Is Bitcoin losing its purpose?

[qwertyup23]

I think many retail investors in the US are Robinhooder types that have a "Bitcoin go up - me buy!" mentality. They don't realize what the loss of utility from anonymous P2P transactions will mean for Bitcoin.

Of all the things that you mentioned, this is the only phrase that matters- BTCs were created in order to have an anonymous p2p transactions between users. It just so happened that its price on the market is significantly high (collateral damage) that most people purchase it either for short or long-term investment.

The blockchain technology is where it all matters. As long as there is a way in order to transact anonymously, BTCs will still remain relevant in the future. Even if people think that it is the perfect avenue for an investment, as long as people transact with it, it will not easily lose its purpose (and price).

[LUCKMCFLY]

I would say that BTC will never lose its purpose, many people who use BTC are freer, they escape from the traditional economy that is the one that suffocates, and that usually is the one that produces and generates debt, in addition the growth of BTC is a fact , El Salvador has already adopted BTC, Paraguay is very close to doing so and now Argentina is also in the process of adopting it, I believe that the purpose of BTC apart from generating a totally deflationary economy, is opening minds, many people are against BTC, Because they do not see it as reliable because it does not have stability, volatility is usually an ingredient that many will never accept, but BTC represents Freedom and now its mission is firmer.

[Baihaki Khaizan]

The era of digitalization of technology gave birth to Bitcoin as an exciting new currency for the world community.  He became an alternative to complete the needs of financial transactions at the global level who crave convenience, efficiency and security.

 Bitcoin has indeed captured market opportunities well.  The trend of increasing internet users around the world is a strategic moment for Bitcoin's presence.  Especially with the development of global e-commerce business potential that encourages global people to conduct cross-border trade transactions.

 So the development of Bitcoin remains on the right track.

 Although Bitcoin exchange rate fluctuations are closely related to world economic policies including the regulation of a country, the perception of expectations and Bitcoin owners (panic) Bitcoin owners and the amount of demand and supply of Bitcoin in the market.

[ethereumhunter]

There are just too many reasons to why this recent rules are popping up thereby making it seem bitcoin isn't getting that anonymity it supposed to get, but the fact is nothing changed bitcoin hasn't lost it purpose, you can still send funds across country's without going to bank, and people have got to see more usefulness in bitcoin, not only just using it as means of transaction but also a good store of value and a successful form of investment.

Yes, bitcoin is not losing its purpose but bitcoin has become more popular and will be the next mainstream thing in the world. Bitcoin now slowly attracts more attention from people, especially big investors who do not know much about digital transformation. They heard the news about bitcoin price and how the price can go up and down suddenly and that can make them curious and use bitcoin as their new asset in the investment.

You only need KYC when you buy bitcoin at the exchange and gladly, you can buy bitcoin from other third-party services anonymously. If you do not want to do KYC, you can search for the exchange or services that do not require KYC. I am sure these services will still be available as a crypto means anonymous.

[Reid]

There is nothing said to be anonymous. In fact, it is not.
They want to list every holder of crypto assets. Not a problem. But I think the real reasons behind it are still hidden. Tax.
It could have been better if the information they will get will be used for a better purpose. Adoption, Usage, Information that would make merchants choose to have Bitcoin as a payment option rather than cash.
But, if it's for the purpose of tracking down every transaction you will make, then that's the scary part.
DeFi on the other hand is a different discussion, comparing it to Bitcoin is off.

[sunsilk]

Exchanges have set their limits for those friendly-countries that don't enforce KYC to the exchanges customers. Some exchanges does that and there's no problem with it but the limit is just exact to those retail investors and traders.

They have a lot of option in the US and they know the limitations if they won't pursue KYC. To us, like small investors and traders. We know where we should go, as long as it's a good exchange and it doesn't enforce KYC with some limits, we should be good with it.

[Kakmakr]

Bitcoin has not lost it's purpose.... people are still using it as a payment option, but governments classified it as a "Commodity" to protect their Fiat reserve currencies. Once government put it in a "Commodity" box, it is very difficult for merchants and retailers to legally accept it as a "Currency".

Imagine reporting your yearly tax to the tax authorities in your country and then showing your profit and losses in Crypto currencies. They will throw the book at you, because the laws of the government does not allow for you to use Bitcoin as a legal tender. (Currency)

The Bitcoin community must stand together in their respective countries and they must vote for a party that are supporting Bitcoin and Crypto currencies. 

[magneto]

Look, just like the dotcom bubble, I think that crypto is going through a similar phase of mania right now.

It is completely understandable imo. There is still a lack of real world usage cases for bitcoin despite all the traction that we've gained, so its purpose as a speculative asset still stands.

Look at this as a natural progression. It's inevitable that speculation will ensue before any large scale adoption of the asset the way it is intended.

