Bitcoin - Asset Or Currency?

[yudi09]

It gives you the freedom to define it yourself.  If you don't find it useful as a currency, then it's an asset.  If you don't think it will be worth it in the long-term, then it's a volatile experiment that can give you short-term profit.  If you utilize it to buy stuff from the Internet, it's a currency.

This is the nature of Bitcoin that makes it different from other currencies and for me this is the freedom of the economic system that we aspire to.
Bitcoin may be used as a transaction tool and there is no problem if Bitcoin is used as an investment asset.

Then, when you are faced with two choices, do you think you will use Bitcoin as a currency or an investment asset? because I myself make Bitcoin an investment asset because not all countries in the world legalize Bitcoin as a means of payment including my country.

[Medusah]

Then, when you are faced with two choices, do you think you will use Bitcoin as a currency or an investment asset?

I don't understand why and how you'd ever be forced to choose one of them.

[mvdheuvel1983]

In your opinion, bitcoin is an asset or a currency?

Bitcoin is an asset. Bitcoin is also a currency.

Bitcoin is a currency as well as an asset. It is money if you are in El Salvador. Being in an African nation is advantageous. It serves as both a currency and an asset in several other areas. Bitcoin doesn't currently have many use cases, but with time and an increasing rate of acceptance, we will. When my nation was in a recession and inflation was high, I changed my bank wealth into bitcoin a few years ago to prevent it from falling. Here, bitcoin acted as an asset that I could use as a store of wealth and an inflation hedge. When I needed to purchase an item from a foreign country but my country's bank cards were not being accepted, I asked the vendor if they would accept bitcoin at that moment. They complied, and I used bitcoin to pay for the item. Here, I used bitcoin as my medium of exchange. I personally view bitcoin as a currency as well as an asset.

[PytagoraZ]

People have been asking this same question over and over on here over the year and my answer is always the same, and always has been..it's both and asset and a currency.

Thank you for your attention. If you feel the question has been asked a lot. You can answer the other questions in this thread

Currently, bitcoin has a very high price. I don't know why the bitcoin price can move so fast. Is it possible that there are brokers playing with bitcoin prices?

Initially, fiat money was born on the basis of gold reserves. But now it's not like that. Many people disagree when the US prints money massively without considering gold reserves. However, bitcoin was born without any guarantees, only the trust of the community makes bitcoin have value. Isn't that the same?

I would be very happy if you could discuss this

~snip~  Satoshi Nakamoto the creator of Bitcoin did so because he wanted we to have an alternative to the centralized system that's in existence that favors only the rich and well connected.

I think bitcoin is very easily controlled by rich people. They can buy lots of bitcoins and hold them for the price to go up, once the price goes up they will sell massively and the price goes down. If it is done repeatedly, they will get a lot of profit

[Pandji02]

It gives you the freedom to define it yourself.  If you don't find it useful as a currency, then it's an asset.  If you don't think it will be worth it in the long-term, then it's a volatile experiment that can give you short-term profit.  If you utilize it to buy stuff from the Internet, it's a currency.

True, I like that it can be both and it defines by the person that uses it. For me, it's an asset.

[Iadegbola34]

It's totally understandable to have questions about Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency market can be somewhat unpredictable, and yes, there are instances where brokers may influence prices. Regarding your question about Bitcoin being an asset or a currency, it's actually both. Many people see it as a valuable asset to hold, hoping its price will rise. But using it as a daily currency for small transactions can be expensive due to high transaction fees. Don't worry if you don't have a deep understanding yet. It takes time to grasp all the nuances of Bitcoin. Feel free to ask more questions anytime!

[Baofeng]

In your opinion, bitcoin is an asset or a currency?

It just evolved though, it was really design as a payment system. But there are individuals who I will say take advantage in the beginning and when bitcoin has a price, then it become a asset.

If bitcoin is an asset, it is now. Most people will hold bitcoin as an asset and take advantage of the rising price of bitcoin. If so you are still dominated by fiat

Yes, hedge against inflation, and store of value too. So there are a lot of uses of bitcoin, so it's up to the individual on how they are going to treat it.

If bitcoins were currency, it would be complicated if bitcoins were used to buy cheap things, transaction fees would be very expensive

Your argument is invalid though, it's not that complicated, there are countries already who uses LN for fast transactions. And there are still merchants who are accepting it as mode of payment but maybe the numbers right now is not that big.

[tbct_mt2]

It just evolved though, it was really design as a payment system. But there are individuals who I will say take advantage in the beginning and when bitcoin has a price, then it become a asset.

After 14 years since 2009, with serious losses of fiat currencies' purchasing power and with exponential growth of Bitcoin price, they found that Bitcoin is a good asset.

