How important is fiat to Bitcoin?

[Gallar]

don't worry about it, bitcoin and fiat have their own uses and purposes. don't drop one of them, why?
bitcoin is number one in digital assets, and bitcoin digital assets are bought using fiat, so there's no need to vilify each other, for what? what is the purpose?
to find a solution that does not need to drop, but can fix the existing (fiat and bitcoin).

[nurilham]

Governments can't really prohibit the use of cryptocurrencies because "using" them is no different than sending messages through the Internet. If you have the freedom to express your opinion with verbal tools, you should also have a right to express your thoughts through electronic means. Money is a language with which to communicate prices and values of different things. Fiat currency is considered to be the "official" language of the country, but cryptocurrencies are a way to say the same using other letters and sounds; the meaning of the message remains exactly the same. You shouldn't be beaten just for speaking the unofficial language; you should be allowed to express your opinion using whatever means you see fit; if this is not the case, then you live in a totalitarian country with a government that respects neither the citizens nor their natural rights.

Bitcoin and fiat cannot be compared with languages, they are so much different.
You are free to speak any language, but you have a limitation to using Bitcoin or Altcoins. In my country, if you use Bitcoin or any crypto coins as payment tools, you will be jailed. Every country has different laws or regulations, we can't generalize them. You may be free to use Bitcoin in America but you can't do the same in a certain country like Indonesia (my country). Here, you only can use it as a digital asset, you can't use it for payment purposes. So, it is clear that languages and Bitcoin/crypto coins are very very different. We cannot determine the use of Bitcoin/crypto coins based on the use of languages.

[n0ne]

Fiat in today's world have turned to be an inevitable one for its usage on each and everything. The usage would've got limited if fiat haven't got the digitised usage access. Fiat transactions were made easier through mobile wallets and other banking applications.

Bitcoin access and acceptance around the world is very low in percentage compared to the fiat used all around. We're into very beginning days of bitcoin into real-time usage. So, for a long we'll have the dependence over fiat.

[Newlifebtc]

The only place bitcoin can be easily be spent without converting it to Fiat currency is when you are purchasing something with the Bitcoin directly to a company and that company accept payment with Bitcoin it is when bitcoin can work alone without the accompanying of Fiat currency from what I am seeing in Bitcoin he cannot work without Fiat currency you can invest in Bitcoin and bitcoin and give you a prophet but he must to convert it with Fiat before you can start anything you want to do because not any other shops that accept payment with Bitcoin

[Mr.right85]

Fiat in today's world have turned to be an inevitable one for its usage on each and everything. The usage would've got limited if fiat haven't got the digitised usage access. Fiat transactions were made easier through mobile wallets and other banking applications.

Bitcoin access and acceptance around the world is very low in percentage compared to the fiat used all around. We're into very beginning days of bitcoin into real-time usage. So, for a long we'll have the dependence over fiat.

I think, it would be wrong not to have e fiat in existence even in a bitcoin dominated world. Most of all, as it is with majority of the world yet to adopt cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) for a currency, fiat plays a rather vital role in ensuring exchanges and the prices of goods are maintained.

Just imagine if we didn't have fiat. With the highly volatile cryptocurrency market environment, you'll find yourself having a budget that tips over everytime you try to make purchases. This would be so off and would affect the society in a way that, you never can tell when your being cheated on and make proper budgets.

Fiat and bitcoin coexistence would be what we ought to expect for better human communities.

[Obari]

That's not my perception that's what's really going on, we can't expect bitcoin to become an alternative to fiat currency. Even if it's not fiat, it could be gold or another government-controlled currency. Bitcoin cannot stand alone and cannot become the world currency. I invest in bitcoin but I like reality and I dont like living in baseless illusion. Bitcoin is still bitcoin is still a profitable investment but it cannot stand alone without fiat.

If you say this then you don't really understand what you're investing in. Go study Bitcoin, read the white paper then you'll understand what Bitcoin was created for. It was created as an alternative to fiats which means a currency you can use instead of the fiats so Bitcoin doesn't need the dollar or any other fiat to be relevant.
If Bitcoin achieved global adoption we can price items in Bitcoin itself instead of giving it a dollar value. It is a gradual process as we'll get to that stage someday.
Bitcoin store of value is the reason why it's been valued in the dollar, the moment that store of value feature losing some interest and takes it form as a currency then people will careless about what the price of Bitcoin is instead it'll be used frequently like the other means of payment that we have currently.

Everyone is right and owns the right to their opinion but the truth be told that going with the details on the white paper of Bitcoin, we'll get to understand that tye main purpose of Bitcoin was to create a decentralized form of  currency which has to be used without tye interference of a third party.
But on the other hand @queenvera we understand the concept of Bitcoin and the fact that it still has a very long way to go to attain independence and my question was directed to the current situation now of Bitcoin and the possibility of using it now with fiat especially in challenging countries.

