Bitcoin without profit: would you stick around?

[Smack That Ace]

Although most people today treat and use bitcoin as an investment. But let's not forget that Bitcoin's original design was to become and be used as a currency. It can be said that bitcoin is a versatile financial instrument, not just a simple investment. Therefore, even if it is no longer profitable, I think many people will still use it for other purposes.

However, we need to be realistic that the majority of people turn to bitcoin for profit, other reason are only secondary. So if Bitcoin no longer generate profit, a large number of investors will leave it and it will no longer be talked about as much as it is now.

[bangjoe]

Basically there is no added value to the bitcoin whitepaper by stating its price will increase over time, and not as an investment asset. purely as an alternative transaction, to be honest I am in a country that prohibits using other means of exchange in transactions will not use bitcoin as a currency which is the main purpose of the domestic economy, but if there is an opportunity to make transactions outside the country I will definitely do it like a small trade with several partners from abroad, currently I only make bitcoins as an investment tool because it allows added value over time.

I could have used bitcoin even without profit just wouldn't be familiar with HOLD and new terms after bitcoin became an investment alternative.

[Asuspawer09]

I disagree about that, Bitcoin as an investment, taking profit, making gains, is all part of what Bitcoin is, Bitcoin's structure having the 21million fix supply, the Bitcoin narrative as a digital gold, digital currency and many more, it is all part of the structure of Bitcoin. If we are going to take it away and make it a stablecoin, we can't call that Bitcoin anymore, it wasn't Bitcoin. Profit,earning or investment is a part of it, that is why a lot of us are investing in the first place in Bitcoin, not in some other tokens or stable tokens, because we believed on Bitcoin. We know that it is going to reach a certain high, we speculate that it is going to reach 1million something like that.

If Bitcoin's structure changes like what you change like if it becomes a stable coin, I wouldn't invest on it like the way I used to, since it wasn't an investment anymore, it is going to function like a stable coin just for liquidity, and it will be used as a liquidity. Bitcoin's structure is what Bitcoin is, and that is what makes investors believe that it is going to reach a certain market price someday, and why a lot of people, companies, and governments are trusting it.

[moneystery]

There are several advantages that make Bitcoin more reliable than just profit. For example, it can be used as a hedge against inflation, to purchase goods and services online more quickly, and to save money without admin fees or other unexpected costs. Therefore, even if its value is stable, Bitcoin can be used for other purposes, especially as a more flexible alternative financial system that doesn't rely entirely on traditional financial institutions.

[YOSHIE]

When most people talk about bitcoin the conversation usually revolves around profit, price increase, bull runs, lastly making gains.

Yes, I will stick to Bitcoin, going back to the original rules where Bitcoin was created to make transactions/transfers easier without third parties, so for me there is no reason for this guideline if there is no profit in Bitcoin, it's real.

For this reason, we thank Satoshi Nakamoto who has created and developed Bitcoin for mankind on this planet earth, Bitcoin multi apart from being used for Bitcoin transactions can also be used for investment, trading, mining and so on, my conclusion remains for Bitcoin even if there is no profit.

[qwertyup23]

Now I want us to look at it from a different angle, let assume a scenario where Bitcoin price becomes stable, as in no major pumps or hype as we are seeing now, no opportunity for significant profits, Bitcoin only exist as a digital currency, not an investment, Would you still use it?

Hmmm this is an interesting take- most people (including myself) are indeed focused on the goal of making profit. We tend to discount and take for granted the real value of BTC, which is transaction transparency.

Personally if my country has establishments that accept BTC as payment, I would definitely use it as it will be a form of payment that has a stable value.

Feel free to give your own two cents on this discussion, As for me, I believe large percentage of users would lose interest if profit is removed from Bitcoin. However, those who would remain are likely to be ones who truly understand and believe in what Bitcoin itself represents, Because Bitcoin is more than just a way to make money.

Our government is actually pushing for transactions to be under the blockchain for maximum transparency in the disbursement of funds. If this were to materialize, then we would understand the vision that Satoshi imagined- a world where transparency and privacy would be king.

[Zanab247]

I will still stick around BTC, because it keep someone financial secret from her enemy. There are some people that will store millions in BTC nobody will know that the person have such amount of money in BTC even though profit will not going to be involve but their mind will be at peace than living the money in the bank.

Some people know that living plenty money in the bank these days is not safe, because there are some massages you will be receiving from the bank that will make your husband or children to know that you have plenty money in the bank but it will be hard for you to receive such messages from electrum wallet, because is good for hodling BTC for long without fear.

[dezoel]

Now I want us to look at it from a different angle, let assume a scenario where Bitcoin price becomes stable, as in no major pumps or hype as we are seeing now, no opportunity for significant profits, Bitcoin only exist as a digital currency, not an investment, Would you still use it?

I believe that something that has value can certainly generate profit. I don’t know the percentage chance of Bitcoin becoming stable. But if that is possible, the focus might no longer be on mining or trading, but on holding Bitcoin for transactional purposes. The quantity is limited; when there are more transactions and acceptance using Bitcoin, how can the scarcity of that limited amount be addressed? No one can make the value of Bitcoin like an asset that has a stable value.

