Are Cryptocurrencies Really Money?

[South Park]

I remember Mike Maloney's definition of money that distinguishes itself from currency - and this definitely applies here.

Currency is any unit of account that is fungible/interchangeable, but also a medium of exchange.

Money has all the properties of a currency, except it is a long term store of value.

So in that sense, the poll is absolutely correct - since crypto is decentralised and not prone to uncontrolled QE that leads to currency debasement in the long run, it can be considered money. But I'd say that this only applies to BTC at the moment, as most other coins are still speculative and/or utility tokens.

I have read that book as well and personally I agree with that definition, for a long time people used money and this created strong societies but then when they made the transition from money to currencies that is when all things went down, as if you do not have a way to measure value then it is very difficult to exchange products and services, which is the whole reason for money to exist at all, so I think that despite all efforts from the governments to perpetuate currencies we will get to the point in which hard money will be used all over the world once again and I think bitcoin has the potential to be part of it.

[globalpain]

I see digital currency is just another application of native currency, while crypto currency is a type of currency with a different model from cash currency which uses a decentralized system, so it has several advantages

Yes definitely, as long as there is only one person out there who is willing to trade with you for that crypto coin you own I would consider it money. And at the moment there are a lot of different stores, casinos and companies who accept crypto currencies as a viable form of payment.

In Asia, many have opened payments with crypto currency, and it is use as a legal currency, especially in Japan,
yes you can buy food, goods or some other things with Bitcoin, do you still question whether cryptocurrency is real money?
hey this is 2021 and you have to think ahead, oh yes one more fact is that payments on internet sites like Pornhub also have a way of paying in crypto currency.

[AndySt]

I see digital currency is just another application of native currency, while crypto currency is a type of currency with a different model from cash currency which uses a decentralized system, so it has several advantages

Yes definitely, as long as there is only one person out there who is willing to trade with you for that crypto coin you own I would consider it money. And at the moment there are a lot of different stores, casinos and companies who accept crypto currencies as a viable form of payment.

We should not forget that cryptocurrencies, unlike digital money, have not only advantages, but also certain disadvantages, such as a smaller scope of application, which do not allow cryptocurrencies to continue to expand their presence in the economy. Just the fact that cryptocurrencies are not their own national currencies and the state does not have any control over cryptocurrencies is the biggest drawback in the eyes of government officials and they are right from their point of view.

[xSkylarx]

For me as long as it has a store of value it can be considered money. Cryptocurrencies can now be used to buy something you want not only on the internet, but some small businesses also accepts that as a mode of payment now. Digital currency can also be money but unlike crypto, you can only use it in a particular country you're living. And the concept of digital currency is not that trending now because not all countries can adapt to this.

[Coinsfera]

Yesterday, while surfing the social media that aggregate trends, Twitter, I ran into what was like a very exciting poll, the best I have seen this year.
The poll was created by International Monetary Fund (IMF) to monitor the two types of virtual currencies which are; the cryptocurrencies and the central bank digital currency.
The poll went thus;
1.   Are central banks digital currency really money? The poll result was Yes (33.8%) and no (66.2%)
2.   Are crypto currencies really money? The poll result was; Yes (79.9%) and no (20.1%)
What is your opinion about these polls?

1. For the current situation, for central bank digital currencies will be easy to get wide adoption because central banks will legalize it. Probably the crypto enthusiast affected the pool results, if they did not then it could be the other way around.
2. Yes cryptocurrencies are the real money. You can pay with it, you can hold it as an asset, and plus it will be more valuable in the future. 

[fullhdpixel]

Somewhat valid. But to how I understand this technology, it is what it is being used for. I do believe that Bitcoin and other cryptos are created to be a digital currency which is an alternative to fiat currencies in order to promote convenience regarding faster transaction. Another things is having no tax in transactions as we all know. But maybe, since many governments are still not allowing wide usage or acceptance of cryptocurrencies people made use of it in other way. Since it is also beneficial as a currency it left an idea to new users on its nature of being an investment. Which gives misconceptions into it. But whether it will be used as a currency or investment, either way would be fine.

There is a bit of a "tax" in the transactions which is the transaction fee, obviously that is super high right now and we need it to be a lot lower in order to make it valid, I have seen as much as 10+ dollars for transactions that takes an hour and that is not really what makes it money and it could never become money if it keeps this up, we need it to actually move from one place to another a lot cheaper (under 50 cents) and a lot faster (under 1 minute) just to make it possible for everyone to go out there and spend it on places and allow places to accept it as payment.

