Why Bitcoin doesn't work well as a store of value.

[colinistheman]

For the early adopters, Bitcoin is surely the best store of value because it not only preserves the value of their fund but multiplies it thousands to a million times, but for those who bought Bitcoin at its peak this last ATH, I think they are hesitant to say Bitcoin as a good store of Value because their funds already diminish in just a matter of month.  

Bitcoin may not be a good store of value for short-term investors, but for long-term holders, according to its price history, it is the best store of value so far.

To be fair, bitcoin is not an effective store of value in the short term due to its volatility, but it is arguably the best store of value in the long term. Because if we compare investments and assets like gold and stocks with each other, it is clear that bitcoin is still the candidate with the best growth potential in the future.
And this is not only true for early investors but also for current investors. As long as they can keep it for a long time, it will never let them down.

[sunsilk]

I think that you're right, for the next target of $200k it's not going to be easy just like the first runs that we've got.

But like years ago, $100k seems to be a hard path as well but it just did. I wouldn't stress out myself for thinking that it's going to be hard even if it actually real.

We've got several narratives that have happened for this cycle and that's why the push for $100k+ to $126k have happened.

[headingnorth]

I think that you're right, for the next target of $200k it's not going to be easy just like the first runs that we've got.

But like years ago, $100k seems to be a hard path as well but it just did. I wouldn't stress out myself for thinking that it's going to be hard even if it actually real.

We've got several narratives that have happened for this cycle and that's why the push for $100k+ to $126k have happened.

I think people get FOMO when they read all the bullish news for bitcoin in the media.
There has been a constant flood of bullish news coming out all year long and yet the bitcoin price barely moves.

And then I realize almost all the good news is coming out of the US almost exclusively. But the US is not the world,
(it has only 5% of the world population) and most people outside of the US don't care much about what happens in the US
in regard to bitcoin, or they just don't pay attention.

Heck, probably most Americans in the US don't care about bitcoin, which goes back to what I've been saying.
The market for bitcoin and crypto is largely limited to the technically savvy who can understand and grasp what bitcoin is,
which does not reflect the knowledge level of the average person.

So when Cathie Wood and Michael Saylor are predicting bitcoin will go to a million dollars per coin within 5 to 10 years,
well that is just not realistic imo. At that price bitcoin would have more value than all of the Magnificent 7 companies combined.

I used to kind of believe it myself haha, but the numbers and data don't support such a fantastic prediction when you think about it,
or anywhere close to it. It gets worse when you take into account two of the biggest countries in the world are banned or highly restricted
from investing in bitcoin (China and India).

 



 

[shinratensei_]

It's a good store of value for long term. The volatility will become meaningless if the long term outlook has always been a good growth over the course of decades and bitcoin demand is not only stable but growing overtime since more people conscious about financial freedom.
Bitcoin's demand literally much higher than before after the world put bitcoin in a better light and not fudding it endlessly, the ETF has brought about massive demand from different sectors and even institutional. I don't think the thing you said are all true.

[Antotena]

I think that you're right, for the next target of $200k it's not going to be easy just like the first runs that we've got.

But like years ago, $100k seems to be a hard path as well but it just did. I wouldn't stress out myself for thinking that it's going to be hard even if it actually real.

We've got several narratives that have happened for this cycle and that's why the push for $100k+ to $126k have happened.

I think every pump comes with a surprise, the one we had was politically inclined by the US, this was the mega force that made Bitcoin to reach $100k, as it stands now we need to experience another political rally that supports Bitcoin and maybe brings new thing to the table. The US reserve strategy was hot while it last but in the end, they made it clean and clear that they are not going to buy, felt like we were betray but that's politics you know.

If we don't get the new coming person to endorse Bitcoin, we are going to use 4 years to suffer in their hands, if Democrats become the next US government there is going to be a big issue to be honest because all this that has been happening will be review. Kamala was campaigning during that time never for once endorse Bitcoin even though she saw it as a good opportunity that's why we must embrace whatever comes next in the Bitcoin market.