While it is not going to be stable, the reality is that if there is no profit, then there is no bitcoin. Majority of people who use bitcoin do so because they know that they can hold it long term and make a profit, why would we hold it for years when we do not think that we can make a profit.

I would still use it for transaction purposes , like paying someone or getting paid, btu that would be less than 10% reason why people use bitcoin and the price would not go up and many would leave instantly.

[uchegod-21]

This is something I wanted us to discuss long time ago when I was a member rank, but it kept slipping my mind.

When most people talk about bitcoin the conversation usually revolves around profit, price increase, bull runs, lastly making gains.

Now I want us to look at it from a different angle, let assume a scenario where Bitcoin price becomes stable, as in no major pumps or hype as we are seeing now, no opportunity for significant profits, Bitcoin only exist as a digital currency, not an investment, Would you still use it?

I know in some countries including my own country, people are already using Bitcoin for reasons beyond profit, they use it for things like cross border transactions, to protect value against inflation, to avoid banking limitations and so on.

Feel free to give your own two cents on this discussion, As for me, I believe large percentage of users would lose interest if profit is removed from Bitcoin. However, those who would remain are likely to be ones who truly understand and believe in what Bitcoin itself represents, Because Bitcoin is more than just a way to make money.

Without trying to be biased, it’s true that many people will lose interest in Bitcoin once they realize it’s no longer an avenue for easily doubling their money, no matter how long they are willing to hodl.

However, one thing is certain: someday, these same people will attempt to carry out a borderless transaction with someone in another country, and they may face regulatory barriers or issues  with the platform  they intend  to us; especially when large amounts are involved. When that happens, guess the alternative that may likely come to their minds...definitely Bitcoin.

No matter how much we try to downplay Bitcoin in our imaginations, we keep coming back to the same conclusion that Bitcoin cannot be made useless.

[lionheart78]

Now I want us to look at it from a different angle, let assume a scenario where Bitcoin price becomes stable, as in no major pumps or hype as we are seeing now, no opportunity for significant profits, Bitcoin only exist as a digital currency, not an investment, Would you still use it?

People who get into Bitcoin because of profit will have a small chance of using Bitcoin as a currency because they don't want to have a feeling of loss if in the future Bitcoin surge in price.  If Bitcoin price become stable, it is the perfect time to use it, and I think others who are holding Bitcoi will also do the same.

I know in some countries including my own country, people are already using Bitcoin for reasons beyond profit, they use it for things like cross border transactions, to protect value against inflation, to avoid banking limitations and so on.

And if Bitcoin price becomes stable, meaning there is no more high volatility happening in the market, I believe there will be more people who will use it as such.

[Furious 7]

It's still going to be very useful for us because when we put aside the benefits of bull runs or whatever, we always have an excuse and decentralization is something we can't change.
Let's say bitcoin becomes the same as fiat in terms of conditions where the market fluctuates but not as much as bitcoin right now but when there is a centralized and decentralized choice then surely we will consider what makes us profitable and we will obviously consider bitcoin over fiat in the end.

It could also still be an option for payments (if not hindered by regulation) so in the end there will always be something to compare bitcoin to fiat even if there isn't a huge advantage like there is now although it might be a much slower progression here especially for conservative thinkers.

[legiteum]

And if Bitcoin price becomes stable, meaning there is no more high volatility happening in the market, I believe there will be more people who will use it as such.

I doubt it. There are way better products out there if all you want to do is transfer money. Almost all cryptos are faster and cost less to transfer than Bitcoin.

Bitcoin's only realistic purpose is for speculation. Take that away, and Bitcoin would not be used by basically anybody.

[AmaGold70]

This is something I wanted us to discuss long time ago when I was a member rank, but it kept slipping my mind.

When most people talk about bitcoin the conversation usually revolves around profit, price increase, bull runs, lastly making gains.

Now I want us to look at it from a different angle, let assume a scenario where Bitcoin price becomes stable, as in no major pumps or hype as we are seeing now, no opportunity for significant profits, Bitcoin only exist as a digital currency, not an investment, Would you still use it?

I know in some countries including my own country, people are already using Bitcoin for reasons beyond profit, they use it for things like cross border transactions, to protect value against inflation, to avoid banking limitations and so on.

Feel free to give your own two cents on this discussion, As for me, I believe large percentage of users would lose interest if profit is removed from Bitcoin. However, those who would remain are likely to be ones who truly understand and believe in what Bitcoin itself represents, Because Bitcoin is more than just a way to make money.

Though most investors uses Bitcoin as an asset for investment which increases the value of their investment on the long run. However, there are  those who uses bitcoin for different purpose also. Assuming Bitcoin is a stable coin or does not fluctuate in it's price, people will still invest or keep their money in bitcoin because it will save you from fiat currency devaluation and sustains the value of your money on the long run. People also use bitcoin for online purchases and payment. Let us take a look at USDT which is a stable coin, still some people store their money in USDT because it will neither go up nor down, it retains the original value of your money and is not affected by inflation and devaluation. So thesame thing would have been applicable to bitcoin if Bitcoin was designed to be a stable cryptocurrency.

