Can Bitcoin ever become its own unit of value?

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

I would like to note here that this topic is not for comparing "bitcoin vs fiat currency", here, the main goal is to discussing bitcoin as a unit of account in the future.

There's every possibility of that happening but it'll take a lot of work and global adoption for we to achieve this and we can't say no when we haven't even tried. Remember that at a time we had Gold being used as a measurement for its own value before fiat currency came into the picture and now each of them are being used as a measurement for their own value therefore Bitcoin can also do the same but it'll take some balls to achieve this for Bitcoin. It takes a community to adopt a currency then the government to accept it, if we can begin to see Bitcoin as its own unit of value without relying on it being valued in fiats then we can achieve the goal. But for this to happen we need people who are into the things that keeps life moving (business men and women) to be willing to buy into this idea as Bitcoin adopters they already are but that's where we're going to have some issues.

[BlackHatCoiner]

For Bitcoin to become a true unit of account, we'd need a massive circular economy where people earn and spend entirely in sats. As long as businesses still have to pay their taxes and suppliers in fiat, they'll always price goods in USD and just convert at checkout.

That's just the unfortunate reality.

[Italian Panic]

For Bitcoin to become a true unit of account, we'd need a massive circular economy where people earn and spend entirely in sats. As long as businesses still have to pay their taxes and suppliers in fiat, they'll always price goods in USD and just convert at checkout.

That's just the unfortunate reality.

Of course, this is one of the key points, and it will certainly also find its way into the treasuries of major countries such as the United States, China and other leading economies. When these entities start to accumulate Bitcoin and people start to spend it, it will become a unit of value ad unit of account, and we, as mere nodes, will be the custodians of its immense value: decentralisation.

[Hamza2424]

I would like to note here that this topic is not for comparing "bitcoin vs fiat currency", here, the main goal is to discussing bitcoin as a unit of account in the future.

BTC can already be used as a unit of account bro, people don't even have to remove fiat from the equation, they just have to use it at a fixed price like back in the 1900s.

The dollar was backed by gold, and the value of gold was fixed, but it also pumped with time.

BTC has to replace taxes, debts, and salaries in order to start the change, but this is not enough to make a complete change. We have to use it for domestic buying and selling as well. But bro, you should know it has a scalability issue, we won't be able to pay the transaction fees on the mainnet.

[Smack That Ace]

Now my question is that will bitcoin itself become an exchange value without fiat currency in the future? Or will fiat currency always exist to explain?

If bitcoin becomes an exchange value in itself, what then would will we be using in measuring the value for what we're using to make exchange with bitcoin. For example I want to buy a tuber of yam, how do I know the value of that yam tuber in BTC if I don't first get the value in fiat. Well! Honestly, It's really stupid a question to ask just as you sincerely said, because I don't see how we get to agree that 1 full BTC is worth buying this yam tuber or not if it's exchange value isn't measured in something as fiat.

That's not a stupid question.

Did you know that people traded goods with each other long before fiat existed? Livestock, shell, stone, gold, and silver all served as mediums of exchange and ways to measure value before fiat became the norm.

If the market had no fixed unit of value, markets can still determine the value of goods through supply, demand, and agreement between buyer and seller. They don't necessarily need an intermediary unit like the USD.

Bitcoin could absolutely take over fiat's role as a unit of value. But the problem is that governments are unlikely to let that happen, because they could lose much of their control over the economy, as well as their power, if Bitcoin became a widely used unit of account.

[BlackBoss_]

If the market had no fixed unit of value, markets can still determine the value of goods through supply, demand, and agreement between buyer and seller. They don't necessarily need an intermediary unit like the USD.

Bitcoin could absolutely take over fiat's role as a unit of value. But the problem is that governments are unlikely to let that happen, because they could lose much of their control over the economy, as well as their power, if Bitcoin became a widely used unit of account.

An investment asset must have ROI with time, not a stable and unchanged one like stablecoins. Bitcoin is an investment asset with risk and chance of getting good positive ROI with time.

