Bitcoin: Store of value or Payment method or else?

[TheGreatPython]

I've been seeing many people with many views and opinions on what bitcoin is for. What do you think bitcoin main purpose is and do you think it may change going forward?

I think it can be used for anything, it all goes down to what you want to be using it for . I invest in bitcoin and I also make use of it for transactions anytime I want. So it’s really up to you. And I have friends who only make use of bitcoin for transactions, and they don’t invest in it, they just use it to be sending and receiving money, and when they receive money they don’t waste time in converting it to fiat. They have all got their own reasons why they have bitcoin , and that’s what they continue doing all the time.

So, bitcoin is kind of like made for everything and everyone, once you see the way it works best for you, then you can go with it

[Henrobakkara]

Benefits of Bitcoin:

-User Autonomy. The primary draw of bitcoin for many users, and indeed one of the central tenets of cryptocurrencies more generally, is autonomy. Digital currencies allow users more autonomy over their own money than fiat currencies do, at least in theory. Users are able to control how they spend their money without dealing with an intermediary authority like a bank or government.

-Discretion.

-Peer-to-Peer Focus.

- Elimination of Banking Fees.

-Very Low Transaction Fees for International Payments.

-Mobile Payments.

-Accessibility.

While Bitcoin might be every thing that has been listed which I believe are very good aspects to its existence,this two points, Elimination of Banking fees (there is also fees to Bitcoin transaction) and Mobile payments is still tributes to Fiat currencies. To me basically, amongst many other things, Bitcoin is a source of wealth accumulation since every other facts that could be mentioned are really not as much a problem with my fiat transactions.

[Bitstar_coin]

Benefits of Bitcoin:

-User Autonomy. The primary draw of bitcoin for many users, and indeed one of the central tenets of cryptocurrencies more generally, is autonomy. Digital currencies allow users more autonomy over their own money than fiat currencies do, at least in theory. Users are able to control how they spend their money without dealing with an intermediary authority like a bank or government.

-Discretion.

-Peer-to-Peer Focus.

- Elimination of Banking Fees.

-Very Low Transaction Fees for International Payments.

-Mobile Payments.

-Accessibility.

While Bitcoin might be every thing that has been listed which I believe are very good aspects to its existence,this two points, Elimination of Banking fees (there is also fees to Bitcoin transaction) and Mobile payments is still tributes to Fiat currencies. To me basically, amongst many other things, Bitcoin is a source of wealth accumulation since every other facts that could be mentioned are really not as much a problem with my fiat transactions.

I agree, btc also has transaction fees, infact i would say more higher than what you would ordinarily be charge from the bank, the other day i wanted to send $18 worth of btc and i was charged like $9 for fees, at the end of the day, this type of high fees affect small transaction more that bigger transaction, i don't think bank will charge me $9 to send $18 to another bank account, too high in my opinion.

[Sanugarid]

Hello!

I've been seeing many people with many views and opinions on what bitcoin is for. What do you think bitcoin main purpose is and do you think it may change going forward?

Thank you!

Bitcoin was created to provide an alternative payment system that would operate without any 3rd party, such as central banks and it enables people to buy/send money over the internet. Moreover, BTC has no intrinsic value in which the value is dictated by the market, which runs under the law of supply and demand. BTC could also be exchanged into legal currencies such as the USD and other alternative coins in crypto.

[gabriela1999]

Bitcoin and Blockchain have changed the world and bro. Currently I think Bitcoin is a place to store property, investment, rather than a payment method as originally intended.

[ene1980]

^^^ Have you checked out the present transaction fees, it is really low. The charges raised considerably for a while when there was a issue with the mining farms in China but now everything sorted and i was able to send the coins at 3 sat/vB which means a few thousand Satoshi and even now the fees are really low as you can get a confirmation within an hour with 13 sat/vB.
I would like to see Bitcoin as a payment method and then as a store of value would be a cherry on top.

