How Bitcoin's technical evolution impacts the modern economy

[pancelot]

I believe that sometime in the future, perhaps within the next 5-10 years, Bitcoin's role will begin to shift from being merely a speculative instrument to becoming a decentralized financial infrastructure. At the protocol level, this efficiency will increase through the adoption of taproot and layer-2 optimizations, perhaps like the Lightning Network, which will open up opportunities for low-cost, real-time transactions and potentially global scale. Modern integrated payments, open APIs, and user-friendly non-custodial wallets will make Bitcoin more compatible with the needs of the digital economy.
On the other hand, the influx of institutional capital through ETF and custodial platforms will strengthen Bitcoin's position as a digital store of value, in line with the current trend of asset tokenization and the penetration of CBDC. And network resilience is supported by node decentralization, increasing hash rates, and flexible market-based transaction fees.
As someone who enjoys analyzing and studying technology, I feel that these dynamics, along with the ever-evolving regulations, have led me to believe that Bitcoin has great potential not only as digital gold, but also as a foundational layer for transactions, value settlement, and global financial innovation.
what do you think about it?

[john_egbert]

BTC is already being used not only for speculations on its price, but for services, international transactions without any strings attached to them, and so on.

CBDCs will be there for sure, but they won't be able to cross and halt BTC in its track to adoption and being the best alternative to fiat.

Just don't worry about it and accumulate more

[peter0425]

I believe that sometime in the future, perhaps within the next 5-10 years, Bitcoin's role will begin to shift from being merely a speculative instrument to becoming a decentralized financial infrastructure.

Bitcoin is not merely a speculative instrument. It has always been first and foremost a financial system that is free from the traditional one that we have. It has always been about decentralization. No need to wait to see it happen since bitcoin was started for that very intention anyway.

On the other hand, the influx of institutional capital through ETF and custodial platforms will strengthen Bitcoin's position as a digital store of value, in line with the current trend of asset tokenization and the penetration of CBDC. And network resilience is supported by node decentralization, increasing hash rates, and flexible market-based transaction fees.

The acceptance that we are seeing now is just a step towards a system where bitcoin is the norm. I guess what we are waiting for is for bitcoin be accepted everywhere that it is no longer a question of whether we can use bitcoin at a specific place or not.

[john_egbert]

^  It won't be accepted - everywhere - anyways, but if it will be accepted where it can be done - that would be great, and we are slowly but surely coming there, imo.

Everybody starts seeing more pros than cons with BTC, and that's beautiful. Especially some companies out there.

[edroi]

I believe that sometime in the future, perhaps within the next 5-10 years, Bitcoin's role will begin to shift from being merely a speculative instrument to becoming a decentralized financial infrastructure. At the protocol level, this efficiency will increase through the adoption of taproot and layer-2 optimizations, perhaps like the Lightning Network, which will open up opportunities for low-cost, real-time transactions and potentially global scale. Modern integrated payments, open APIs, and user-friendly non-custodial wallets will make Bitcoin more compatible with the needs of the digital economy.
On the other hand, the influx of institutional capital through ETF and custodial platforms will strengthen Bitcoin's position as a digital store of value, in line with the current trend of asset tokenization and the penetration of CBDC. And network resilience is supported by node decentralization, increasing hash rates, and flexible market-based transaction fees.
As someone who enjoys analyzing and studying technology, I feel that these dynamics, along with the ever-evolving regulations, have led me to believe that Bitcoin has great potential not only as digital gold, but also as a foundational layer for transactions, value settlement, and global financial innovation.
what do you think about it?

i like how you connected the technical side of bitcoin with its economic impact... i think the shift from speculation to real world utility is really where things get interesting.. things like taproot, lightning network & better wallets could actually make bitcoin usable for everyday transactions not just as a digital gold.. at the same time institutional adoption could give it stability which helps people trust it as a store of value.. the tricky part will be how regulations & network growth play together.. if done right bitcoin could really become a backbone for global finance not just an investment asset

[Cookdata]

BTC is already being used not only for speculations on its price, but for services, international transactions without any strings attached to them, and so on.