The market works with basic supply and demand principle as well as market manipulations similarly to all other markets. It's only in a young emerging market like Bitcoin market, with smaller market cap, it can be more easily manipulated but it spontaneously has good opportunity for exponential ROIs which exactly what happened in past years and previous market cycles. This will change and become smaller in ROIs in future years and cycles when Bitcoin market cap becomes bigger and this market goes to mainstream.

https://newhedge.io/bitcoin/yearly-candles

[DanWalker]

While you're right for telling that the campaigns these days are priced in based on dollars but I guess for that pizza to be priced in 10k bitcoins.

Isn't that a unit of value? because the value is measured through the worth of bitcoin at that time and was priced in bitcoin. Or I've probably not considering the slight difference of it with unit of value.

But one thing we agree with, the future is uncertain. We don't know what can happen, a government can be an enemy today but might be a friend tomorrow for Bitcoin..

AFAIK, Laszlo bought 2 pizzas from Papa John's through an intermediary named jercos. In other words, jercos bought pizza from Papa John's and paid in USD. The pizza were then delivered to Laszlo, and he sent 10kBTC to jercos to reimburse him for the money he had spent.

At the time, Papa John's did not accept Bitcoin. So, it can be said that the 2 pizzas are still priced and paid for in USD. Bitcoin was only used in the transaction between Laszlo and jercos. I do not think this transaction can really be considered an example of Bitcoin being used as a unit of value.

[MiF]

I would like to note here that this topic is not for comparing "bitcoin vs fiat currency", here, the main goal is to discussing bitcoin as a unit of account in the future.

There's every possibility of that happening but it'll take a lot of work and global adoption for we to achieve this and we can't say no when we haven't even tried. Remember that at a time we had Gold being used as a measurement for its own value before fiat currency came into the picture and now each of them are being used as a measurement for their own value therefore Bitcoin can also do the same but it'll take some balls to achieve this for Bitcoin. It takes a community to adopt a currency then the government to accept it, if we can begin to see Bitcoin as its own unit of value without relying on it being valued in fiats then we can achieve the goal. But for this to happen we need people who are into the things that keeps life moving (business men and women) to be willing to buy into this idea as Bitcoin adopters they already are but that's where we're going to have some issues.

It could one day be used as a unit of account, but one of the main issues is the lack of business participation. It’s not enough to just accept Bitcoin; most businesses still rely on fiat for their calculations of costs, profits, and taxes. They would have to trust in handling BTC directly as a pricing and payment tool even in the face of its volatility. A hard fork might get even more complicated, if there is a split in the community between the chains. My own opinion is that I would want to stick with the chain that is more decentralized, more secure, more adopted and more agreed on by the community than if it were just a matter of price fluctuations.

[Solodoski]

I really don't think that btc will ever be fait on its own. It's very valuable,  but I think it's value will still be measure with faith. I believe it will just be regarded as asset and a very good asset at that, but being regarded as a currency of his own, I don't see that happening. I really can't imagine btc being used as means of exchange in the market, but I really can't conclude of that, because we don't know what the future holds for bitcoin. In my opinion I really don't see it happening

[sunsilk]

While you're right for telling that the campaigns these days are priced in based on dollars but I guess for that pizza to be priced in 10k bitcoins.

Isn't that a unit of value? because the value is measured through the worth of bitcoin at that time and was priced in bitcoin. Or I've probably not considering the slight difference of it with unit of value.

But one thing we agree with, the future is uncertain. We don't know what can happen, a government can be an enemy today but might be a friend tomorrow for Bitcoin..

AFAIK, Laszlo bought 2 pizzas from Papa John's through an intermediary named jercos. In other words, jercos bought pizza from Papa John's and paid in USD. The pizza were then delivered to Laszlo, and he sent 10kBTC to jercos to reimburse him for the money he had spent.

At the time, Papa John's did not accept Bitcoin. So, it can be said that the 2 pizzas are still priced and paid for in USD. Bitcoin was only used in the transaction between Laszlo and jercos. I do not think this transaction can really be considered an example of Bitcoin being used as a unit of value.