[imstillthebest]

it could be slightly loosing its purpose after the kyc came but before i dont remember that we have a kyc in bitcoin maybe because we only have p2p's and decentralize exchange before but now there are centralized exchange and they are more popular but many people use it and i dont think they care if btc slowly loosing its purpose or not but to us that care we can continue using the old way of trading our btc's .

[Kyraishi]

As an asset class, bitcoin is doing its job well enough.

It's a long term store of value, and not a short term store of value. If you want a short term store of value, look no further than the fiat that you are holding - it is guaranteed to hold a part of its value each day but also guaranteed to decline in value each day.

In that sense, regardless of how much short term price action is going on, as long as in the long run bitcoin's supply cap is not broken, it is doing its job.

[kryptqnick]

Here is some stuff from the article I want to address:

Imagine having a neighbor down the road demand you show them your wallet every day, and if the money ever exceeds a certain amount, you have to pay them a percentage — or else. And further, imagine there’s another neighbor down the road this first neighbor doesn’t like, with whom you are now prohibited from transacting.

KYC is about documents, not about payments. And if it's about taxes, the analogy isn't exactly right (or, at least, not supposed to be) because the taxes go on developments of the infrastructure, subsidizing medicine and public transport, and other things like that that benefit you and others in the community. So it's not like your money goes straight into someone's pocket, and you only lose from it. At least, that's not the idea behind taxes, although corruption is a big problem in some countries, and a lot of money from taxes can go into someone's pocket. And as for prohibition, I don't think it was ever enforced so far, and the idea is also not that 'the neighbor' doesn't like someone, but that this person's a killer, rapist or other serious criminal.
Banning anonymous transactions or imposing huge taxes upon Bitcoin users is too harsh, but mild taxation and KYC required for pricey transactions (both for all fiat and for cryptos, of course) seem okay to me. So it's more about the degree than the action itself for me.

[Xinarae*]

Currently kyc is being scammed so no one believes in kyc sites and everyone thinks it is better to stay away from this type of site. But there will be no such effect for bitcoin no one will exchange kyc regardless of the way bitcoin is centralized and decentralized bitcoin and popular currency in crypto corruption is directly linked to helpless citizens losing their hard earned money to fraudsters, further complicating the country's economic crisis. Many have lost money in register scheme trading and more recently in bitcoin trading and are still losing.

[Xampeuu]

As an asset class, bitcoin is doing its job well enough.

It's a long term store of value, and not a short term store of value. If you want a short term store of value, look no further than the fiat that you are holding - it is guaranteed to hold a part of its value each day but also guaranteed to decline in value each day.

In that sense, regardless of how much short term price action is going on, as long as in the long run bitcoin's supply cap is not broken, it is doing its job.

to see the results of bitcoin we really need a long term, so that later bitcoin will be in accordance with what we have expected. with current evidence where bitcoin has shown its class so that more and more people believe in it, and if this positive sentiment continues then it could happen that the government will consider it more, so that bitcoin's function can be fully achieved

[so98nn]

Governments will likely ban it in the future anyway. China and the US infrastructure bill have already set a precedent for banning mining and development in those countries.

Well, one government will ban it, may be 2, or who knows 15-20 governments will ban the use of bitcoin or it's mining operations within their country. However, let us not forget the globe is big and there 200+ countries in the world. Though they might constitute of poor countries or underdeveloped countries then also world has around 25 Federal countries and many highly complex governments with mixed national constitution who are willing to support such modern crypto world. We dont need all of them to approve the use of bitcoin. Honestly, even few governments with green signal on crypto mining operation is enough.

Because people will surely move to that country with their mining operation base. There you go rest of the world can survive anonymously from any country and bitcoin still get to live further. 

[Lucius]

If Bitcoin is KYC, DeFi coins have no hope of replacing the traditional banking system and CBDCs are everywhere, why use Bitcoin at all? Governments will likely ban it in the future anyway. China and the US infrastructure bill have already set a precedent for banning mining and development in those countries.

If you look at Bitcoin solely from the perspective Satoshi was talking about, then let's be honest that its invention never had its initial purpose - because most people didn't use it as a currency, but only as a speculative asset - and so it remained until today. Volatility from which BTC cannot escape (for now) is its curse that holds it firmly in its hand, and the occasional problems with transaction fees that can be quite high are always something lurking in the shadows.

When it comes to accepting CBDC or something, most people act like robots anyway and do everything the government programs them to do, so no matter how much better the alternative is than what they already have, we can't expect them to accept it.

I am fully aware that every country in the world has mechanisms to destroy Bitcoin to such an extent that it can only survive as something illegal - all it takes is to ban trade, mining, and payment for goods and services by law.

It may not be a good analogy, but let's look at what happens with vaccination against Covid-19 - some countries have started to restrict human freedoms to the extent that they forbid unvaccinated people to use public transport, enter shopping malls, theaters, cinemas... This will soon become the standard in most of the Western world, which only shows that governments always have the means to achieve their goal.

