Do people still use Bitcoin to make payments, or is it just for saving now?

[QKBOOJ]

Lately, I've been thinking about it. When Bitcoin was created, one of the main ideas was for people to use it as money. That was it.  You send and receive payments without depending on banks or other third parties.

But these days, most Bitcoin holders I come across seem more interested in accumulating and holding than actually spending it. In fact, whenever someone says they used Bitcoin to buy something, the first thing you hear is, "Why spend it now when the price could be higher in the future?"

Sometimes it feels like people now see Bitcoin more as a place to keep value than as something to use for everyday transactions. Many people buy it, store it, and hope it appreciates over time.

I'm not saying Bitcoin is no longer used for payments because there are still very much people and businesses that accept it. But if we're being honest, most of the discussions around Bitcoin today seem to be about holding, stacking sats, and price movements rather than spending it.

[Gost ms]

If something has to be traded regularly to be known as a currency, then that thing will be converted into a currency, but we are seeing the opposite in the case of Bitcoin. Everyone is currently seeing Bitcoin as an asset. The main reason for this is the limited supply of Bitcoin and the strong security of Bitcoin. But yes, Bitcoin will definitely become a currency one day, when everyone in the world accepts Bitcoin. But at present, everyone likes to see Bitcoin as an asset.

However, there are some people who see Bitcoin as a currency and transact. For example, Bitcoin is definitely a good medium for large amount of money transactions and Bitcoin is also a good medium for international transactions. Every person is seen focusing on holding Bitcoin and it is always said in this forum to hold Bitcoin, for a long time.

[Agathamay]

If something has to be traded regularly to be known as a currency, then that thing will be converted into a currency, but we are seeing the opposite in the case of Bitcoin. Everyone is currently seeing Bitcoin as an asset. The main reason for this is the limited supply of Bitcoin and the strong security of Bitcoin. But yes, Bitcoin will definitely become a currency one day, when everyone in the world accepts Bitcoin. But at present, everyone likes to see Bitcoin as an asset.

I also have this feeling that, there would be a day when bitcoin will be traded and treated like the regular currency where it will be easy for people to spend regularly, maybe not today, not tomorrow but definitely someday.
So for now, let's focused on stacking and so we wouldn't be left out of the goodies and benefits that comes with holding and I also believe that, as time goes on, the adoption is becoming easier and that's the more reason we ought to hold now to gain when such a time comes.

[Mate2237]

You are raising a very important point here because people are more interested in holding their Bitcoin when compared to the rate at which they spend it. But Bitcoin was originally designed to function as a means of payment which will totally remove any third party in the transaction. This means that with Bitcoin as a payment methods there is no need of Banks getting involved. But was meant to function as P2P. But that is gradually changing over time as people are now more concerned about making gains through long term hodling.


Even on this forum hardly will you see a thread concerning spending, which Bitcoin was originally designed to function as.  But still yet there are actually a lot of areas that people are using Bitcoin as means of payment Bitcoin can be use in purchasing things if the service provider accepts Bitcoin as means of payment. Crypto gambling is one thing that has been on the rise especially on the forum here I believe that many crypto gambler's use Bitcoin as means of funding their betting accounts. In conclusion the will to making money has overshadowed the basis upon which Bitcoin was created for.

[Versatile_choice]

I also have this feeling that, there would be a day when bitcoin will be traded and treated like the regular currency where it will be easy for people to spend regularly, maybe not today, not tomorrow but definitely someday.
So for now, let's focused on stacking and so we wouldn't be left out of the goodies and benefits that comes with holding and I also believe that, as time goes on, the adoption is becoming easier and that's the more reason we ought to hold now to gain when such a time comes.

Of course the day is already here, rather we have not seen it happening in our country but I'm sure that some countries are already trading it infact it's like a local Fiat in most country,  El salvador is a perfect example of this country, They have adopt bitcoin as a legal tender because they knew the importance of having it, meanwhile the mean reason why bitcoin was created is to make it easier for people to transact with people across, I believe with time more countries would start looking into adopting bitcoin as a legal tender.

[Fiatless]

In some countries, Bitcoin is popularly used as a currency. It is common to see Bitcoin ATMs in different locations and several businesses accept Bitcoin as a form of payment.

But for Naija you go hardly see business way dey accept Bitcoin. Some people fit dey use Bitcoin to buy things online but many people dey see am as an asset. You see the day Niara just dey lose value and inflation want kill person. Nigerians dey like use Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation and an investment way fit bring profit.

The koko bi say Bitcoin use as a currency dey very low globally because many people dey see am as digital gold.

[Joy- maker]

I'm not saying Bitcoin is no longer used for payments because there are still very much people and businesses that accept it. But if we're being honest, most of the discussions around Bitcoin today seem to be about holding, stacking sats, and price movements rather than spending it.