CBDCs will be there for sure, but they won't be able to cross and halt BTC in its track to adoption and being the best alternative to fiat.

Just don't worry about it and accumulate more

When last did you heard of CBDC, last I saw a headline about it was Trump was getting it scrap and banned, I haven't heard anything about them again. It was a party agenda to create a competition with Bitcoin as a blockchain for transparent money payment but it failed and it didn't just failed, it was a beautiful one for that matter and Bitcoin that has been mocked years back is doing wonderfully than ever, this is to tell you that propaganda doesn't last in tech.

Take a look at Bitcoin mempool, a single input output would cost you less than a dollar, where is it done in the US payment system? You will pay fees that are ridiculous. In some other countries you are going to pay vat from the sender, this isn't applicable to who received the money instantly. This is what Bitcoin has done that no technology hasn't been able to beat all this while, the technology and the concept has never existed before now, even the ones trying so hard to be like Bitcoin aren't close.

[Faisal2202]

BTC is already being used not only for speculations on its price, but for services, international transactions without any strings attached to them, and so on.

CBDCs will be there for sure, but they won't be able to cross and halt BTC in its track to adoption and being the best alternative to fiat.

Just don't worry about it and accumulate more

Haha, good advice. I would love to give it to anyone who talks about Bitcoin to me, and I would love to say it to their face, but I can't haha, and when it comes to CBDCs, there is no doubt that they will be there, despite the fact that the United States has taken steps to start some anti-CBDC legislation that would halt existing work on CBDCs and future developments, and that would never affect the market because its existence cannot affect, cross, or even halt BTC.

However, it may increase saturation and decrease demand for stable currency, so they began this. They have big plans for their genius act, which is why they are making it easy for anyone to introduce their stable currency, and to promote it, they are introducing the anti-cbdc act.

[348Judah]

I believe that sometime in the future, perhaps within the next 5-10 years, Bitcoin's role will begin to shift from being merely a speculative instrument to becoming a decentralized financial infrastructure.

Do we have to wait for decade when this is happening already, from what we know bitcoin to be, as a decentralized digital currency, but let's not get it wrong because Defi may not directly work perfectly to how the structure of bitcoin network has been built on, so it's more better that we stick to the network protocols and apply it's uses to our various demands for the same digital currency because bitcoin exists today and will always remain the most useful digital currency under a decentralized network.

[dzungmobile]

I believe that sometime in the future, perhaps within the next 5-10 years, Bitcoin's role will begin to shift from being merely a speculative instrument to becoming a decentralized financial infrastructure.

Bitcoin can be used by anyone from individuals to companies and governments. It's only if they are interested in and have deep knowledge to see great things they can get with Bitcoin blockchain and Bitcoin transactions. While Bitcoin can provide many great things, it is different than it will become a financial infrastructure and replace governmental, central bank systems in any nations or globally.

At the protocol level, this efficiency will increase through the adoption of taproot and layer-2 optimizations, perhaps like the Lightning Network, which will open up opportunities for low-cost, real-time transactions and potentially global scale. Modern integrated payments, open APIs, and user-friendly non-custodial wallets will make Bitcoin more compatible with the needs of the digital economy.

Bitcoin will have more developments technically and it will expand its adoption more but cheap transaction fees is not main reason to make Bitcoin becoming more popular since 2009. There are altcoins with cheaper transaction fees but people dislike altcoins and choose Bitcoin with solid reasons to do this.

There is Sidechain Observer - Bitcoin L2 Projects & current state of development.

On the other hand, the influx of institutional capital through ETF and custodial platforms will strengthen Bitcoin's position as a digital store of value, in line with the current trend of asset tokenization and the penetration of CBDC. And network resilience is supported by node decentralization, increasing hash rates, and flexible market-based transaction fees.