[sapnu]

Investors here in crypto have their own ways on how they can benefit from it. Most of such does it the usual way wherein as the price falls, they buy as much as they can and hold it. Bitcoin's real purpose is slowly fading as time passes by and as more people view it as just an another source of profit. The probability of having many countries banning it is still high specially now that China offically banned crypto mining within their territory and with consideration also with the influence they have over other countries. It will happen, one way or the other, but I'm pretty sure crypto, specially bitcoin will still prevail.

[adzino]

Those laws that are being passed is for making sure that people pay their taxes from crypto gains. The government doesn't even care as long as you give them a share of what they want. And bitcoin was never meant to be anonymous. I don't know why people keep on thinking that bitcoin is anonymous. Bitcoin was never made to keep you anonymous. Lets say you are making a purchase from a store and you made the payment with bitcoin. You are no longer anonymous. And the KYC is inevitable. It will happen no matter what.

I think many retail investors in the US are Robinhooder types that have a "Bitcoin go up - me buy!" mentality. They don't realize what the loss of utility from anonymous P2P

This is what it has become now. A store of value.

[stompix]

What's the purpose of Bitcoin? There's no absolute answer to that question.

Bitcoin is whatever the user wants it to be, it's just a tool, like a gun it can fire or not, like a piece of meat you can turn into steak or meatballs.

As mush, as I dislike the way BTC, is slowly turning in the views of many to something you need to hoard, keep it for 3 years and then sell and live a wonderful life with the gains you can't truly embrace bitcoin without understanding that you have to respect the choice of the owner, his keys, his bitcoins. I would love to see more usage daily, fewer coins on CEX and fewer dumps and pumps, less coins hoarded by companies just to be sold when the shareowners agree but that's on of the beauty of the system from one perspective.

Well, one government will ban it, may be 2, or who knows 15-20 governments will ban the use of bitcoin or it's mining operations within their country. However, let us not forget the globe is big and there 200+ countries in the world.

All it takes is for the US and EU to ban it and the rest 200 can simply watch.
North America and Europe hold 57% of the global wealth, China 18%, and Japan 6%, what is left here?

Who is going to support the current price and usage, Somalia and Tokelau? What are you going to do without the western banks and services, how is the rest of the world even going to get coins when there are no more banks, cards, any other payment services accepting bitcoin or exchanges dealing with bitcoin? Revert to barter? Lol.

One must acknowledge, right now Bitcoin still has a lot to grow, from usage to userbase, it's still a tiny speck in the world, there is a long way before we can pick a fight with the current system with bitcoin alone. A very long way!

[roosbit]

I remember coming to use bitcoin for the first time and everyone was saying one of its purposes of bitcoin was that we could use  it as an anonymous user but with time this has changed as we have learnt that it's actually not.

About losing its purpose I don't think so, as crypto users we all have diverse reasons for using bitcoin, some use it as a form of money, some it's a form of asset that represents an investment ,list goes on, honestly this not be bundled up as one main purpose of using it.

[semobo]

Great article on Bitcoin.com that people should read. Crypto has the potential to usurp the banks, allow private, digital transactions, serve as a universal currency, escape from rampant fiat inflation, etc. People need to wake up, be more active in politics and be stronger advocates against KYC.

“A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.” -Satoshi Nakamoto
...
With this new U.S. infrastructure bill (now moved to the House of Representatives which is on recess until September 20), the EU’s plans to track all bitcoin transactions and ban anonymous wallets, the massive momentum CBDCs are gaining worldwide as countries responsible for 90% of the world’s GDP research and trial them — it is clear we are on the cusp of something unprecedented. Even the sacred realm of decentralized finance (defi) is no longer safe, with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler recently calling for more authority to regulate defi.

Contrary to Satoshi’s vision for peer-to-peer electronic cash without the need for a financial institution, the picture taking shape is one instead of complete, centralized, coercive control of private finance. Privacy and autonomy in money, in other words, are being made out as relics to be traded in for antiquated ideas of kings ruling peasants, disguised as modern and sensible “regulation.”

I think many retail investors in the US are Robinhooder types that have a "Bitcoin go up - me buy!" mentality. They don't realize what the loss of utility from anonymous P2P transactions will mean for Bitcoin.

If Bitcoin is KYC, DeFi coins have no hope of replacing the traditional banking system and CBDCs are everywhere, why use Bitcoin at all? Governments will likely ban it in the future anyway. China and the US infrastructure bill have already set a precedent for banning mining and development in those countries.

CBDC, DeFi, Fiat and etc still not going to replace the utlity of bitcoin since its completely decentralized but not completely anonymous so if you address of an exchange linked with your KYC then you may get tracked but government is not going to track everyone, even there are ways to avoid using the exchanges to buy bitcoin and eraces the traces of your transaction by sending them to legit mixtures.