[Hamza2424]

Now I want us to look at it from a different angle, let assume a scenario where Bitcoin price becomes stable, as in no major pumps or hype as we are seeing now, no opportunity for significant profits, Bitcoin only exist as a digital currency, not an investment, Would you still use it?

That's a really cool question, and I wonder how many will stick around.

It depends on some factors and one is how much time we have already spent with Bitcoin. If we are newbies, then maybe we won't use it only if we want to make digital payments, which should be decentralized but mostly won't use it, instead, they will use stablecoins for payments.

But now that I have spent a lot of time on it, so it will be hard for me to get rid of Bitcoin, even if I wanted to. I have to spend some time concentrating on myself to not concentrate on btc haha, meaning I have to avoid it. But maybe I would fail haha.

[Zoomic]

There are some good features of bitcoin that kept different people in bitcoin.

• Bitcoin decentralisation
• Volatility
• Security

Some people who doesn't want central authorities to make decisions for them will embrace bitcoin still even if the price is stable.

Those (majority of course ) who are here because of profits will not remain if bitcoin becomes stable.

Some people want to be sure that the platform where they are investing their money is atleast somehow hack proof or so.

[tabas]

As I've read before, if there's no profit with Bitcoin then most of us will still be in. Why? that's because bitcoin has become a movement and in this movement, we're all for what it is offering. The payment system that lies within it and if it is not highly volatile, we know that there's still a lot of its features that it can offer to everyone. And miners won't complain with that because they're going to get a fixed amount of what they're mining.

[Orpichukwu]

To be honest, if that's going to be a thing, then there will only be a limited time when I will use Bitcoin, and there is never going to be me holding Bitcoin in my wallet for a long time. I can use it for the purchase of sending payment across and cut out banking delay and their fee, but buying of Bitcoin will almost be done each time I have plans to carry out such transactions and won't make it a dream to accumulate and hold a certain amount of Bitcoin.

[X-ray]

I would stick around to bitcoin just to bypass the need for credit card and using centralized payment gateway such as stripe.

People don't stick around to bitcoin just because its profitable, in fact there are large amount of users who are really into bitcoin as an alternative payment method.

If you think everbody is using bitcoin only to create profit from trading or investment, you're mistaken.

[ruykeri]

To be honest, if that's going to be a thing, then there will only be a limited time when I will use Bitcoin, and there is never going to be me holding Bitcoin in my wallet for a long time. I can use it for the purchase of sending payment across and cut out banking delay and their fee, but buying of Bitcoin will almost be done each time I have plans to carry out such transactions and won't make it a dream to accumulate and hold a certain amount of Bitcoin.

Most people will do that. They will no longer hold Bitcoin as an asset. Bitcoin will then become the single medium of exchange in the world. But it is never possible to make Bitcoin a fixed-value currency. If there were a regulator, they could do that. But Bitcoin has no such regulation. As long as people think its price will decrease or increase in the future, the volatility of Bitcoin's price will continue. And this is a unique feature of Bitcoin that has made people so interested in Bitcoin. And Bitcoin has become very popular.

[d5000]

I have asked a quite related question in 2024 in the German subforum. The question was: What are your reasons to use or support Bitcoin if you ignore the price evolution?

Some of the most interesting answers (both mine and from other forum members) which I believe were not mentioned in this thread here, were:

- It's one of the best means to support opposition movements in dictatorships (as long as they don't shut down the internet, like in Iran),
- A decentralized money can be interesting as a global currency for a world with interacting automated AI agents. [1]
- The existence of Bitcoin as a competitor to fiat can make the fiat system more healthy.
- Related to the two previous ones: Bitcoin eliminates middlemen which have no real reason to exist. This makes the financial system more efficient.
- Bitcoin has provided several breakthroughs in computing science and economics (and will probably continue to do so).
- Inheritance planning is easier with Bitcoin than with traditional financial means.
- There are several advantages for merchants: less fees, no chargebacks, faster settlement (compared to credit cards).

I want to add another reason: Bitcoin has created new use cases for digital money and new ways to generate profit. So even if the price doesn't grow anymore, there is a positive impact in the economy. And this can also a personal (microeconomic) reason to continue to support Bitcoin: some people simply have found a business model related to Bitcoin and are making profit, be it from trading, new forms of content creation and marketing, services like cross border transfers and so on.

And if everything goes wrong you can still make money shorting Bitcoin


[1] This argument was brought up by another user without much explanation, but my own reasoning is a bit convoluted: While automated agents can of course use any "digital money", they would work most efficiently with a currency not depending on any real world asset nor controlled by any real world entity which can disrupt their "ideal working" with external effects, so they can develop their own "AI based economy" - i.e. a "pure" currency, only made for transactional purposes. Bitcoin, from today's point of view, is the closest thing we have to that ideal currency.