[TheUltraElite]

And why do you think not many sellers accept bitcoin as payment?? what could this be related to?

Same reasons why common people dont want to move to bitcoin as an investment option - government restrictions, difficulty in exchanging fiat<>crypto and lack of places to spend crypto for things they need.

 What we should aim at is gradual acceptance among people accepting and using crypto. Currently we are having sites that sell gift cards in exchange for crypto which is a workaround but not an ideal thing. Also different countries have different policies regarding the use and taxation of crypto.

It is necessary to understand such an important point that cryptocurrency is not only one bitcoin, but there is also the Ethereum platform, which occupies a huge place in the cryptocurrency environment and this platform is of great importance for the development of cryptocurrencies. Without the Ethereum platform, the development of cryptocurrencies will be very weak! what do you think about this?? I would also like to know the opinion of others!! join us!

Any crypto other than bitcoin will face the same problem as bitcoin, so I dont think that is relevant here. The number of shitcoins fueled by the ethereum blockchain after the ICO craze started has only siphoned off investors money towards the wrong places and brought bad names to crypto in general, further negating any good impact from bitcoin.

[Mauser]

can Bitcoin be easily used and spent without Fiat?
My answer is No

What's your opinion?
Let's discuss

It's true that bitcoins are not ready to be the main form payment yet. In many cases we still need the exchange of Bitcoins into fiat before we can use them. There are only a few countries that have accepted bitcoin as a legal tender yet. And as long as most countries will hold on to their fiat money nothing is going to change. I receive my salary in Euros, all my monthly expenses I have to pay in Euros, taxes are also required to be paid Euros. If I would like to switch to a crypto currency only life it wouldn't really be working. There still needs to be exchanges between fiat and crypto on a regular basis. Maybe once more countries accept bitcoins as a legal tender this is going to be different. One positive note is that many online stores today are accepting bitcoin as a form of payment.

[crunck]

can Bitcoin be easily used and spent without Fiat?
My answer is No

What's your opinion?
Let's discuss

It's true that bitcoins are not ready to be the main form payment yet. In many cases we still need the exchange of Bitcoins into fiat before we can use them. There are only a few countries that have accepted bitcoin as a legal tender yet. And as long as most countries will hold on to their fiat money nothing is going to change. I receive my salary in Euros, all my monthly expenses I have to pay in Euros, taxes are also required to be paid Euros. If I would like to switch to a crypto currency only life it wouldn't really be working. There still needs to be exchanges between fiat and crypto on a regular basis. Maybe once more countries accept bitcoins as a legal tender this is going to be different. One positive note is that many online stores today are accepting bitcoin as a form of payment.

Even in countries that have accepted bitcoin, I believe it will be extremely difficult to use bitcoin. Simply if you bought bitcoins for $50k and now each bitcoin costs $16k, are you willing to use your bitcoins as a means of paying for goods? That's a huge loss. Fiat is still very important to bitcoin, there is no asset class that does not depend on fiat, and even gold is still measured in fiat.

[lousie9]

Even in countries that have accepted bitcoin, I believe it will be extremely difficult to use bitcoin. Simply if you bought bitcoins for $50k and now each bitcoin costs $16k, are you willing to use your bitcoins as a means of paying for goods? That's a huge loss. Fiat is still very important to bitcoin, there is no asset class that does not depend on fiat, and even gold is still measured in fiat.

if the transaction only uses Bitcoin. the calculation used will not be like that. all of them are difficult to implement because the yardstick is fiat. and also there is still the use of fiat.
just try it when all is measured by Bitcoin. all providers of goods and services use Bitcoin, I'm sure there will be no trade-offs like you talk about.

[Inwestour]

Fiat in today's world have turned to be an inevitable one for its usage on each and everything. The usage would've got limited if fiat haven't got the digitised usage access. Fiat transactions were made easier through mobile wallets and other banking applications.

Bitcoin access and acceptance around the world is very low in percentage compared to the fiat used all around. We're into very beginning days of bitcoin into real-time usage. So, for a long we'll have the dependence over fiat.

Once there was a transition from gold and silver coins to banknotes, this transition was also probably not fast. Actually I don't know how it happened, I don't know the history of money that well.

But I will assume that the transition from fiat to digital money will be even more difficult, because now everything is much more global, and any update in finance will be very difficult. It will also be necessary to replace all their fiat money with digital money if accepted, in any case this is a complex and not a quick process.

[posi]

That's not my perception that's what's really going on, we can't expect bitcoin to become an alternative to fiat currency. Even if it's not fiat, it could be gold or another government-controlled currency. Bitcoin cannot stand alone and cannot become the world currency. I invest in bitcoin but I like reality and I dont like living in baseless illusion. Bitcoin is still bitcoin is still a profitable investment but it cannot stand alone without fiat.