Bitcoin is not altcoin and token so it has no interest with tokenization progress.
Bitcoin is not fiat currency and it has no interest with development, test and launch of CBDCs.

[Apocollapse]

Nope.

I don't see it would happen, altcoins are better I guess even though it fails in decentralization.

In Bitcoin, we can't access our wallet by just connect the wallet to any sites. In altcoins, it's possible, this make easier to interact with every projects.

We're talking about a "system" not just a "currency".

[Mrbluntzy]

You have not still said anything new apart from the same ideology that has been there before now and has been repeatedly said many time. Bitcoin is already a decentralized coin, has been used for p2p transaction since the past years and as times continues the more the adoption grows and the more the value goes up to and what may come. That's what been knows already, what you should do it keep accumulating, keep protecting your privacy and security.

[lionheart78]

Nope.

I don't see it would happen, altcoins are better I guess even though it fails in decentralization.

The thing about cryptocurrency is it not the decentralization the core value proposed when the first cryptocurrency were created?  And all these altcoins follow such core but since the altcoin developers are greedy, they wanted full control than implement the what is intended of decentralization.

In Bitcoin, we can't access our wallet by just connect the wallet to any sites. In altcoins, it's possible, this make easier to interact with every projects.

Bitcoin can connect through web3 application but since Bitcoin prioritized security over ease of use, developers chooses not to do such feature to avoid certain hacks during the process.  And it looks like Bitcoin developers are right about their decision since we have seen lots of altcoins hack due to this connecting feature.

We're talking about a "system" not just a "currency".

Is not Bitcoin a full monetary system?  If you look at its structure, you can look at the history how altcoins take its structure from Bitcoin monetary system.

[d5000]

@john_egbert is correct that there are already service providers dedicated to "infrastructure" services in the financial world, like remittance providers and payment processors.

But the problem is currently still volatility. Volatility leads to relatively high costs for the companies who offer these services because they have to hedge against losses due to unexpected price swings.

Bitcoin, above all considering layer-2s, can indeed be an interesting payment infrastructure and can also be scalable via LN and sidechains (and perhaps soon, new tech like Ark). This is because you have less middlemen fees (only miners) and thus in theory you could offer services cheaper than within the traditional financial system.

But due to the volatility, this advantage is smaller than it could be. Thus, I expect some more time for OP's prediction to become true. Both short and long term volatility is still too high to really create a massive "payment infrastructure sector".

[suzanne5223]

On the other hand, the influx of institutional capital through ETF and custodial platforms will strengthen Bitcoin's position as a digital store of value, in line with the current trend of asset tokenization and the penetration of CBDC. And network resilience is supported by node decentralization, increasing hash rates, and flexible market-based transaction fees.

The influx of institutional capital through the ETFs will help generate cash inflow, but it is not what strengthens the Bitcoin position as a digital store of value. Mind you, Bitcoin's usage as a digital store of value was strengthened right from the get-go due to its decentralization, consensus mechanism, etc. Presented by Satoshi Nakamoto, not through the influx of institutional capital through the ETFs, which were mainly to benefit from the crypto market, treat Bitcoin like JPG, and also manipulate the market.

As someone who enjoys analyzing and studying technology, I feel that these dynamics, along with the ever-evolving regulations, have led me to believe that Bitcoin has great potential not only as digital gold, but also as a foundational layer for transactions, value settlement, and global financial innovation.
what do you think about it?

I think you're funny for having the belief that ever-evolving regulations are what make Bitcoin have great potential, fundamental for border to border transactions, global financial innovation, and more.
When the potential you stated is what the government and institutions that once said negative things about Bitcoin saw before they decided to talk back their negativity towards BTC and filed for an ETF

[Darker45]

Bitcoin being a global, transparent, decentralized, peer-to-peer, immutable system is already being exploited precisely because of such qualities. Bitcoin doesn't just have the potential to be used for global transactions, value settlement, and the like. It's already functioning precisely as such. The potential for massive growth and wider adoption is also there. It's just that the status quo rests on powerful foundations. The traditional financial system is deeply embedded in the conventional way of doing things. But there's always change. It's gradual though. It's a process.

