Bitcoin as a speculative asset or as currency

[ROSERTY]

Bitcoin can be used as an asset and currency at the same time. Bitcoin was first issued as a currency, but due to the high price volatility, it is more suitable as an asset storage. Investing in Bitcoin and holding it for a long time can make a profit. With the strengthening of Bitcoin consensus, more people like to invest in Bitcoin to make money.
But now some areas also allow bitcoin payment and use Bitcoin as currency. Some countries also use it as legal currency or use bitcoin to pay employees' salaries.

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[nicecrypto]

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In my view, Bitcoin is a speculative asset as well as a currency, directly Bitcoin is both.  you can make transactions with Bitcoin wherever you are, and you can hold your BTC in the long term until the price goes up.  you are free to make your Bitcoin in the form of assets or currencies.

I think this is the truth. Bitcoin has been used as both, Investors will always do whatever seems right for them at any particular time. Since there are avenues to spend it as a currency, some will do this and even those same investors can still hold it as a speculative asset which I believe most are doing.

[gwdf1]

To my mind, nowadays Bitcoin is considered to be a speculative asset rather than a means of payment. People buy it to earn money, but not to pay for services or ghosts. Moreover, it is not allowed in the majority of countries. But, in my opinion, we will use Bitcoin to pay within time. Even now different companies (Tesla, Amazon) think about it, and countries (Solvador) accept it as the national.

[bakasabo]

People use big mac prices to measure purchasing power in different countries. So is big mac food or an index?

Everyone find it individual. Someone find Bitcoin as a technology, some as a anonymous payment and some as an easy way to get rich. As Bitcoin price grows, I think that for most this is clearly a speculative asset. Even if they could use it for daily purchases, people will still prefer to hold. All these "stories of success" converted Bitcoin as a speculative asset and even if one day it turns into a currency, people wont use it, because they "heard that once a guy has bought Bitcoin for $1 and sold it for $60k."

[davis196]

Is Bitcoin still yet a speculative asset or a store of value? I think people will have different opinions about this.
Also bitcoin high transaction fee, is it not related to this? Because the lower the fee the more Bitcoin will fit into the currency category.

Bitcoin is both and there's nothing wrong with that.Most speculative assets are a store of value as well.
The transaction fees depend on the transaction volume.If the blockchain gets congested with many transactions,the fees will go up.We can't control this process and artificially lower the transaction fees.
Off chain solutions like Lightning Network will provide a way to keep the blockchain free from being stuck.
The governments will always want to reduce our privacy,but there are still ways to keep our wealth private.
 

[Kiley33]

If the cost is high, do you think people will spend $5 on something worth $1?
When Bitcoin transaction fees are reduced or there are no transaction fees, everyone can use Bitcoin to pay. At this time, it means that Bitcoin is a currency.
But there will also be people who have been holding Bitcoin, waiting for the price of Bitcoin to rise. I think there are more people holding Bitcoin.

[Kakmakr]

It's a bit annoying but I still believe that it is a combination of both speculative asset and currency, because I believe that it can do the work of those two, I mean Laszlo has used bitcoin for two pizzas right so I don't think that we can't discount the fact that it can be used like a currency entirely.

Why should this be annoying to you if this is standard practice with all other Fiat currencies? Let's take the US Dollar (Currency) as an example...

When you withdraw US Dollars from a ATM, you use those dollar bills as a currency, because you give those Dollar bills as a payment option for goods and services. (The same thing apply to Bitcoin when you pay with bitcoins for the same products or services)

Now, the same Dollars can be traded for other currencies, which is Foreign Exchange (forex or FX) trading ..... and with Bitcoin, people trade for Alt coins or Fiat currencies on a Crypto currency exchange. (Commodities) 

There is no difference... and no reason to be annoyed. The Governments just define Bitcoin as a asset or a commodity, because they do not want competition for their reserve (local) currency. 

[Charles-Tim]

It's certainly not a safe-haven asset like gold or silver are, but it can be used to store value.  The problem is whether the value is going to drop by 30% overnight or go to the moon.  Bitcoin has a tendency to go crazy in both directions from time to time.

Bitcoin price volatility can make some people sell at low price, if the price increases, it will retrace back but not to the low price, some people make use of the opportunity as they understand about price volatility very well, allso knowing that bitcoin price still increase after several volatilities. Even if the price do not increase to $64000 (all-time-high) for now, I believe some whales and institutions and ready to make people fomo during the next halving, while people fomo normally at the time. These will still make the price to go further and reach all-time-high, provided if all-time-high is not attained until then. As deflationary Bitcoin might be, it is true to be considered as both store of value and a speculative asset, I was surprised to see the price decreased from above $40000 to $31000 within hours during the China FUD, but all-time-high is still very certain.

