Andreas' current use of BTC

[superbotolo]

I love Andreas Antonopoulos. Having said this, he recently said something in one episode of his podcast that surprised me. He was talking about living on Bitcoin and he said that he HODLs his BTC and basically spends only USD. He gets paid in all different fiat, and he spends this fiat for his daily life. When he can, he buys more BTC and HODL.

While I understand that many of us HODL, isn't this just wrong for the future of BTC. First, Satoshi created BTC as a currency. It is intended to be spent. Second, if everyone HODL and nobody spends BTC, isn't this becoming just a pyramid scheme?

[1714514209]

1714514209

[1714514209]

1714514209

[1714514209]

1714514209

[jackg]

First, Satoshi created BTC as a currency. It is intended to be spent.

Well not really, if you don't need to spend it then there's probably not much point. A spending culture has been prescribed into a lot of people already, spending on something that's you're going to use or need is fine it's when you start creating waste that's the problem...

You spend inflationary currency because its value drops.

Second, if everyone HODL and nobody spends BTC, isn't this becoming just a pyramid scheme?

A pyramid scheme like the stock market?

Most things, realistically, become problematic when people have a lot to sell and choose to sell them all at once. Shaving $5tr off the US stock market for example wasn't $5tr leaving thst was already there - it was too many people selling for the order book to absorb (and if people collaborate or have a lot already, they can manipulate the price of things quite well).

[DaveF]

I love Andreas Antonopoulos. Having said this, he recently said something in one episode of his podcast that surprised me. He was talking about living on Bitcoin and he said that he HODLs his BTC and basically spends only USD. He gets paid in all different fiat, and he spends this fiat for his daily life. When he can, he buys more BTC and HODL.

While I understand that many of us HODL, isn't this just wrong for the future of BTC. First, Satoshi created BTC as a currency. It is intended to be spent. Second, if everyone HODL and nobody spends BTC, isn't this becoming just a pyramid scheme?

You kind of answered the question. He gets paid in fiat. So he spends it. If he has any left over he then buys BTC
Taking it all and converting it to BTC to turn around and spend it is pointless.
As for holding it. I get paid in fiat too. I buy stuff with it, I put some in a savings account, some in my IRA and with some I buy BTC
Some BTC gets spent, but not all.

I am part of a signature campaign that pays in BTC. Some gets spent as BTC other gets saved. If I don't need to spend something, be it fiat or BTC or whatever why should I spend it?
With your question, you are more or less saying he should spend for the sake of spending.

-Dave

[Rikafip]

He was talking about living on Bitcoin and he said that he HODLs his BTC and basically spends only USD. He gets paid in all different fiat, and he spends this fiat for his daily life. When he can, he buys more BTC and HODL.

I don't see anything wrong with it, what is he supposed to do since he is paid in fiat? Take that fiat and buy BTC, and then do KYC on some of 3rd party service to be able to use their card and pay for groceries, utility bills and all other everyday expenses? He wouldn't accomplish anything beside loosing percentage of that money through various fees.

Second, if everyone HODL and nobody spends BTC, isn't this becoming just a pyramid scheme?

Using that logic, anything you buy as an investment is pyramid scheme, which is not true of course.

[franky1]

(my wealth is in btc form)

i used to spend btc in like the 2012-2015 period. but when the economics changed of things like fee's and a reluctance to expand the transactions per block. many merchants stopped accepting btc direct.

bitcoin is now promoted as an asset not a common currency.
bitcoin is now promoted as a investment not a store for the unbanked

(pre-empt replies: no dont even twist this into an advert for another network that allows micro transactions. im talking about BITCOIN not altnet 11decimal co-signer requiring non blockchain network)

[Kakmakr]

You got to understand something that happened to Andreas Antonopoulos a while ago to understand why he might have made the decision to hodl and not spend his coins. A few years ago Andreas Antonopoulos announced that he has almost no Bitcoins (BTC) and people roasted him on social media.

I can understand that he might now be hodling coins as a result of that... not that he has anything to proof to anyone... because he is wealthy in knowledge and experience and that is more than money can buy. 

[sunsilk]

We do have our own choice of spending for the bitcoins that we hold. You can treat it as a currency or as a store of value. Andreas don't have to worry about his expenses if he's getting paid in different kinds of fiat. So in that case, that's an advantage to him and he don't have to touch his bitcoin holdings.

I would do the same if I have other source of income and gets paid in cash.

if everyone HODL and nobody spends BTC, isn't this becoming just a pyramid scheme?