[Dogedegen]

For the early adopters, Bitcoin is surely the best store of value because it not only preserves the value of their fund but multiplies it thousands to a million times, but for those who bought Bitcoin at its peak this last ATH, I think they are hesitant to say Bitcoin as a good store of Value because their funds already diminish in just a matter of month.  

Store of value functionality is not determined on random and short-term baseless timelines, therefore your post does not make sense and it not correct.

Bitcoin may not be a good store of value for short-term investors, but for long-term holders, according to its price history, it is the best store of value so far.

Store of value, investors and short-term don't go together. You are mistaken about this. You can't just make up nonsense like that. Do you think someone thinks let me see what can store my value for 20 days?  Store of value is never considered for short time spans because you may as well just leave your wealth in USD. In a month it is not going to lose much value, so there is no point in trying to do something else.

I used to kind of believe it myself haha, but the numbers and data don't support such a fantastic prediction when you think about it,
or anywhere close to it. It gets worse when you take into account two of the biggest countries in the world are banned or highly restricted
from investing in bitcoin (China and India).

That you fell for these kinds of extremely bullish predictions just shows that you are not very educated and that nobody should listen to you. Biggest countries in the world don't matter when most of its population is extremely poor and those people can't even invest $100 into Bitcoin.

I think every pump comes with a surprise, the one we had was politically inclined by the US, this was the mega force that made Bitcoin to reach $100k, as it stands now we need to experience another political rally that supports Bitcoin and maybe brings new thing to the table. The US reserve strategy was hot while it last but in the end, they made it clean and clear that they are not going to buy, felt like we were betray but that's politics you know.

Nobody was betrayed. You never did any research and mostly read media article headlines. The reserve was promised and the reserve was delivered.

If we don't get the new coming person to endorse Bitcoin, we are going to use 4 years to suffer in their hands,

Wrong, no previous president has endorsed Bitcoin during their presidency and Bitcoin performed nicely.

[headingnorth]

I used to kind of believe it myself haha, but the numbers and data don't support such a fantastic prediction when you think about it,
or anywhere close to it. It gets worse when you take into account two of the biggest countries in the world are banned or highly restricted
from investing in bitcoin (China and India).

Biggest countries in the world don't matter when most of its population is extremely poor and those people can't even invest $100 into Bitcoin.

That may have been true 40 to 50 years but we are no longer in 1985. China now has the world's largest middle-class and is not a poor country.
India also has a large and growing middle class of over 200 million. Today poverty is probably more widespread in the US than in China.
Which is not hard to believe if you have ever visited the downtown of most major US cities. It feels more like being in a warzone than a thriving economy.

Up to 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and have little to no savings.

Number of Americans Living Paycheck to Paycheck Soars | Newsweek Oct 06, 2025

[Raflesia]

For the early adopters, Bitcoin is surely the best store of value because it not only preserves the value of their fund but multiplies it thousands to a million times, but for those who bought Bitcoin at its peak this last ATH, I think they are hesitant to say Bitcoin as a good store of Value because their funds already diminish in just a matter of month.  

Bitcoin may not be a good store of value for short-term investors, but for long-term holders, according to its price history, it is the best store of value so far.

If the focus is on the short term that we want to do then in this case it is certainly not wise when they still say this is a hedge because of the huge risk that must be realized from the start but when in the end they are currently buying at a higher price even ATH but make this a long-term investment such as starting for the next 2 halving periods or 1 halving period then it could be that this will still be considered a hedge.

The problem that always happens is that they fomo sometimes do not pay attention to the term because their focus is only because of the temporary profit they want to get which makes their plans for investment raw.
This always happens because the benchmark is not the long-term value but the temporary price where those who hope that the satoshi they buy can provide profits in a short time.