What were you expecting from people? see, what i know is that when people discover an asset with a strong long term growth potential, they are likely not to spend it, and i am sure you would do the same thing.

Before, i use think that those who have refused to spend their bitcoin are disobedient people because they are not using bitcoin for the original purpose it was created for.

However, as time went on, i came to realized that bitcoin simply evolve into something better, perhaps something bigger. Initially the idea behind bitcoin creation was a clear peer to peer electronic cash system, but that vision has not fully played out.

Frankly speaking, spending bitcoin feels like give up future value, that's why most people find it so difficult to spend it.

[Hypnotizer]

Lately, I've been thinking about it. When Bitcoin was created, one of the main ideas was for people to use it as money. That was it.  You send and receive payments without depending on banks or other third parties.

But these days, most Bitcoin holders I come across seem more interested in accumulating and holding than actually spending it. In fact, whenever someone says they used Bitcoin to buy something, the first thing you hear is, "Why spend it now when the price could be higher in the future?"

That’s what happened to bitcoin overtime because of the increase in its value and volatility, satoshi didn’t create bitcoin to be a speculative asset from my understanding but rather just a currency to bypass the banks and government but when people noticed how bitcoin increase in price and value overtime, people began buying bitcoin to Hodl as an investment and most of those people don’t even use bitcoin for its purpose as a currency because of a lot of reasons like the unavailability of merchants to accept it and the volatility.

We can clearly see that bitcoin is serving a different purpose as an investment right now but some few people still use it for spending though..few.

I'm not saying Bitcoin is no longer used for payments because there are still very much people and businesses that accept it. But if we're being honest, most of the discussions around Bitcoin today seem to be about holding, stacking sats, and price movements rather than spending it.

You’re right about this but that’s just the reality about bitcoin today and even in the nearest future I think..

[Jegileman]

I'm not saying Bitcoin is no longer used for payments because there are still very much people and businesses that accept it. But if we're being honest, most of the discussions around Bitcoin today seem to be about holding, stacking sats, and price movements rather than spending it.

You’re very correct as to what Bitcoin is being used for today, but that’s not a big deal as long as people kept to acknowledge and embrace Bitcoin. Many people have embraced Bitcoin more recently because of it being used as a means of investment, rather being used by a means of daily transactions. If more people get to embrace Bitcoin, it means they have more trust in the system and will continue to show more adoption.

We know the reason why Bitcoin was invented was to serve as alternative to the fiat currency but since we’re yet to actually see an adoption more through that process, the secondary means of adoption we can see around it can as well be adopted as long as the wide reach is still ongoing and we get to see more people buying into the idea of bitcoin. This means of acceptance is not bad and should be well acknowledged also.

[Callido]

I'm not saying Bitcoin is no longer used for payments because there are still very much people and businesses that accept it. But if we're being honest, most of the discussions around Bitcoin today seem to be about holding, stacking sats, and price movements rather than spending it.

Gambling casinos in the forum pay for advertising, and they do that using Bitcoin as a payment option. You don't need to go far to find an example, with a variety of options, these companies decide to keep rewards in Bitcoin, now you've seen where payments are made in Bitcoin.

Also know that Bitcoin is a payment option, it is not kept as the only payment source, one among many.

[Agathamay]

I also have this feeling that, there would be a day when bitcoin will be traded and treated like the regular currency where it will be easy for people to spend regularly, maybe not today, not tomorrow but definitely someday.
So for now, let's focused on stacking and so we wouldn't be left out of the goodies and benefits that comes with holding and I also believe that, as time goes on, the adoption is becoming easier and that's the more reason we ought to hold now to gain when such a time comes.

Of course the day is already here, rather we have not seen it happening in our country but I'm sure that some countries are already trading it infact it's like a local Fiat in most country,  El salvador is a perfect example of this country, They have adopt bitcoin as a legal tender because they knew the importance of having it, meanwhile the mean reason why bitcoin was created is to make it easier for people to transact with people across, I believe with time more countries would start looking into adopting bitcoin as a legal tender.

Having El Salvador accepting and trading it as a general currency doesn't mean that, everything is going fine, bitcoin is still far from global adoption which is actually the goal and I understand how optimistic you are about the coin but trust me why we wait to hit a global adoption, when  I believe it will traded and used as a currency rather than just a store of value m, we should focused on accumulating as much as we can so we can be on the winning train by then

[sokani]

Do not be disturbed when you hear people say, "Do not sell your Bitcoin." They just want you to hold so it could be worth a lot more in the future. That's it. Bitcoin wasn't just created as a means of payment. It also was created to be a store of value. So, the people who are either stacking or spending their Bitcoin are not doing anything wrong. They are fulfilling the purpose for which it was meant.