It's impossible that everyone is going to hold, there's a likely that many would hold but it's very impossible that you and me won't be spending some of our bitcoins. And no, it's not a pyramid scheme. Why it should?

A pyramid scheme doesn't have any volatility and the scheme they promote is continuous skyrocketing investment.

[hatshepsut93]

Did gold became any less valuable because it stopped being a currency? No, its value keeps growing and growing. As for Satoshi, he never said that the doesn't want Bitcoin to be a store of value, so how can we know if it's what he wanted or not? And Bitcoin does not belong to Satoshi, it belongs to Bitcoin community, so even if he became active tomorrow and started criticizing the current course, it wouldn't mean that we are moving in wrong direction.

Also, don't forget about Lightning, it will bring Bitcoin one step closer to being a competitive currency.

[TravelMug]

You got to understand something that happened to Andreas Antonopoulos a while ago to understand why he might have made the decision to hodl and not spend his coins. A few years ago Andreas Antonopoulos announced that he has almost no Bitcoins (BTC) and people roasted him on social media.

I think it's not that he didn't invest early on BTC, but he says that he got out of debt through his bitcoin holdings. And then after hearing this, individuals start donating to him and it went as high as $1.5 million, if I"m not mistaken.

I can understand that he might now be hodling coins as a result of that... not that he has anything to proof to anyone... because he is wealthy in knowledge and experience and that is more than money can buy. 

Of course not only Andreas, but even majority here holds at least some bitcoins in their wallet for years now. And just spend their fiat, and if they don't have fiat in hand, maybe they can just withdraw some btc->fiat.

[superbotolo]

It's just that I keep thinking of the words of Satoshi on his white paper:

"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."

When was the last time you sent BTC to someone as electronic cash to pay for something (an item, a service, etc.)? I feel nowadays people just buy and HODL and the price keeps on going up only because less and less BTC are available on the market, being HODL by people.

[Poker Player]

You got to understand something that happened to Andreas Antonopoulos a while ago to understand why he might have made the decision to hodl and not spend his coins. A few years ago Andreas Antonopoulos announced that he has almost no Bitcoins (BTC) and people roasted him on social media.

That's what I was thinking while reading the OP's post. But you've only told half the story. The one who mocked him shamefully was Roger Ver, and what happened is that people massively sided with Andreas and gave him donations for about 100 Bitcoins. That was in 2017 when the price was over $17K.

After that it was easier for him to save Bitcoin, that's for sure.

[_Miracle]

I watched Andreas Antonopoulos frequently when I first got into bitcoin, he's one of my favorites.
I used to spend bitcoin all the time for anything I could, for now I prefer not to if I don't have to.

[pooya87]

When was the last time you sent BTC to someone as electronic cash to pay for something (an item, a service, etc.)?

Every day of the year and the volume has been in the millions of dollars.
Here is an example of a small case I saw on reddit last night: Bitcoin and lightning have just done something fiat couldn’t for me

I feel nowadays people just buy and HODL and the price keeps on going up only because less and less BTC are available on the market, being HODL by people.

If you hang out in a bar every day you will soon start thinking that everyone in the world is an alcoholic.

Stop hanging out in "speculation forums" where everyone only talks about price and how they HODL to become rich and start going into the real world and look around for merchants whether online and offline and see how adoption (as a currency) has grown so much in recent years.

[yhiaali3]

Certainly Bitcoin was created to be spent, but since its price is constantly changing and increasing, no one will want to sell it at a low price, so the investor seeks to hold the Bitcoin until he gets the highest price, but this does not mean, of course, that he will never sell it, a time will come and he will definitely sell what he owns, what is the use From owning bitcoins in the first place if he is not going to sell it someday. This is the rule to sell at the highest price and then buy back at the low price and then hold and so on.

[Wexnident]

Well, it isn't exactly wrong, imo. Bitcoin adoption has been ongoing quite well these past few months but it's really not enough to actually be able to integrate it into our daily lives as a currency you know? Most stores that have adopted Bitcoin payments may or may not be the ones that we regularly use in our everyday lives (it's on a person by person basis) so it isn't exactly right that we force hodlers of Bitcoin to spend it since it is a currency you know? Adoption is still growing so I'd reckon usage of Bitcoin as currency would only grow sooner or later imo.

[Easteregg69]

In response to the censorship going on here. We need a blockchain forum where no admin can delete posts.

PS.I buy BTC and shot half in projects.

I love Andreas Antonopoulos. Having said this, he recently said something in one episode of his podcast that surprised me. He was talking about living on Bitcoin and he said that he HODLs his BTC and basically spends only USD. He gets paid in all different fiat, and he spends this fiat for his daily life. When he can, he buys more BTC and HODL.