[Viscore]

You forget to add that Bitcoin is not for everyone 🤷‍♀️

That's right. Because those people who say negative things about Bitcoin are those who haven't engaged in crypto. They have to try it first before making any negative conclusion. But yes, we can't force everyone to believe what we see about Bitcoin. Closed-minded people will always see a thing negatively rather than seeing the good benefits of it.

Many people talk about Bitcoin, and they only say it is a scam and a risky investment, not realizing that all investments are risky as well.

[Marvell1]

It's a good store of value for long term. The volatility will become meaningless if the long term outlook has always been a good growth over the course of decades and bitcoin demand is not only stable but growing overtime since more people conscious about financial freedom.
Bitcoin's demand literally much higher than before after the world put bitcoin in a better light and not fudding it endlessly, the ETF has brought about massive demand from different sectors and even institutional. I don't think the thing you said are all true.

If you pay attention, you will notice that the majority of the money flowing into the market is coming from ETFs and institutions, which shows that the demand for bitcoin is increasing significantly. But it's not because people are looking for freedom, but because of bitcoin's huge profit potential. So if bitcoin fails to maintain the returns they expect, it is likely that many people will leave bitcoin.

But in the long run, bitcoin is a very good, if not the best, store of value. Because it is by far the best performing asset, it is incorrect to say that it is not an effective store of value.

[CryptoYar]

[...]

Yes, feeling based buying, which shows that your time in putting money in Bitcoin is what makes difference between it being safe way to protect money and huge danger. You are correct that in short term, risk of safe way to protect money is too high to be hedge, especially when people buy high due to influence and only think about easy money, which makes their plans weak. However, when you make investment based on one or two half life of holding, long term way of looking at it will allow true value of Bitcoin to protect against inflation. Difference is easy, therefore, person who buys high and wants to hold is hedging, but person who buys high and hopes to make quick profit is just gambling.

[Mandoy]

It's a good store of value for long term. The volatility will become meaningless if the long term outlook has always been a good growth over the course of decades and bitcoin demand is not only stable but growing overtime since more people conscious about financial freedom.
Bitcoin's demand literally much higher than before after the world put bitcoin in a better light and not fudding it endlessly, the ETF has brought about massive demand from different sectors and even institutional. I don't think the thing you said are all true.

The volatility of Bitcoin is a fact in the short run, yet considering price fluctuations as an indicator of its ability to serve as a store of value is a tunnel vision. It has been reinforced by adoption, institutional participation and regulated exposure to the ETFs instead of being diluted. In the past, Bitcoin has maintained and increased value throughout multi year cycles in spite of significant corrections. A store of value does not require absolute stability, it must be resilient over time, it must be scarce, and its demand must grow, and Bitcoin has demonstrated all of these.

[Dogedegen]

That may have been true 40 to 50 years but we are no longer in 1985. China now has the world's largest middle-class and is not a poor country.
India also has a large and growing middle class of over 200 million. Today poverty is probably more widespread in the US than in China.
Which is not hard to believe if you have ever visited the downtown of most major US cities. It feels more like being in a warzone than a thriving economy.

That is what you think because you have not been in both places to compare. Compare the middle class of the US to some place in China or India and you will see that the definition of middle class extremely differs depending on where you are talking about. The way that people live somewhere and what is considered to be middle class for them is often much worse than what poor people endure in the US. You must remember that we are talking about people that are living in some house or apartment and not comparing the homeless of one country to the middle class of another. Total poverty is not more widespread in the US, that is absolutely not true and the numbers don't add up.

Number of Americans Living Paycheck to Paycheck Soars | Newsweek (https://www.newsweek.com/americans-living-paycheck-to-paycheck-soars-goldman-sachs-10834306) Oct 06, 2025

The situation in most places is not much better, we just don't have good data like we do from the US. Go out there and talk to locals from many countries and you will see just how prosperous the other side really is.