What are we going to do, go out to some cafe and drink some tea and pay that 5-10 dollar tea and cookie with another 10 dollar fee and 1 hour waiting just to be able to pay? That is not going to be valid, so if you ask me bitcoin has the potential to be the best money out there, but it needs to get better.

[SquallLeonhart]

For me as long as it has a store of value it can be considered money. Cryptocurrencies can now be used to buy something you want not only on the internet, but some small businesses also accepts that as a mode of payment now. Digital currency can also be money but unlike crypto, you can only use it in a particular country you're living. And the concept of digital currency is not that trending now because not all countries can adapt to this.

Honestly store of value and money are different things. For example gold (and oil for some extend) has store of value, because it is believed that they would go up in the long term and they will always do that no matter how many downs it may have time to time, if you look at it long term it would be profitable. However gold is not money, sure it used to be money, people did gave each other gold coins and exchanged goods accordingly, but we are not in that period anymore, people do not give each other gold coins anymore, we have paper money now and that means gold as a store of value asset is not money.

However crypto is not just a store of value, like you said there are places that accepts it, and it is very difficult because you spend a lot of money just on fee's and you wait a long time to pay it, but the reality is that as long as you can do it, it means it is money, even if it is not ideal right now, it is just a form of money nevertheless.

[TopTort777]

Imho, if you can pay with cryptocurrency (or with any other kind of good, physical or digital) and get a service and goods in return, it can be counted as money. In the past, people exchanged sea shells or animal tooth for goods and that were money. Then why doubt that cryptocurrency is money? According to wiki, money is called everything that can be accepted as payment. If I get something and can "resell" it or "use as payment" in future, I count it as money.

[Rishabh riyz]

in my opinion since both of them can be converted into your countries currency (at least in my country) they should be considered real money .
though they both have differences like cryptocurrencies can be used as asset meanwhile central bank digital currencies cannot be used as an asset due to their fixed values.

[Abiky]

There is a bit of a "tax" in the transactions which is the transaction fee, obviously that is super high right now and we need it to be a lot lower in order to make it valid, I have seen as much as 10+ dollars for transactions that takes an hour and that is not really what makes it money and it could never become money if it keeps this up, we need it to actually move from one place to another a lot cheaper (under 50 cents) and a lot faster (under 1 minute) just to make it possible for everyone to go out there and spend it on places and allow places to accept it as payment.

What are we going to do, go out to some cafe and drink some tea and pay that 5-10 dollar tea and cookie with another 10 dollar fee and 1 hour waiting just to be able to pay? That is not going to be valid, so if you ask me bitcoin has the potential to be the best money out there, but it needs to get better.

I feel you. Paying a high fee for a cup of coffee is not economically viable. For crypto to be used as money, fees need to be as low as possible. In addition to this, prices need to be stable. Something as volatile as Bitcoin can't be used as serious money because you could lose your purchasing power in an instant. Stability is key to ensure a functional economy. Stablecoins are the only crypto assets that can be used as money. But the fact that they're pegged to traditional Fiat, greatly defeats the purpose of crypto/Blockchain tech (which is removing the middleman from the system). At least, there are solutions to remediate the high fee issue. But the real challenge would be solving price volatility on the market. That's what you get when you use Fiat as a unit of account. If crypto land would've used Bitcoin as a unit of account, prices would've been stable.

Nonetheless, crypto is here to stay. Regardless of how people consider it to be, crypto has done an excellent job in providing decentralized finance to anyone worldwide. We now have an alternative monetary system that can serve as an "escape route" from the centralized monetary system manipulated by mainstream governments and central banks. The time will come when most of crypto's issues will be fixed. It'll never be perfect, but at least, it'll work as intended. Decentralization is what truly matters to give people true financial freedom. Just my opinion

[tygeade]

The question has be answered because technically, but in addition bitcoin or cryptocurrency at large is money in all ramifications of life, it's higher currency that every other fucking country across the world is using today, what fiat currency does bitcoin performed it more preferable than fiat currency, so no area we can be use to justify cryptocurrency as not money, its very clear that bitcoin are use to purchase anything generally accepted with money so their is no difference between btc and paper money and bitcoin.

"not money" is used because we are not spending it, just because we are buying it and selling it doesn't mean that it could be considered money. Don't get me wrong I do consider crypto as money, but I am just trying to explain to you what other people are thinking.