[19Nov16]

If the cost is high, do you think people will spend $5 on something worth $1?
When Bitcoin transaction fees are reduced or there are no transaction fees, everyone can use Bitcoin to pay. At this time, it means that Bitcoin is a currency.
But there will also be people who have been holding Bitcoin, waiting for the price of Bitcoin to rise. I think there are more people holding Bitcoin.

Of course, holding bitcoin for long term to make a profit, for me bitcoin is a very good asset because it has been proven to get big profits, if transactions to send and receive money, of course using stable coins (USDT) or other payment systems are safer.

[imstillthebest]

If the cost is high, do you think people will spend $5 on something worth $1?
When Bitcoin transaction fees are reduced or there are no transaction fees, everyone can use Bitcoin to pay. At this time, it means that Bitcoin is a currency.
But there will also be people who have been holding Bitcoin, waiting for the price of Bitcoin to rise. I think there are more people holding Bitcoin.

Of course, holding bitcoin for long term to make a profit, for me bitcoin is a very good asset because it has been proven to get big profits, if transactions to send and receive money, of course using stable coins (USDT) or other payment systems are safer.

i wont say usdt is a safer alternative for btc but other cryptos maybe tho we arent talking if which currency is safe for transactions but its all about their fees .
 i think stable coins like usdt has a higher fees either and they can be higher than btc so i would still go for btc but when i purchase i make sure that the item that i will buy is higher than the fee that im going to pay so that it will make a sense .

[Reid]

If the cost is high, do you think people will spend $5 on something worth $1?
When Bitcoin transaction fees are reduced or there are no transaction fees, everyone can use Bitcoin to pay. At this time, it means that Bitcoin is a currency.
But there will also be people who have been holding Bitcoin, waiting for the price of Bitcoin to rise. I think there are more people holding Bitcoin.

Bitcoin and currency are very different. Bitcoin can be used as a means of payment, not currency because it is volatile, in contrast to fiat currency whose value remains the same even though it is stored for years. Sometimes it is made speculative, because if it is stored and its value can increase or decrease.

The sentences seem to contradict each other.
It's a currency, no doubt. You use it for payment then it means it is a currency.
It became an asset when investors saw a possibility for demands to go higher but at the end of the day, it will, and will always be a currency.

Right now, we can stay on keeping it as an asset because the future is unknown. Although I am still optimistic there will be a change someday even with different cryptocurrencies popping out of the blue.

[kumala_abi]

To my mind, nowadays Bitcoin is considered to be a speculative asset rather than a means of payment. People buy it to earn money, but not to pay for services or ghosts. Moreover, it is not allowed in the majority of countries. But, in my opinion, we will use Bitcoin to pay within time. Even now different companies (Tesla, Amazon) think about it, and countries (Solvador) accept it as the national.

utility for payment not adopted yet now around the world , and most investors thinking bitcoin as assets to hold for gaining profits in several months or year . Several super power countries haven't allow it yet to set as currency or investment portofolio, but giant company already realize bitcoin as future technology in payment system , even Paypal CEO said about it.

Bitcoin and currency are very different. Bitcoin can be used as a means of payment, not currency because it is volatile, in contrast to fiat currency whose value remains the same even though it is stored for years. Sometimes it is made speculative, because if it is stored and its value can increase or decrease.

i think we have double benefits in  bitcoin , first as investment portofolio and in the same time it accepted as payment system. Payment and currency was totally different , we could not generalize it.

[michellee]

If the cost is high, do you think people will spend $5 on something worth $1?
When Bitcoin transaction fees are reduced or there are no transaction fees, everyone can use Bitcoin to pay. At this time, it means that Bitcoin is a currency.
But there will also be people who have been holding Bitcoin, waiting for the price of Bitcoin to rise. I think there are more people holding Bitcoin.

Bitcoin and currency are very different. Bitcoin can be used as a means of payment, not currency because it is volatile, in contrast to fiat currency whose value remains the same even though it is stored for years. Sometimes it is made speculative, because if it is stored and its value can increase or decrease.

I think bitcoin will be like that for some time but bitcoin can be used as payment. Not many people will be comfortable using bitcoin to pay for something at the store. Besides that, not many local stores are available in one country that accepts bitcoin as the payment option besides of use fiat money.

