Is Bitcoin an Investment or Payment form? Has it lost its purpose?

[lepar]

Currently Grayscale's bitcoin trust owns 654k and the top companies hold 200k, that's 854k bitcoins out of circulation from 21million, not to mention an estimated million more lost. We see alot of bitcoin integrations from paypal, mastercard but is there a public for that? With hour long payment confirmations, I just don't see it as a payment form in everyday life. Has bitcoin turned into an investment wagon or is there still a possibility of it becoming an everyday payment currency?

[hatshepsut93]

Bitcoin doesn't have "hours long confirmations", it has fee market and sometimes the fees get high, meaning that transactions with lower fees won't confirm until the fees drop down. I wouldn't argue that it hurts Bitcoin viability as a payment method for everyone, but it is possible to use it as such as of now.

But the plan is to officially release Lightning Network, as it is actually allows Bitcoin to be competitive with fiat payment methods in terms of speed and fees. So you don't have to view Bitcoin as only investment or only currency, because people can choose to use it however they like.

[KingsDen]

Bitcoin was built on scarcity model. I believe the amount of bitcoin held by persons or organisations does not in anyway affect the nature of bitcoin. Even the lost btc works for the unlost btc. There more it's lost, the more it's held the more relevant it becomes. The higher the demand.

For everyday transactions, I think a sir hatsh has explained how Lightening Network has and it's still solving the problem.

[Maus0728]

Bitcoin is a multifaceted tool hence, it is not limited to the concept of just an investment only; it can be political, technological or can be used as an alternative payment for goods and services.

It also does not lost its purpose, it is still the bitcoin we know which made borderless payment possible. Bitcoin is still revolutionary, immutable, public, collaborative, open, resistant, and decentralized (RIPCORD).

Furthermore, according to current statistics, only 100 million people own bitcoin[1], accounting for only 1.5 percent[2] of the global population, with the majority of them being speculators who view bitcoin solely for profit.

[1] https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/how-many-bitcoin-users/
[2] https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

[Coyster]

You seem somewhat worried about institutional investors acquiring Bitcoin in the large amounts that they are doing, but mind you that it's the investment opportunity Bitcoin offers that makes it much more attractive and appealing to a wider range/number of people, having said that, it does not mean Bitcoin can't be used as a currency, it is used and with time "Bitcoin as a currency" will continue to develop into mainstream adoption, but the reality remains that the outlets for which people can use Bitcoin as a payment option now is somewhat limited, if more countries can follow in the path of El-savador, then we'll get there (mainstream adoption) sooner rather than later, but then again, you should understand that whichever way one desires to spend and use their Bitcoin is entirely up to them as they are free to control their funds.

[larus]

Bitcoin just dont have enough TPS to be worldwide payment system (if we are talking about L1). As for me it always was form of investment

[Rikafip]

Has bitcoin turned into an investment wagon or is there still a possibility of it becoming an everyday payment currency?

Bitcoin is whatever you want it to be, and that's the beauty of it. It's true that it is nowadays mainly used as an investment, but it is still efficient and cheap way (if you know how to manually adjust fee) to transfer money, especially bigger amounts. Bare in mind that Bitcoin is actually still new, ~decade is nothing for something disruptive like this, and sooner or later some solutions like LN will make it more cheaper to transfer.

So no, I don't think that Bitcoin lost its purpose.

[passwordnow]

With hour long payment confirmations, I just don't see it as a payment form in everyday life.

Have you really done some transactions lately? it doesn't take that long as what you're saying about the transaction time. It's lesser than what you're saying.

Has bitcoin turned into an investment wagon or is there still a possibility of it becoming an everyday payment currency?

Why it can't be both? we can use it for payments and as well as holding it as an asset, a store of value.

[pealr12]

Why is btc purpose becomes suddenly questionable by some people, btc is a coin with multiple functions, it is left for anyone to decide what they want to use btc for, either as an investment purpose or payment system purpose it doesn't matter, what matters is what you choose it for, others use it as a store of value, what ever btc is used for doesn't mean it has loss it purpose.

[pawanjain]

There should have been an option for 'Both' in the toll and I am sure most people would have selected that.
The thing is, although bitcoin was meant to be used as a payment method it is now used as an investment method.
Things like this has happened in the history where certain things were meant for something but were used as something else.
Bitcoin is being used as an investment but there are people who still use it as a payment method.
Yes the transaction fees might be a problem but the Lightning Network will enable merchants/customers to send and receive payments easily.
So for the time being 'Both' is the option.

[Poker Player]

I think the OP is partly right that Bitcon today has moved away from the white paper's idea of being a P2P electronic cash system. It is more of an investment vehicle, and as of today and in the near future it looks like its success is going to be in being the replacement for gold in the digital world.

The option of making P2P transactions will always be there but it seems that if it is going to mark an important change in the world it will be because a multitude of companies acquire it as a reserve and because they implement it so that people can buy it through them, like Paypal.

There should have been an option for 'Both' in the toll and I am sure most people would have selected that.

I agree.

[mk4]

How has bitcoin lost it's purpose? The fact that it's still being used right now for payments even though it's on-chain transactions are quite slow, just shows how much potential payment transactions would be made when layer-2s are ready.

[BIT-BENDER]

Currently Grayscale's bitcoin trust owns 654k and the top companies hold 200k, that's 854k bitcoins out of circulation from 21million, not to mention an estimated million more lost. We see alot of bitcoin integrations from paypal, mastercard but is there a public for that? With hour long payment confirmations, I just don't see it as a payment form in everyday life. Has bitcoin turned into an investment wagon or is there still a possibility of it becoming an everyday payment currency?

