherwise is exaggerating things by a lot usually because they are trading bitcoin. you have to realize that bitcoin is tightly connected with its price and many who are talking about it are doing it because they are making profit, they may not even believe in half the things they say themselves.

[mk4]

I honestly have more respect for those who are skeptics with good reasons, compared to those enthusiasts that are enthusiasts in the first place just because they simply bought bitcoin(without knowing anything about it) and shouting "buy bitcoin! price will moon!" to people, without even being able to back up their claims.

About "BTC is future, fiat will die", people in the bitcoin/crypto space has varying opinions on this. Some think fiat will die, some think that fiat can be potentially backed by BTC in the future.

Really though, in my opinion, most of the skeptics are skeptics because of the technological gap(why most skeptics are of the older folks). They mostly have bad arguments against bitcoin like "bitcoin can be hacked because an exchange got hacked", "BTC is not scarce because forks increases BTC's supply", and the like.

[figmentofmyass]

About "BTC is future, fiat will die", people in the bitcoin/crypto space has varying opinions on this. Some think fiat will die, some think that fiat can be potentially backed by BTC in the future.

technically, fiat money is defined as money that isn't backed at all. it's simply declared as legal tender and can be freely printed. so there is a distinction between state-issued money (which can represent a claim on a commodity, like silver dollars) and fiat money. if governments start backing their money with bitcoin, it'll be similar to the pre-fiat systems where state money was backed by silver or gold.

Really though, in my opinion, most of the skeptics are skeptics because of the technological gap(why most skeptics are of the older folks). They mostly have bad arguments against bitcoin like "bitcoin can be hacked because an exchange got hacked", "BTC is not scarce because forks increases BTC's supply", and the like.

i think people are also bombarded with misinformation and propaganda about finance and the viability of the banking system because the system depends on the general faith of the population. without it, we see another implosion like 2008 and eventually worse.

eventually, people will realize the importance of alternative forms of money. and bitcoin will be an important option.

[jseverson]

Fiat will not die but there will be a transition to digital fiat. Its currently happening in China where people can buy just about anything with their mobile phones. Their old man are complaining about all thee but its the change they undergo right now. The transition in digital world is also happening, look how many stablecoins we have. That's not even enough, there's more coming. Crypto is the future.

The rise of digital fiat has nothing to do with crypto though. They share the same medium is all.

I would argue that this movement is even detrimental to crypto adoption because crypto's biggest selling point to the masses is that it's digital, and most of them couldn't care less about what goes on behind the scenes. They'll be able to send money to friends, family, merchants (which is all most people really care about) just as easily as they can with crypto. It's going to be harder to stand out.

[mu_enrico]

I think I am among those who are skeptical of Bitcoin, but I am open to the possibility that later Bitcoin will be useful for the wider community (A.K.A the one). I have a little bit of BTC and other coins/tokens that I can afford to lose. It is not fun if you do not take the bet when chilling here, right?

The blockchain along with its consensus mechanism is indeed a disruptive technology, but no coins at the moment trigger me to "all in" and become a hardcore believer.

[figmentofmyass]

The rise of digital fiat has nothing to do with crypto though. They share the same medium is all.

I would argue that this movement is even detrimental to crypto adoption because crypto's biggest selling point to the masses is that it's digital, and most of them couldn't care less about what goes on behind the scenes. They'll be able to send money to friends, family, merchants (which is all most people really care about) just as easily as they can with crypto. It's going to be harder to stand out.

bitcoin's biggest selling point IMO is that it's programmable money and its supply/scarcity is predictable. the truth is that most people don't (and never did) care about the economics underlying their money. they use dollars (whether cash or checks or venmo transfers) because everyone else does.

but there may come a time when bail-ins and bail-outs or outright currency collapses vividly illustrate to people the importance of distinguishing between unbacked dollars and hard money like bitcoin or gold. hedging against those possibilities will become increasingly important in the future, and that alone may keep bitcoin at the forefront of public observation even if fiat money keeps sustaining throughout this transition to digital money.

[Pursuer]

what you are talking about are the "extremists" and being an extremist has never been a good idea, not in bitcoin and not in anywhere else. it is the extremists who say bitcoin will replace fiat, it is the extremists who say bitcoin is fraud and won't end well,... and all of them are incorrect.

bitcoin's biggest selling point IMO is that it's programmable money and its supply/scarcity is predictable. the truth is that most people don't (and never did) care about the economics underlying their money. they use dollars (whether cash or checks or venmo transfers) because everyone else does.

you are forgetting about the more important characteristic which is decentralization. which then brings us things such as a currency that is not controlled by any government or centralized authority so there is nobody who can restrict you on how you use your own money or has his hand in your pocket.

[jseverson]

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but there may come a time when bail-ins and bail-outs or outright currency collapses vividly illustrate to people the importance of distinguishing between unbacked dollars and hard money like bitcoin or gold. hedging against those possibilities will become increasingly important in the future, and that alone may keep bitcoin at the forefront of public observation even if fiat money keeps sustaining throughout this transition to digital money.

Well there have been more than a couple of those throughout history, but it seems that the greater public still isn't very conscious of the risks associated with putting all their eggs in the fiat basket. It would indeed be pretty huge for Bitcoin if they start to learn though.

[Beerwizzard]

The problem is that complete crypto sceptics doesn't need your middle ground.
Most of traditional investors, bankers and enterpreneurs are sceptical to crypto (they have all reasons to think so), they have their opinion and they are not using crypto. Right now cryptocurrencies are not popular and they have almost no influence on anything outside the crypto world so there is no sense for crypto sceptics to seek for any kind of middle ground. They don't need crypto in all cases.

[okala]

I have come to accept bitcoin/cryptocurrency as a secondary currency in my financial life haven known that bitcoin can not replace the traditional financial system like faint paper money, the blockchain is advance technology in the world financial sector despite the fact that blockchain base currencies are still new and have not been adopted as a legal currencies but with time this is going to be achieve because the blockchain smart contract transactions is what the world is waiting.

[Mpamaegbu]

I think fiat will eventually be replaced by a return to a fixed exchange rate system with commodities like gold and silver. After enough time, I could maybe see bitcoins being used along gold and silver in the same manner too.

Are you in anyway insinuating that the old kind of cowry exchange system will be replicated in this 21st century with gold and silver serving as fiat?

Sincerely, I don't harbour any thought of Bitcoin replacing fiat because that's not EVER going to be possible. The reason being that there are countries battling with electricity and Internet connectivity. Again, there going to be illiterate folks who don't know how to access the Internet even in countries where that facility is available.

More importantly, I am a Bitcoin enthusiast. My curiosity and excitement drove me to google and invariably here at BTT. But I know the crypto industry can't replace fiat.