So I think bitcoin still be an investment because the price is too volatile to be used as a payment system. Maybe for the next few years, bitcoin will still be an investment for people to make money from bitcoin and save bitcoin for their future.

[AicecreaME]

It's a bit annoying but I still believe that it is a combination of both speculative asset and currency, because I believe that it can do the work of those two, I mean Laszlo has used bitcoin for two pizzas right so I don't think that we can't discount the fact that it can be used like a currency entirely.

Valid point.

Bitcoin is both a currency and a speculative asset. Bitcoin is really intended to be used upon transactions, only that it is decentralized. However, due to limited available counter and establishments that accept bitcoin as a payment method, bitcoin as a currency is seldom recognized. Although there are a lot of companies now that has open their doors to bitcoin adoption, we still need more to be able to fully utilize it in transactions. The processing fee and transaction fees need to be improved as well. Higher fees and slow processing time of each transaction hinder the users to transact using bitcoin. Meanwhile, bitcoin's volatility makes it a good speculative asset that is why most people invest on it nowadays. Bitcoin provides more opportunities to gain profit in short term and long term. It's just up for the people to decide which they will do.

[Ryder Kudrow]

The price of Bitcoin is unstable and volatile. Many people like to use it as an investment currency. Buying and holding Bitcoin for a long time can get a lot of benefits.
There are also many regions that allow and support bitcoin payment, which can be used as currency to buy or transaction.

[arwin100]

The price of Bitcoin is unstable and volatile. Many people like to use it as an investment currency. Buying and holding Bitcoin for a long time can get a lot of benefits.
There are also many regions that allow and support bitcoin payment, which can be used as currency to buy or transaction.

Yeah people go on it just because the possibilities to earn and only few use it as a currency, we know how volatile it is that's why people have split thought's regarding on this but let see how we can define it on future since for now whatever you believe what it is then let it be since there's no right or wrong answer with this. But hopefully we see more adoption so that we can establish bitcoin as currency and not a investment option for others.

[Oasisman]

If the cost is high, do you think people will spend $5 on something worth $1?
When Bitcoin transaction fees are reduced or there are no transaction fees, everyone can use Bitcoin to pay. At this time, it means that Bitcoin is a currency.
But there will also be people who have been holding Bitcoin, waiting for the price of Bitcoin to rise. I think there are more people holding Bitcoin.

Bitcoin and currency are very different. Bitcoin can be used as a means of payment, not currency because it is volatile, in contrast to fiat currency whose value remains the same even though it is stored for years. Sometimes it is made speculative, because if it is stored and its value can increase or decrease.

I guess you're confused with how currency works.
Bitcoin is called cryptoCURRENCY because it is a currency.
If it is accepted as a means of payment, that means it's a currency.
Bitcoin hasn't been usually used as a currency because of it's volatility. Instead it has been used as a store of value and a speculative asset.
Though there are people who are actually using Bitcoin as a currency in a daily basis.

[Obito]

The price of Bitcoin is unstable and volatile. Many people like to use it as an investment currency. Buying and holding Bitcoin for a long time can get a lot of benefits.
There are also many regions that allow and support bitcoin payment, which can be used as currency to buy or transaction.

That means that it's a bit of both speculative and currency. I think it's a bit of both too because it's been used for buying stuff in the past so I don't think that it could go one way. But for now, I feel like speculative asset is what's dominating in terms of our definition of bitcoin.

[gwdf1]

For privacy reasons, decentralized currencies like Bitcoin evolved to make privacy possible, Bitcoin gives freedom in a way your money (bitcoin) can not be monitored by the government, that void of privacy which could be horrible.

I am afraid I disagree that Bitcoin is an anonymous currency and the government can’t monitor it. All your transactions are placed in the blockchain, so everything is clear. Especially if you interact with centralised exchanges, they can trace how your money moves and then connect your address with your identity. Nowadays the only private crypto is Monero.

[lumierre]

It is said that the central banks are nervous about Bitcoin to be used as a currency but just as a store of value like gold and silver. That if Bitcoin is emerging as a currency, going mainstream and people using it as direct payment, this can still lead to governments trying all possible means to intervene which can be the biggest issue and threat towards Bitcoin adoption. That governments power and influence over their people are their currency, and government will not want to lose the control.

You are right that the government doesn’t want to lose its authority, so they want to replace crypto currencies by creating digital state currencies. I don't believe in any digital state currencies. They will still be regulated by the government. The main feature of digital money is decentralisation and uncontrollability from authorities, but digital euros, rubles, yuan will be under control, so it is the same as just non-cash money but on blockchain instead of bank account.