Nowadays, with high trading volume of Bitcoin, they can more easily to buy and sell bitcoins. Price won't be dumped if they sell their bitcoins on the market and there are OTC markets for whales too.

Your argument is invalid though, it's not that complicated, there are countries already who uses LN for fast transactions. And there are still merchants who are accepting it as mode of payment but maybe the numbers right now is not that big.

The adoption of Lightning Network is good recent years and if Bitcoin has good growth, Lightning Network can have better growth because people nowadays are more aware about Bitcoin and it is less vagueness, barriers to convince people using Bitcoin and learning about Lightning Network.

Lightning Network growth last 5 years https://txstats.com/dashboard/db/lightning-network?orgId=1&from=now-5y&to=now

[CageMabok]

It gives you the freedom to define it yourself.  If you don't find it useful as a currency, then it's an asset.  If you don't think it will be worth it in the long-term, then it's a volatile experiment that can give you short-term profit.  If you utilize it to buy stuff from the Internet, it's a currency.

It seems that your thinking is also quite mature in this regard, because I also think that Bitcoin can indeed be considered as an asset and can also be considered as a currency. Because Bitcoin can be brought into an investment which indicates it is an asset and can also be used to buy goods through websites that accept Bitcoin as payment so on the one hand Bitcoin can also be said to be currency. So this actually really depends on where we use the Bitcoin so that we can give birth to these two assumptions through ourselves.

[Minecache]

It gives you the freedom to define it yourself.  If you don't find it useful as a currency, then it's an asset.  If you don't think it will be worth it in the long-term, then it's a volatile experiment that can give you short-term profit.  If you utilize it to buy stuff from the Internet, it's a currency.

It seems that your thinking is also quite mature in this regard, because I also think that Bitcoin can indeed be considered as an asset and can also be considered as a currency. Because Bitcoin can be brought into an investment which indicates it is an asset and can also be used to buy goods through websites that accept Bitcoin as payment so on the one hand Bitcoin can also be said to be currency. So this actually really depends on where we use the Bitcoin so that we can give birth to these two assumptions through ourselves.

Yes, bitcoin is both, but we are looking at it as an asset rather than a currency, and I think in the future, people will also know bitcoin as an asset rather than a currency. I don't think too many people will be willing to spend their bitcoin on regular payments because no one wants to waste an asset that will have a very high value in the future. But bitcoin can also be considered an effective alternative payment method if in case we have problems with fiat while traveling or if we do not have fiat available. Bitcoin is a currency as well as an asset.

[Razmirraz]

It gives you the freedom to define it yourself.  If you don't find it useful as a currency, then it's an asset.  If you don't think it will be worth it in the long-term, then it's a volatile experiment that can give you short-term profit.  If you utilize it to buy stuff from the Internet, it's a currency.

It seems that your thinking is also quite mature in this regard, because I also think that Bitcoin can indeed be considered as an asset and can also be considered as a currency. Because Bitcoin can be brought into an investment which indicates it is an asset and can also be used to buy goods through websites that accept Bitcoin as payment so on the one hand Bitcoin can also be said to be currency. So this actually really depends on where we use the Bitcoin so that we can give birth to these two assumptions through ourselves.

The function of Bitcoin depends on where you place it, if you place Bitcoin as an asset, then Bitcoin will become an asset. When you put Bitcoin as currency, then Bitcoin will become currency. I think bitcoin is very simple, its presence has made it easier for me or anyone who holds Bitcoin to make transactions online at any time. So far Bitcoin has received recognition from its users as an asset and currency, these two functions cannot be separated from Bitcoin.

[Maidak]

It's up to you and each person. For me, it is an asset, a commodity, because I make a profit from trading and holding it. It doesn't matter what Bitcoin is, as long as it benefits you, you can use it to do whatever you want. Many people even consider it their own bank because, with bitcoin's decentralization, they have full control over their assets. There's nothing wrong with treating it as your own bank.

[suzanne5223]

Currently, bitcoin has a very high price. I don't know why the bitcoin price can move so fast. Is it possible that there are brokers playing with bitcoin prices?

I'm surprised you don't know why Bitcoin's current bullish trend started despite the US SEC lawsuit on top exchange and BRC-20/ordinal inscriptions caused huge unconfirmed transactions on the BTC network when the most powerful multi-national investment company in the world known as BlackRock which was said to have the capacity to buy everything ^{(that include any politician in the world)}file for Bitcoin ETF. Technically, this will generate FOMO in the market and yes we already have GrayScale which is already a broker in the crypto market but the bigger seems to be stepping in.

Bitcoin is the antithesis of fiat

Bitcoin was created to complement Fiat currency and address some of its flaws.