Many people talk about Bitcoin, and they only say it is a scam and a risky investment, not realizing that all investments are risky as well.

Bitcoin can never be a scam so that point is already not worth talking about. Risky investment sure but Bitcoin's primary purpose is not to be an investment so even that argument is not that strong. We can argue about it from many perspectives but it is a pretty weak point overall.

[Johnlomape]

[...]

Yes, feeling based buying, which shows that your time in putting money in Bitcoin is what makes difference between it being safe way to protect money and huge danger. You are correct that in short term, risk of safe way to protect money is too high to be hedge, especially when people buy high due to influence and only think about easy money, which makes their plans weak. However, when you make investment based on one or two half life of holding, long term way of looking at it will allow true value of Bitcoin to protect against inflation. Difference is easy, therefore, person who buys high and wants to hold is hedging, but person who buys high and hopes to make quick profit is just gambling.

Maybe it is those people that want to hold for a short interval that will be looking at buying Bitcoin at a low price so that they can quickly make profits from their holdings when the price increases to a level where they can sell and keep the profits. Those that want to buy large amount of Bitcoin will not have to bother about the price of Bitcoin because they will surely make profits from their holdings because their portfolio is large and huge.

People are also storing Bitcoin because they want to make money from the way the price will appreciate so that they can sell their Bitcoin at a price that is convinient for them.

[d5000]

Compare the middle class of the US to some place in China or India and you will see that the definition of middle class extremely differs depending on where you are talking about. The way that people live somewhere and what is considered to be middle class for them is often much worse than what poor people endure in the US.

I'm from a "third world" region (Latin America) and at least the upper parts of the middle class do really well here. Some live even in gated communities, something very rare outside of the upper class in the US and above all Europe. Many regularly fly to Miami or Europe.

In countries like India it's also not the case that the middle class is the "average" of the population. Most countries place those individuals in the middle class who can afford a "first world" lifestyle. They can afford a nice house, to travel to other countries, a car etc..

And those people can also afford to invest in Bitcoin. Perhaps they can invest less money than the US middle class, because their nominal income is lower (in the "third world" the "middle class" usually earns 1000-2000 USD per month or even a bit less, while in the US you've to earn a little less than $4000 at least, and even in Europe you need at least 2500$ or so.) But we're talking about much more people and a high growth rate.

So I consider the situation in China and India indeed very relevant for Bitcoin.

However, not everything is that negative there, and thus I'm not so pessimistic as @headingnorth. In China, it seems it could only become better because currently only P2P buying and selling and hodling is allowed (except Hong Kong), i.e. no exchanges, no payment processors and no bank involvement. The situation in Hong Kong where in 2024 ETFs were allowed could be a hint to an opening. Even a timid opening would mean potential dozens of millions of new users almost instantly.

And in India, well, you have to gain a quite high capital gains tax of a "flat 30%", but in other countries you can have a similar rate of 30% if you have considerable amounts of Bitcoin. In many European countries it can be as high as 45%. It's expected there are currently around 100 millions of users, and projections talk about a steady growth for the future.

[Alpha Marine]

I don't think you understand what it means for something to be a "store of value".
The day-to-day volatility of a store of value, or the short-term volatility, doesn't stop it from being a store of value as long as, over time, it still has its original value of more.

A store of value is an asset, commodity, or currency that reliably retains its worth over time

Does Bitcoin check this box? Yes, it does. If Bitcoin is at $90k today and it fluctuates lower than that or higher, the bottom line is that come 3 or 4 years from now, it will be worth $90k or more.

Stable currencies are not called that because they don't fluctuate; they're called stable currencies because, over time, they still retain their worth. If you wont to use only Volatility to determine store of value then even gold is not a proper store of value, because I can buy $10k worth of gold today and it can be worth $9k a month from now.

A store of value is essentially an asset, commodity, or currency that can be saved, retrieved, and exchanged in the future without deteriorating in value. In other words, to enter this category, the item acquired should, over time, either be worth the same or more.