Asset and Money are different things, one of them is like stock, gold, forex and all the other stuff which we call assets and you can have them, keep them for a very long time, and sell them to have more fiat. What you get in return of that is money, so if you spend money to buy a stock and it increases so you sell it for more money you made a profit but your aim is to have more money not more stocks.

However crypto is like both of them which confuses people, can I get a flight ticket with crypto? Yes I can. Can I buy bitcoin and hold it and later sell for more money? Sure I can. So, we are both an asset but also a money, which confuses people obviously.

[geegaw]

The question has be answered because technically, but in addition bitcoin or cryptocurrency at large is money in all ramifications of life, it's higher currency that every other fucking country across the world is using today, what fiat currency does bitcoin performed it more preferable than fiat currency, so no area we can be use to justify cryptocurrency as not money, its very clear that bitcoin are use to purchase anything generally accepted with money so their is no difference between btc and paper money and bitcoin.

"not money" is used because we are not spending it, just because we are buying it and selling it doesn't mean that it could be considered money. Don't get me wrong I do consider crypto as money, but I am just trying to explain to you what other people are thinking.

Asset and Money are different things, one of them is like stock, gold, forex and all the other stuff which we call assets and you can have them, keep them for a very long time, and sell them to have more fiat. What you get in return of that is money, so if you spend money to buy a stock and it increases so you sell it for more money you made a profit but your aim is to have more money not more stocks.

However crypto is like both of them which confuses people, can I get a flight ticket with crypto? Yes I can. Can I buy bitcoin and hold it and later sell for more money? Sure I can. So, we are both an asset but also a money, which confuses people obviously.

Well, in essence, I think some cryptocurrencies already have the equivalent of money and the problem that we can't spend it just because it doesn't fit our country, the governments that produce their currency and we live with the law, cannot break the law but if spend at a range online like we are doing in this forum or some other website, crypto is really money. However, thinking crypto as money only loses its real value when its value is destroyed by many factors, which makes crypto more valuable as an asset, an online stock

[Oshosondy]

Bitcoin was structured as alternative decentralized currency, it became real currency over time by people's acceptance. So it is all all about how and what people consider. If millions accept bitcoin (or other cryptocurrencies) while trading, then it is currency.

Money and currency are not the same, money has value while currency is just a physical representation of money. The value in money is the worth, bitcoin has the value, which means bitcoin is money. Gold, silver, fiat and anything that has value that amounts to a means of exchange and spendable are money. Bitcoin is just a typical example of money but in digital form.

[South Park]

I see digital currency is just another application of native currency, while crypto currency is a type of currency with a different model from cash currency which uses a decentralized system, so it has several advantages

Yes definitely, as long as there is only one person out there who is willing to trade with you for that crypto coin you own I would consider it money. And at the moment there are a lot of different stores, casinos and companies who accept crypto currencies as a viable form of payment.

In Asia, many have opened payments with crypto currency, and it is use as a legal currency, especially in Japan,
yes you can buy food, goods or some other things with Bitcoin, do you still question whether cryptocurrency is real money?
hey this is 2021 and you have to think ahead, oh yes one more fact is that payments on internet sites like Pornhub also have a way of paying in crypto currency.

Even if many people cannot articulate directly what it is wrong with the economy they know there is something wrong and they are preparing for it, they are looking for ways to keep most of the value of years or even decades of work and this can only be done with hard assets, examples of this are precious metals and real estate, and despite the digital nature of bitcoin people are beginning to see that bitcoin is in fact a hard asset which is one of the reasons behind the current growth that we have seen during the previous months.

[carlisle1]

Yesterday, while surfing the social media that aggregate trends, Twitter, I ran into what was like a very exciting poll, the best I have seen this year.
The poll was created by International Monetary Fund (IMF) to monitor the two types of virtual currencies which are; the cryptocurrencies and the central bank digital currency.
The poll went thus;
1.   Are central banks digital currency really money? The poll result was Yes (33.8%) and no (66.2%)
2.   Are crypto currencies really money? The poll result was; Yes (79.9%) and no (20.1%)
What is your opinion about these polls?

Obviously the Poll take place while the Voters are from social media crypto connected ? the voters are majority comes from Crypto community ?

because if the participants comes from outside social media then for sure the result will be far different from that landslide .

But congrats to the crypto for winning this poll though i am not that happy with the result because we need real voters and not those bias in decisioning .