People who are against fiat will turn to crypto.

No, people who turn to crypto now or in the future are not against fiat and what they do is move to the alternative to prevent themselves from the future danger sign shown by the fiat currency.

In your opinion, bitcoin is an asset or a currency?

Bitcoin is both. What determines whether it is an asset or currency is what you presently use it for.

[AndySt]

Personally, I believe that bitcoin is undoubtedly an asset, despite some efforts made by some forces and states like El Salvador. Bitcoin can be called and positioned as you like, but you need to look at the harsh reality that clearly puts everything in its place. And this reality says that the absolute majority of holders and users of bitcoin use it as an asset. In order to use bitcoin as a currency, you need to make a lot of effort and there is an absolute guarantee that there will be a lot of difficulties and opposition from states on this path, because this can create, in their opinion, potentially dangerous competition for fiat currencies.

[Myleschetty]

It gives you the freedom to define it yourself.  If you don't find it useful as a currency, then it's an asset.  If you don't think it will be worth it in the long-term, then it's a volatile experiment that can give you short-term profit.  If you utilize it to buy stuff from the Internet, it's a currency.

This is the nature of Bitcoin that makes it different from other currencies and for me this is the freedom of the economic system that we aspire to.
Bitcoin may be used as a transaction tool and there is no problem if Bitcoin is used as an investment asset.

Then, when you are faced with two choices, do you think you will use Bitcoin as a currency or an investment asset? because I myself make Bitcoin an investment asset because not all countries in the world legalize Bitcoin as a means of payment including my country.

From my own perspective, I believe it all depends on personal understanding and beliefs about Bitcoin determine what we use Bitcoin for but if we go back to what Satoshi said "I've been working on a new electronic cash system that's fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party.".
This means Bitcoin is money but its mechanism and feature which is the block halving and limited supply give it the potential to be an asset. However, everything depends on what each individual wants to use it for.

[Asuspawer09]

It's surely going to be an asset for sure. Personally, I really think that Bitcoin is an asset I just can't see Bitcoin as a digital currency just because of its nature of volatile market price. Seeing Bitcoin with a volatile market price it's really difficult for it to be a currency that we can use in our daily transactions, volatile market price just means that you need to adjust every time you're going to make a transaction. And there are also a lot of things that you need to consider if you're going to use Bitcoin like on a business etc.

Bitcoin adapts really quickly I think in the future it's always possible that it can adapt as a currency as well but for not even though it is adapted like what EL Salvador did it is still not complete and cannot fully operate like a fiat currency that we are using today. We all invest on Bitcoin because it is an investment in which we could make profit so it is an Asset for most of the investors.

[Blitzboy]

It's surely going to be an asset for sure. Personally, I really think that Bitcoin is an asset I just can't see Bitcoin as a digital currency just because of its nature of volatile market price. Seeing Bitcoin with a volatile market price it's really difficult for it to be a currency that we can use in our daily transactions, volatile market price just means that you need to adjust every time you're going to make a transaction. And there are also a lot of things that you need to consider if you're going to use Bitcoin like on a business etc.

Bitcoin adapts really quickly I think in the future it's always possible that it can adapt as a currency as well but for not even though it is adapted like what EL Salvador did it is still not complete and cannot fully operate like a fiat currency that we are using today. We all invest on Bitcoin because it is an investment in which we could make profit so it is an Asset for most of the investors.

While your viewpoint about Bitcoin's nature as an asset due to its volatile market price is understandable, it's important to recognize that volatility isn't inherently a negative feature. Yes, the value of Bitcoin fluctuates, sometimes dramatically, but this can be seen as an opportunity rather than a setback.

Consider traditional currencies. They are constantly adjusting against each other too, albeit at a much slower rate. The rate of currency exchange changes daily. Bitcoin merely takes this aspect and amplifies it.

Your perspective on Bitcoin as incomplete for use as a fiat currency, like what El Salvador did, is also understandable. However, consider that all technologies were incomplete when they first came into existence. Fiat currency itself underwent several changes before becoming what we use today. As the world adapts to Bitcoin, it's reasonable to expect that Bitcoin will evolve too.

[Z390]

The answer you looking for is already on the present situations happening with bitcoin and the crypto market, bitcoin is a volatile asset that goes up and down and the real reason why people are buying this asset is that they want to make money out of it and that makes it a complete asset.

Bitcoin can be used as trade by barter because it's a valuable digital currency yes it can be used as money but it's not going to serve the purpose of Fiat currency so it is expected that some areas will accept Bitcoin as means of payment and some will not and there is no crime in this, so my answer is Bitcoin is more of an asset than serving as a currency.