Emphasis on "over time"
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/storeofvalue.asp

That may have been true 40 to 50 years but we are no longer in 1985. China now has the world's largest middle-class and is not a poor country.
India also has a large and growing middle class of over 200 million. Today poverty is probably more widespread in the US than in China.
Which is not hard to believe if you have ever visited the downtown of most major US cities. It feels more like being in a warzone than a thriving economy.

The per capita income of China is $6k, in India, it's $2,400, while the per capita income of the US is $40k.
In case you don't know what per capita income means, it is the average income of people in the country. This means some people earn less and some people earn more than that figure, but the average income of the country is what the per capita income is.

So you can clearly see the difference between what the average person in the US makes and what the average person in India and China makes a year. This should also show that a middle-class person in the US is not the same as a middle-class person in India or China.

It's no secret that the US is considered the world's biggest market, despite India and China having way more population. It's simply because they have the purchasing power. If a country of 340 million people has more purchasing power than countries with over one billion people each, then that should tell you something.
A person might be middle class in another country, but be poor by US standards.

[john_egbert]

Maybe it is those people that want to hold for a short interval that will be looking at buying Bitcoin at a low price so that they can quickly make profits from their holdings when the price increases to a level where they can sell and keep the profits. Those that want to buy large amount of Bitcoin will not have to bother about the price of Bitcoin because they will surely make profits from their holdings because their portfolio is large and huge.

People are also storing Bitcoin because they want to make money from the way the price will appreciate so that they can sell their Bitcoin at a price that is convinient for them.

People that react on  news and impulses like that won't make that much.

They may do one, or two, or three good trades.. But then their position won't go as planned and they will be in a big minus only from one position.

[Bitcoin Smith]

~
And in India, well, you have to gain a quite high capital gains tax of a "flat 30%", but in other countries you can have a similar rate of 30% if you have considerable amounts of Bitcoin. In many European countries it can be as high as 45%. It's expected there are currently around 100 millions of users, and projections talk about a steady growth for the future.

In India people can make money can stay under the radar of Income tax department for life, so 30% of the tax is not a big issue if people found a way to avoid banking transaction and centralized exchanges. I don't know the exact numbers but there are some reports saying it will be atleast 5% of the population in India is using crypto for trading or investing purpose that is also the reason that government is also trying to enforce strict KYC guidelines to crypto platforms and one who not comply are shut down by ISP.

[Dogedegen]

Compare the middle class of the US to some place in China or India and you will see that the definition of middle class extremely differs depending on where you are talking about. The way that people live somewhere and what is considered to be middle class for them is often much worse than what poor people endure in the US.

I'm from a "third world" region (Latin America) and at least the upper parts of the middle class do really well here. Some live even in gated communities, something very rare outside of the upper class in the US and above all Europe. Many regularly fly to Miami or Europe.

Overall I agree with your post, but I have several reservations and notes. First the thing with the gated communities. Is that not to a large extent a cultural and security thing? In Europe historically speaking there has not been much demand for such security. Even wealthy people don't live like that there, except perhaps some ultra wealthy. Sure it is getting worse in security in recent years, but we are considering the overall situation.

Now you have also chosen here to specifically refer to upper parts of the middle class. But where do they not live well? ChatGPT tells me this:

More broadly, many define upper middle class as households earning somewhere between the 75th and 90th income percentiles — which tends to mean about $145,000 to $235,000/year

Besides the most expensive locations and districts of a city where the actually extremely rich live, I would say that they also do very well in USA. Do you agree?

In countries like India it's also not the case that the middle class is the "average" of the population. Most countries place those individuals in the middle class who can afford a "first world" lifestyle. They can afford a nice house, to travel to other countries, a car etc..