[SilverCryptoBullet]

Bitcoin being a global, transparent, decentralized, peer-to-peer, immutable system is already being exploited precisely because of such qualities. Bitcoin doesn't just have the potential to be used for global transactions, value settlement, and the like. It's already functioning precisely as such. The potential for massive growth and wider adoption is also there. It's just that the status quo rests on powerful foundations. The traditional financial system is deeply embedded in the conventional way of doing things. But there's always change. It's gradual though. It's a process.

Bitcoin blockchain was not exploited so far and it has been developed, upgraded and adopted very well over years. People who are open minded actually have more chances of adopting Bitcoin in early years of its existence since 2009. This possibly increases their chances of entering that market earlier in time and gaining more experience in this market over more years than late comers. It also possible provides them better entries (cheaper purchasing prices) and like better ROIs.

Fortunately, Bitcoin adoption won't stop there and will expand much more bigger so that demand on owning bitcoins will become bigger with time and adoption growth. This means people who joined the market in this cycle still have good advantage than other late comers who will join in next market cycles.

It's important to emphasize that it's taking advantage, not do exploitation on Bitcoin as you said, which I disagree with you.

[Dave1]

I believe that sometime in the future, perhaps within the next 5-10 years, Bitcoin's role will begin to shift from being merely a speculative instrument to becoming a decentralized financial infrastructure.

You don't need to wait in the next 5-10 years became for me it will be still be the speculative asset that we have known today. It might be just less volatile, but still it has challenge the financial structure already.

How? Institutions and government are pouring in their money, more that the supposedly "retail" investors in all of us. So it will still be the speculative asset that we have known and I do not think that it will change. The only changes I know is that it's going to be adopted more every cycle and we can only imagine what will be the source of the money that will go inside and push it into another all time high every 4 years.

[retreat]

Bitcoin is already fully operational as a decentralized financial system, but its large-scale use is more limited, as governments simply don't want it widely used by their citizens - it disrupts the use of fiat and makes it difficult for them to tax people's transactions. This is also why governments are pushing Bitcoin as an investment asset, rather than allowing it to be used as "financial infrastructure," as you call it, since they prefer to push CBDCs. While the technology surrounding Bitcoin will continue to advance, its large-scale use may still be hindered.

[Lida93]

Snip.

You don't need to wait in the next 5-10 years became for me it will be still be the speculative asset that we have known today. It might be just less volatile, but still it has challenge the financial structure already.

How? Institutions and government are pouring in their money, more that the supposedly "retail" investors in all of us. So it will still be the speculative asset that we have known and I do not think that it will change. The only changes I know is that it's going to be adopted more every cycle and we can only imagine what will be the source of the money that will go inside and push it into another all time high every 4 years.

The speculative quality of bitcoin has been part of what has interested investors to pool their funds into investing in bitcoin as a volatile asset with overtime value and hedge to inflation rocking fiat under the financial traditional system. And in all the years it seems that the more investors (both retail and institutional) we have pouring funds into bitcoin the less roughly volatile the decentralized asset gets. Much of the concern by some bitcoin max as an implication to the prevailing government and institutions adoption is that it increases market manipulations and regulatory lens.

[₿itcoin]

You have Bitcoins next era figured out, so you are not just dreaming .  With actual usage not just hype Lightning Network is already dominating. public capacity is over 5000 BTC & expanding quickly. Also channels are becoming larger & more effective.  Settlement is sub second & fees are hardly more than pennies.  Upgrades to Taproot maintain trustlessness while making Lightning payments private onchain & indistinguishable.

In the meantime institutional power is flooding in, hedged funds stacking Bitcoin, ETFs onboarding funds transforming Bitcoin from digital gold into the foundation of contemporary finance.
So you are absolutely correct, Bitcoin is developing into a legitimate worldwide financial system.