[juvo_3]

Storage of value is an application, currency is an application. I think Bitcoin is one level of abstraction higher than an application. It is a protocol that can be used to run applications. How effective it is in any given application is based on properties of the protocol and its current state (i.e. price, volatility, mempool size, block reward rate, fees, transaction throughput etc.)

Then there is 2nd layer protocols to consider which would extend Bitcoins ability to be applied in an application invariant of some of these properties. For example the Lightning Node Network would allow bitcoin to be applied in the application field of common currency invariant of the protocols transaction throughput. Besides, currency and storage are just two possible applications and there are others that Bitcoin can be applied to like asset management (e.g. Placing land titles on the bitcoin blockchain).

If your question is what application is Bitcoin currently suited to, that is a bit more of a complicated question as we need to look at the environment which Bitcoin is operating in. External factors like fiat currency hyperinflation causes people to use Bitcoin for purposes that it may not technically be suited to at this time (like storage of value). Whilst its technically not suited for storage of value purposes yet, people see fit to hold a portion of their value in Bitcoin and not in fiat or in any other asset for that matter.

[dongyi17]

I think bitcoin primarily purpose in creating it is to become a means of payment and transaction and other similar things which way beyond bank control and also a store of value to some people who wants to invest and earn more but because others still do not believe on it and not yet accessible to some countries that is why it took sometime to fully benefit itfrom it the way it was made.

[nebuch]

Bitcoin is like a liquid much better investment than fiat though risky. But Bitcoin can give every investors a possibility to earn extra big income once big pump take place. Things may be opposite once the price decline to the bottom. Bitcoin is changing the investment style from traditional to digital blockchain. Very possible the future of the world is with Bitcoin as investment and method of payment.

[ropyu1978]

bitcoin is mainly used in transactions on the internet, without using intermediaries, aka not using bank services, bitcoin uses a distributed database and spreads to nodes, from the p2p network to transaction journals. ''
Bitcoin can also be used in various types of transactions ...

[acener]

Hello!

I've been seeing many people with many views and opinions on what bitcoin is for. What do you think bitcoin main purpose is and do you think it may change going forward?

Thank you!

For me the main purpose of Bitcoin was to be an alternative payment method but all of us are free to do what we want with it.
Sadly only few are willing to use it as payment option most of us look at it right now as store of value or investment tool.
I don't really think that people would see or use it as a payment method unless the value of Bitcoin became stable,
I think only then most of us would agree or use it as a payment method since they wouldn't gain anything from holding it.

[Yatsan]

Bitcoin can be both a stored value and a payment method as well depending on the availability of resources wherein you can see Bitcoin to be used as both. If the availability of merchants allowing or accepting payment transactions to use Bitcoin as a mode of payment, we can gradually state that it is being used as a mode of payment with regards to the nature and purpose the user wanted it to be consumed. But for those who have no availability of resources to use it as a mode of payment they treat it as a stored value wherein they keep on acquiring Bitcoin for the sake of trading and investment and just keep on doing it until such time they have decided to sell for some reasons and transfer it to a currency where they can encash it for spending.

[TimeTeller]

Bitcoin can be both a stored value and a payment method as well depending on the availability of resources wherein you can see Bitcoin to be used as both. If the availability of merchants allowing or accepting payment transactions to use Bitcoin as a mode of payment, we can gradually state that it is being used as a mode of payment with regards to the nature and purpose the user wanted it to be consumed. But for those who have no availability of resources to use it as a mode of payment they treat it as a stored value wherein they keep on acquiring Bitcoin for the sake of trading and investment and just keep on doing it until such time they have decided to sell for some reasons and transfer it to a currency where they can encash it for spending.

I do agree that it is both. And it depends on the user himself, how he gonna manage his bitcoin.
Some here are earning btc for their everyday expenses so they are likely the ones who are converting their crypto to fiat.
So even if they can't see merchants that are directly accepting btc, they can always convert it to their local fiat.
But for some, who can afford not to touch their btc, they have the option to hold it for long term and so it can be their investments.