And those people can also afford to invest in Bitcoin. Perhaps they can invest less money than the US middle class, because their nominal income is lower (in the "third world" the "middle class" usually earns 1000-2000 USD per month or even a bit less, while in the US you've to earn a little less than $4000 at least, and even in Europe you need at least 2500$ or so.) But we're talking about much more people and a high growth rate.

Well when I meant that you can't really compare it like that it means that you have to take a closer observation. You can't just do something like compare things like cars in the form of category of car driven. For example middle class people in the USA can afford a new SUV but so can middle class people in India. This does not tell us anything at all. The same goes with houses with house size, roads, general infrastructure and so with many things. An example for the first thing,  if you compared a house of equal size between Latin America or even an US to a house in Europe you will see that the quality of the house is on an entire level in Europe. Because of this to make a direct comparison using some of these external or overview metrics is not possible.

To make a very detailed and correct comparison would be quite hard, but I hope I conveyed what I was referring to. The middle class of some European capital is enjoying a much better lifestyle in most cases than the middle class of somewhere else far away. Anyway I was trying to specifically refute his views that everything in America is quite bad these days and that people somewhere else are much better off.

So I consider the situation in China and India indeed very relevant for Bitcoin.

However, not everything is that negative there, and thus I'm not so pessimistic as @headingnorth. In China, it seems it could only become better because currently only P2P buying and selling and hodling is allowed (except Hong Kong), i.e. no exchanges, no payment processors and no bank involvement. The situation in Hong Kong where in 2024 ETFs were allowed could be a hint to an opening. Even a timid opening would mean potential dozens of millions of new users almost instantly.

And in India, well, you have to gain a quite high capital gains tax of a "flat 30%", but in other countries you can have a similar rate of 30% if you have considerable amounts of Bitcoin. In many European countries it can be as high as 45%. It's expected there are currently around 100 millions of users, and projections talk about a steady growth for the future.

It is relevant I agree, but a biased take like given by him does not sound good to me. Where he sees issues and negativity I see opportunity, optimism! With so little involvement from the people in those countries and the governments themselves, that shows that there is still enormous potential in Bitcoin. Just imagine how far we are going to get if we ever enter in some game theory race between the countries. People sometimes speculate that this is not likely to happen, but actually we are just 1 real step away from this happening.

Even an adversarial country doing that light reserve like the US, where they keep seized coins as reserve would give a signal that they recognize the value or importance of Bitcoin. This indirectly validates the view that it fulfills any function that is usually considered such as store of value, even if some functions it performs more weakly than others.

In India people can make money can stay under the radar of Income tax department for life, so 30% of the tax is not a big issue if people found a way to avoid banking transaction and centralized exchanges. I don't know the exact numbers but there are some reports saying it will be atleast 5% of the population in India is using crypto for trading or investing purpose that is also the reason that government is also trying to enforce strict KYC guidelines to crypto platforms and one who not comply are shut down by ISP.

For spending money these taxes are easily avoided with some P2P transacting, this is why some countries like to have property tax. It is very hard to dodge that tax in any way, so that compensates for those that cheat on income or capital gains taxes. I don't necessarily agree with either the tax avoidance or the high taxes, I am just sharing information.

[Betwrong]

OP I strongly disagree, what is a store of value to begin with, it is the ability to sustain purchasing power over a long period of time, and Bitcoin had fulfilled that definition 100%, heck bitcoin has increased it's value much more than any asset u can think of over the last decade and it even have a bright future, all these points ur giving to invalidate it being a store of value is completely invalid cause it already fulfills the most important rule, sustainable purchasing power over time

Exactly. And if Bitcoin doesn't work well as a store of value for OP personally, I can say, sorry, I'm really sorry, man, that you had such an excellent store of value as Bitcoin in your hands and you failed, probably by panic-selling it during a bear market, and now have nothing else left than spreading your sad theories. I mean, I realize that it can be sad for you and I'm sorry, but don't tell other people that will end up in the same position, please.