If you say this then you don't really understand what you're investing in. Go study Bitcoin, read the white paper then you'll understand what Bitcoin was created for. It was created as an alternative to fiats which means a currency you can use instead of the fiats so Bitcoin doesn't need the dollar or any other fiat to be relevant.
If Bitcoin achieved global adoption we can price items in Bitcoin itself instead of giving it a dollar value. It is a gradual process as we'll get to that stage someday.
Bitcoin store of value is the reason why it's been valued in the dollar, the moment that store of value feature losing some interest and takes it form as a currency then people will careless about what the price of Bitcoin is instead it'll be used frequently like the other means of payment that we have currently.

I want to say that what Bitcoin is achieving is a success, but to talk about Bitcoin's original goal, maybe it doesn't go in the right direction. Today, we only consider Bitcoin to be an investment rather than currency, because no currency has a big volatility like Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is accepted worldwide and becomes the main measurement unit that replaces Fiat, this will never happen. Because no government is willing to eliminate its currency to accept a decentralized property as a currency. This dream of yours cannot come true.

In short, I agree with the opinions, Fiat is still very important, and Bitcoin will never become a world currency, but the possibility of it becoming an alternative payment method next to Fiat.

[crunck]

Even in countries that have accepted bitcoin, I believe it will be extremely difficult to use bitcoin. Simply if you bought bitcoins for $50k and now each bitcoin costs $16k, are you willing to use your bitcoins as a means of paying for goods? That's a huge loss. Fiat is still very important to bitcoin, there is no asset class that does not depend on fiat, and even gold is still measured in fiat.

if the transaction only uses Bitcoin. the calculation used will not be like that. all of them are difficult to implement because the yardstick is fiat. and also there is still the use of fiat.
just try it when all is measured by Bitcoin. all providers of goods and services use Bitcoin, I'm sure there will be no trade-offs like you talk about.

We are talking facts, not if. Because bitcoin will never be accepted as a world currency. And once assuming bitcoin is accepted as the world currency to replace fiat, then not only bitcoin but any accepted asset can fulfill the obligation of fiat, even if it is dogecoin. Bitcoin is only suitable for investment, it is not suitable as a currency because of its volatility. No currency is as volatile as bitcoin, and no one is brave enough to use a volatile asset to turn it into a currency.

[Gyfts]

How important is the USD to a local fiat currency, for instance? Can the local currency function without the reference to the USD? Yes, of course. But is it more convenient to determine its value by turning to the price in the USD? Also yes. Bitcoin is volatile, and determining its value solely by its purchasing power that constantly changes can be tricky because 0.005 BTC today and a couple of months ago can get to significantly different things. So fiat is a reference point, something that helps understand what we can afford for a certain amount of BTC, based on a notion that we have a good idea of what we can afford for a certain amount of the USD. Bitcoin can be spent directly, but I do agree with the op that options remain limited. However, it doesn't mean that it's not possible or that Bitcoin isn't money and truly needs fiat.

Using fiat as a reference point is arbitrary, though. You could replace fiat with any other metric or even a commodity in order to make the conversion rate easier to calculate. The value of Bitcoin will always be proportional to its purchasing power, and the amount of purchasing power Bitcoin has is determined by supply and demand.

Besides, Bitcoin can never replace fiat, both have to work together to continue existing. As a matter of fact, BTC will always depend on fiat because if fiat seizes today, BTC would seize also because it is unstable and limited in supply.

Bitcoin could easily replace fiat -- it would take a long time, but once people realize that their purchasing power is being lowered year after year systematically by a government who would rather spend money that doesn't exist at the expense of their citizens, then people will no longer choose to hold fiat.

Fiat won't cease to exist completely, but it will work its way out of the economy by market forces once consumers stop using it.

[tranthidung]

Bitcoin could easily replace fiat -- it would take a long time, but once people realize that their purchasing power is being lowered year after year systematically by a government who would rather spend money that doesn't exist at the expense of their citizens, then people will no longer choose to hold fiat.

Bitcoin won't replace fiat with easily or difficult process. It will never replace fiat.

Nobody will use bitcoin and reject fiat if with bitcoin, they will have to wait for at least 10 minutes or longer to get a first confirmation to be done with their payment for one service.

Lightning Network is another story.

Fiat won't cease to exist completely, but it will work its way out of the economy by market forces once consumers stop using it.

Fiat exists, paper/ polymer currency exists as well as central bank digital currency (CBDCs) and Bitcoin will not kill any of them. Like USD is a strongest and most popular currency globally, people use their local currency or other currency that are more popular and easily to find in local areas like remote areas.