While I understand that many of us HODL, isn't this just wrong for the future of BTC. First, Satoshi created BTC as a currency. It is intended to be spent. Second, if everyone HODL and nobody spends BTC, isn't this becoming just a pyramid scheme?

I love his smile. I have seen it happen.

[moderator's note: consecutive posts merged]

[davis196]

I've posted this before,but I have to post it again.
Bitcoin is "good money" because it doesn't lose it's value in the long term.
Fiat money are "bad money" because they lose their value in the long term.
The "bad money" always pushes out of circulation the "good money".This is called "Gresham's law".
Every smart person would spend his "bad money" and keep his "good money",because the "bad money" have to be spent,before they lose their value even more,and the "good money" have to be kept,because they preserve their value.
There's no situation in which everybody HODLs Bitcoin and nobody buys/sells Bitcoins.There will always be buyers and sellers of BTC.The HODLers are just waiting for a better price,but they will also sell.
Bitcoin can be used to buy goods and services,but if you have both fiat and BTC the smart decision is to spend your fiat and keep your BTC.Andreas is a smart guy.

[qwertyup23]

I love Andreas Antonopoulos. Having said this, he recently said something in one episode of his podcast that surprised me. He was talking about living on Bitcoin and he said that he HODLs his BTC and basically spends only USD. He gets paid in all different fiat, and he spends this fiat for his daily life. When he can, he buys more BTC and HODL.

While I understand that many of us HODL, isn't this just wrong for the future of BTC. First, Satoshi created BTC as a currency. It is intended to be spent. Second, if everyone HODL and nobody spends BTC, isn't this becoming just a pyramid scheme?

I think most people took for granted the reason on why BTC was created. The power and innovation brought about by the blockchain technology is the star of the show as it removes the traditional third-party consensus in transactions. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is the currency which is used in circulation through the blockchain.

But if you were in his shoes, you would probably see BTC as a form of investment due to its trend that its price go higher as years passed by. Personally, I see BTC as an opportunity for long-term HODLing and as a short-term investment.

[fiulpro]

I love Andreas Antonopoulos. Having said this, he recently said something in one episode of his podcast that surprised me. He was talking about living on Bitcoin and he said that he HODLs his BTC and basically spends only USD. He gets paid in all different fiat, and he spends this fiat for his daily life. When he can, he buys more BTC and HODL.

While I understand that many of us HODL, isn't this just wrong for the future of BTC. First, Satoshi created BTC as a currency. It is intended to be spent. Second, if everyone HODL and nobody spends BTC, isn't this becoming just a pyramid scheme?

The way you use Bitcoins is almost completely dependent on you, if you do decide to Hold or if you decide to use it as a currency, it's all your decision and therefore at the end of the day if the person is holding it, it's not making it a pyramid scheme, the person is just investing like any other form of investments, when you hold stocks, when you hold gold, it's still the same isn't it now? Therefore we cannot really put the blame on bitcoins now. What we do have to see is how living on Bitcoins can be seen from different angles, some people can use fiat while keeping bitcoins as an investments and there is this family living on Bitcoins, travelling using bitcoins ( you can read about it here : https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/08/11/bitcoin-family-hides-bitcoin-ethereum-and-litecoin-in-secret-vaults.html )
Therefore there is not one right answer, it's how you decide to live your life, which I do believe is extremely personal and is not wrong. As long as they are not using Bitcoin for all the wrong reasons and for the illegal things, I do think it's more or so good.

[sirminesalot]

I love Andreas Antonopoulos. Having said this, he recently said something in one episode of his podcast that surprised me. He was talking about living on Bitcoin and he said that he HODLs his BTC and basically spends only USD. He gets paid in all different fiat, and he spends this fiat for his daily life. When he can, he buys more BTC and HODL.

I think people who holds crypto (not only BTC), are holding BTC for investment instead of using it as a transaction money because people are get a lot of profit from holding it for a long time. Everything that could brings profit for the people, people will use it as their income and ignored the purpose of the things was made.

While I understand that many of us HODL, isn't this just wrong for the future of BTC. First, Satoshi created BTC as a currency. It is intended to be spent. Second, if everyone HODL and nobody spends BTC, isn't this becoming just a pyramid scheme?

It's the same like stock markets when the stock value increasing each time if the demand of the stock is increasing also. So we could say it as a pyramid scheme because it's totally different. The value of BTC in the market is real, not manipulated value.