[Fiatless]

Do not be disturbed when you hear people say, "Do not sell your Bitcoin." They just want you to hold so it could be worth a lot more in the future. That's it. Bitcoin wasn't just created as a means of payment. It also was created to be a store of value. So, the people who are either stacking or spending their Bitcoin are not doing anything wrong. They are fulfilling the purpose for which it was meant.

I wonder why people see Bitcoin as a sacred asset. The word hodl is like an indoctrination that they should keep their coins forever. Just like other assets Bitcoin is an investment. You have a plan which includes when to buy and the time to take profit. There is nothing wrong to sell you coin if you have made a profit or have a pressing need. Some unexpected needs can force someone to sell their coin. I might even consider selling my coin if I see an asset, such as gold or property, that needs to be sold at a distressed price.

[Y3shot]

Bitcoin was created from different purpose and up till date people still use it for different purposes which is best for them.  I know because of the inflation some people will prefer to invest their bitcoin but this doesn't take the idea from the head of people no to spent bitcoin. Bitcoin is money and no matter how fiat lacks value people will still use it for purchase especially when the fiat currency is unable to serve the purpose for purchase then fiat has to coming to play the role.

[Makus]

People use Bitcoin for both purposes but the percentage of people saving in Bitcoin are way more than those that use Bitcoin for payment transactions and the reason for that Is because the things that requires payment in Bitcoin are quite limited, the reason for that is, Bitcoin being used as a payment method has not been legalized in every country even though some private organizations makes use of it. Most people make use of it for saving or investment. Personally I don't really care much about using Bitcoin to run daily transactions I'm just focused on saving.

[PremiumcryptoHub]

Bitcoin was created from different purpose and up till date people still use it for different purposes which is best for them.  I know because of the inflation some people will prefer to invest their bitcoin but this doesn't take the idea from the head of people no to spent bitcoin. Bitcoin is money and no matter how fiat lacks value people will still use it for purchase especially when the fiat currency is unable to serve the purpose for purchase then fiat has to coming to play the role.

Exactly Bitcoin is created for different purposes and nowadays people are using it for different purposes like our main goal in Nigeria is to collect Bitcoin as savings to protect ourselves from inflation. On the other hand, it is seen that some shops or companies in some countries are taking Bitcoin as the selling price of a product, also to my knowledge BTC was not created only as a means of payment but it is a means of storing value. We even see that sometimes people use Bitcoin for daily transactions, nowadays most of the discussions about this currency are that it is better to hold it than to spend it because it is also possible to make international transactions using it and if you invest regularly, you can get a decent return, so this LB always says to hold BTC for the long term.

[Sonia_123]

Bitcoin payment can be made anytime and whenever you want it except your business partner does not accept his transaction in bitcoin or he his not into bitcoin, Bitcoin has not shift from its purpose of of using it as a means of transactions as a form of trading not only the saving aspect .

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Those of us that have business where Bitcoin is an alternative payment method, we don't need any public validation from someone for us to decide what to do with our coins, perhaps it's your business and you know how you are running it, so why would you let someone dictate for you to sell or not sell your coins? Bitcoin is a coin that was created to eliminate third party transaction processes like it's done in the bank, Bitcoin eliminate those process, so whether you are holding or spending on daily basis, it's your Bitcoin, its purpose has not changed.

[Itz-prisigold]

Bitcoin is still being used to pay for things, but I believe that the way people are using Bitcoin has evolved over time.  Bitcoin has a very significant role in countries where payment is restricted or where the banking systems are strict or high inflation,  so Bitcoin plays an important role for cross border payments and online payments. To some people Bitcoin is not just an investment,  but also a financial instrument that provides freedom and control over their finances.

Meanwhile the “digital gold” story has regained progress, as more Bitcoin owners consider it an investment for the long term instead of short term spending. I feel volatility also is a major factor.  Most people don't want to spend an asset that they think has a potential to increase in value.

Another aspect that the success of Bitcoin today is not just determined by how many coffees people purchase with Bitcoin.  Even just by holding Bitcoin as "savings" outside of the traditional financial system is already one of the main ideas of what Bitcoin was meant to provide; financial independence.

[Hyphen(-)]

I'm not saying Bitcoin is no longer used for payments because there are still very much people and businesses that accept it. But if we're being honest, most of the discussions around Bitcoin today seem to be about holding, stacking sats, and price movements rather than spending it.

Bitcoin is created to give us financial feeedom against third parties so that we can rely on ourselves without depending on any third party to either make transactions or if you want to save your money; it is not only main for transactions if buying and selling, since its has value like money, and it is been used for exchange of goods and services, we can invest in Bitcoin so that the value of our wealth will remain intact and to also make profit as the price of Bitcoin horse up.

If you can save money for future use, then why not save your Bitcoin for future use?
There is no any problem and the main aim of creating Bitcoin is still there; if gives us financial freedom and also help us invest to save our investments from inflation and to maintain its value.