As for payment, Bitcoin is one I think is very transactional for me, ever tried sending money from a under-developed country to the developed countries or tried receiving from them to yours, you can wait on weeks and still get issues that you may need to reverse it, I think the wait on Bitcoin for transaction confirmation is not stationary, but since I have been transacting I have had more fast transactions than slow, I would like to think Bitcoin according to my knowledge and that's is bitcoin is everything and anything.

[BrianH]

BTC is too slow, the TPS are too low, the fees are too high, the ledger is impractically large and it lacks privacy for it to be anything other than an investment option. Other cryptos are better options and will supersede it eventually.

[skarais]

You should add 3 point in response to the pool you created.
3. Investment and also mean of payment

Currently Grayscale's bitcoin trust owns 654k and the top companies hold 200k, that's 854k bitcoins out of circulation from 21million, not to mention an estimated million more lost. We see alot of bitcoin integrations from paypal, mastercard but is there a public for that? With hour long payment confirmations, I just don't see it as a payment form in everyday life. Has bitcoin turned into an investment wagon or is there still a possibility of it becoming an everyday payment currency?

Don't ever think that if there are many institutional investors who own hundred of thousand of bitcoin, it has eliminated the usefulness of bitcoin as a mean of payment. Bitcoin has the same function as a currency and bitcoin can also be an investment and trading asset so that it will always be used by users. The function of bitcoin as a currency will remain regardless of how many people want to use it or not.

The confirmation time really depend on the network and transaction fee you use. But I'm quite happy for the last 3 weeks because the transaction fee is quite cheap which is around 1 sat/byte and you only need to wait 10-30 minute to get confirmation. Using bitcoin as a mean of everyday payment really depend on the country you live in and how many merchant are willing to accept bitcoin as a mean of payment. If you live in El-Salvador, you'll probably get used to using it every day because they have legal regulation to use it as currency.

[mrongoz22]

actually wherever we use our bitcoin, we will never lose the function of bitcoin, in fact the emergence of bitcoin gives us freedom in all aspects, wherever we use bitcoin we certainly have its own purpose, it is impossible to lose its purpose, bitcoin gives a new nuance in our lives, if we invest in bitcoin, our goal is definitely to seek profit in the future. it's all up to us, which direction we are going, because bitcoin gives us true freedom..

[ene1980]

Currently Grayscale's bitcoin trust owns 654k and the top companies hold 200k, that's 854k bitcoins out of circulation from 21million, not to mention an estimated million more lost. We see alot of bitcoin integrations from paypal, mastercard but is there a public for that?

This was expected once the institutional investors starts investing expecting to earn money in a short period of time and you cannot complaint if they expect that and if you are using it as a form of payment, it is good for you because majority are hoarding the coins than spending them.

With hour long payment confirmations, I just don't see it as a payment form in everyday life. Has bitcoin turned into an investment wagon or is there still a possibility of it becoming an everyday payment currency?

I have no idea whether you made any payments recently because you are claiming that it takes a long time for confirmation and i am making transactions often and i will get the confirmation in 20 minutes with lower fees and Bitcoin is used as an investment for years and it is nothing new.

[Pmalek]

With hour long payment confirmations, I just don't see it as a payment form in everyday life.

A quick confirmation doesn't equal a better or safer transfer of value. Credit cards seem like they confirm your transaction in seconds. But that's not final, only your balance (the credit) gets updated. In the background, the transaction needs from 1 to 3 business days to be processed. Not only that, but they are reversible for up to 6 months.

Bitcoin doesn't take three business days to confirm and it also doesn't have international limitations or restrictions. If you have paid a good enough mining fee, your first confirmation will arrive after 10 minutes on average and you already have full control of your money then. Six confirmations is often used when dealing with big amounts or cryptocurrency exchanges, and those will come within 1 hour in optimal network conditions. They are irreversible, and no one can block your non-custodial wallet or ask you any questions.

Bitcoin is a great hedge against inflation. The money in my bank losses value constantly and the purchasing power decreases year after year. And the bastards keep inventing new ways to take bits for themselves. Their newest scheme is forcing users to invest in their eurobonds, otherwise, they deduct a small percentage from your account each month.     

[The Cryptovator]

No, I don't think Bitcoin lost its purpose anyway. Aren't many companies have been accepting Bitcoin? But yea, we can't ignore most people select Bitcoin as a potential investment. We can't or shouldn't prevent them, but it doesn't mean really Bitcoin losing its purpose why has it been created. I can't blow up your concern about transaction delay, but it really depends on the fees that you are using. There are a few features that would reduce fees and speed up transactions duration like SegWit & Lightning networks. Hope it will reduce transactions delay problems.

[Argoo]

No, I don't think Bitcoin lost its purpose anyway. Aren't many companies have been accepting Bitcoin? But yea, we can't ignore most people select Bitcoin as a potential investment. We can't or shouldn't prevent them, but it doesn't mean really Bitcoin losing its purpose why has it been created. I can't blow up your concern about transaction delay, but it really depends on the fees that you are using. There are a few features that would reduce fees and speed up transactions duration like SegWit & Lightning networks. Hope it will reduce transactions delay problems.

Bitcoin was primarily created as an alternative means of payment to the current payment system. However, like any money, it also performs a number of functions inherent in money, including as a means of preserving value. However, Satoshi Nakamoto probably did not expect that the function of preservation of value would be so prevalent in it that people would use very little bitcoin as a means of payment for the purchase of goods and services. Of course, if people see that bitcoin is constantly increasing in value and simply holding it brings them large profits, it makes no sense to use its other functions. It's like slaughtering the goose that lays the golden eggs.