[Mpamaegbu]

Money is anything used in the exchange of goods and services (whether termed legal or not) and to this point Bitcoin meets that requirement and also has been fulfilling it. It doesn't matter what doubt anyone harbours on that. Bitcoin is money. For instance, look at the numerous Bitcoin campaigns held here and how participants get rewarded in Bitcoin for a job well done. People of different climes and clans receive this reward in Bitcoin without hassles into their wallets. No bank accounts asking for documentations, yet we are able to utilize the Bitcoin which is the modern payment for the upwardly mobile populace.

[oHnK]

Yesterday, while surfing the social media that aggregate trends, Twitter, I ran into what was like a very exciting poll, the best I have seen this year.
The poll was created by International Monetary Fund (IMF) to monitor the two types of virtual currencies which are; the cryptocurrencies and the central bank digital currency.
The poll went thus;
1.   Are central banks digital currency really money? The poll result was Yes (33.8%) and no (66.2%)
2.   Are crypto currencies really money? The poll result was; Yes (79.9%) and no (20.1%)
What is your opinion about these polls?

Obviously the Poll take place while the Voters are from social media crypto connected ? the voters are majority comes from Crypto community ?

because if the participants comes from outside social media then for sure the result will be far different from that landslide .

But congrats to the crypto for winning this poll though i am not that happy with the result because we need real voters and not those bias in decisioning .

I also see the same thing that the poll results look biased.  Because basically the Twitter account that is linked to the OP is also related to crypto.  If polls are conducted in public, I'm sure there are still many who don't know what crypto is.  What's more for people who lack literacy.  Twitter also has an algorithm that is not much different from other social media in terms of account relations.  So I don't really believe the poll results either.  But for myself, crypto is money as long as it is able to be a trusted tool in the payment of any transaction, even though crypto has a uniqueness that fiat doesn't have, namely that nothing regulates it apart from supply and demand for it.

[South Park]

Money is anything used in the exchange of goods and services (whether termed legal or not) and to this point Bitcoin meets that requirement and also has been fulfilling it. It doesn't matter what doubt anyone harbours on that. Bitcoin is money. For instance, look at the numerous Bitcoin campaigns held here and how participants get rewarded in Bitcoin for a job well done. People of different climes and clans receive this reward in Bitcoin without hassles into their wallets. No bank accounts asking for documentations, yet we are able to utilize the Bitcoin which is the modern payment for the upwardly mobile populace.

This is not exactly accurate, while you can trade goods and services for whatever you want this doesn't necessarily means that whatever you choose to use to buy that product is money, money has a very long list of characteristics and if whatever you are using does not have those characteristics then it's not money, bitcoin is money because it has every single characteristic that you may wish for money to have and not only it has all the characteristics it does everything better than its fiat counterparts.

[Saisher]

I agree with this, most surveys are unreliable.

As for the issue at hand, I think they are kind of money. You can buy some goods and services with Bitcoin and other coins but nowadays are more of an asset.

Surveys are unreliable especially done online, because some people are having second or multiple accounts on social medias so it's hard for the survey operator to find out if there are double entries, and on the survey if it is really money, yes for me it is real money, I have bought a lot of stuffs using my Cryptocurrency and and I can still trade it to fiat and buy my basic needs.

[Abiky]

This is not exactly accurate, while you can trade goods and services for whatever you want this doesn't necessarily means that whatever you choose to use to buy that product is money, money has a very long list of characteristics and if whatever you are using does not have those characteristics then it's not money, bitcoin is money because it has every single characteristic that you may wish for money to have and not only it has all the characteristics it does everything better than its fiat counterparts.

Exactly. Bitcoin has all of the characteristics of money, and more. It can serve as both a store of value (like Gold) and digital cash (like Fiat) to anyone, anywhere in the world. What makes Bitcoin different from other forms of money is its intangible nature. People are accustomed in dealing with tangible things in the mainstream world. A new kind of money that's intangible would question its level of legitimacy. I believe that as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rise in popularity, the world will recognize them as money. The industry just needs more time to mature.

Nonetheless, haters will always express their distrust towards crypto/Blockchain tech. They'll always say things like Bitcoin is made out of thin air, or that Bitcoin is a scam in order to scare away people from it. Those who believe it to be serious money for daily payments, will support it no matter what. People have differing opinions regarding what cryptocurrencies are. But the facts speak for them themselves, as crypto becomes a true alternative to the existing monetary system empowered by central banks and governments worldwide. Just my opinion