That's the whole process but between, it still happened. The exchange of their transaction still used Bitcoin.

Anyway, I guess that I'll have to pass on that and say  that you're probably correct on this one. But we're all looking forward to the better future of Bitcoin where it can be said of all of possible things that the usual fiat has got for its attributes.

And we're all seeing it by then, the adoption is growing vastly it might not be quicker this time but it's gone quite far already.

[Byebyebtc]

Today people still use bitcoin as units of account but it's mostly advanced or exposed individuals or companies. I have couple of friends who will always price most things they buy in Bitcoin and most times even get to pay in btc.

In this case we should understand that if Bitcoin will more often used as units of account, individuals will need to use it more and get more familiar with it, they moe they use it to buy stuffs, the more negotiations are made on it, then it will definetly be a normal thing.

[KingsDen]

Op, I understand your question and that same question bothered me in the past, but I later found the perfect landing ground.

Bitcoin can become its own unit of value assuming it is not a global crypto currency. But since it is used globally, we need to translate its value to fiat and most popularly USD.

Just like gold, it has its value but yet in the market we still call it's price in USD. That is a way to know how much it worth's in fiat. This therefore means that there's no way bitcoin can be measured independently. But using fiat doesn't also make bitcoin less

[Smartvirus]

I don’t see how that’s going to be possible, not in the nearest or far future.
So long as we are always going to have a government in place to govern and direct how a nation is being run, the monetary systems that we’ve used and known to work today would always be in place, a fiat currency would always stand out as the standard and every other currency would be valued against it.

Bitcoin can get a universal acceptance but, it wouldn’t have that unit value.

[Popkon6]

I would like to note here that this topic is not for comparing "bitcoin vs fiat currency", here, the main goal is to discussing bitcoin as a unit of account in the future.

This may not be possible in some countries, where developing countries exist. Because how the country will run and how far it will move forward in the future depends entirely on the government of that country, because according to the laws of the government in the country, the country will move forward towards the future. If the government takes the initiative to use Bitcoin, then the innovative power of this Bitcoin will be created among the people of the country.
But besides, if the government of the country does not use Bitcoin, the people of the country are forced to use it secretly, but it will not be possible to use it openly, because if you use Bitcoin publicly or transact with it, you will be harassed due to the complexity of the law. So if it is in the future to use Bitcoin or transact openly, the government will have to take the initiative first.

[savetheFORUM]

An investment asset must have ROI with time, not a stable and unchanged one like stablecoins. Bitcoin is an investment asset with risk and chance of getting good positive ROI with time.

The market works with basic supply and demand principle as well as market manipulations similarly to all other markets. It's only in a young emerging market like Bitcoin market, with smaller market cap, it can be more easily manipulated but it spontaneously has good opportunity for exponential ROIs which exactly what happened in past years and previous market cycles. This will change and become smaller in ROIs in future years and cycles when Bitcoin market cap becomes bigger and this market goes to mainstream.

https://newhedge.io/bitcoin/yearly-candles

I don't see how ROI and the earning opportunities with Bitcoin have become relevant in this discussion when we are basically talking about Bitcoin becoming a unit of value. Besides, Bitcoin has become an investment asset because people made it one due to its price being volatile since it has a fixed supply and increasing or decreasing demand makes it move up and down, but we all know that Bitcoin wasn't created to become what it has become today; it was created to be used as a payment method to make decentralized peer-to-peer transactions, but unfortunately, most people don't even know it can be used that way anymore.

I also agree with @Smack That Ace about why Bitcoin would probably never become a unit of value of its own because governments won't let that happen, they won't allow an asset that they can't control to become the primary currency or exchange of value of their countries. Fiat currencies are totally under their control, they can always increase or decrease the supply, they can track every online transaction made using fiat currencies, they can keep a track of how much money people have in their accounts and how they use them, and this is all very important for governments and centralized authorities.

[BlackBoss_]

I don't see how ROI and the earning opportunities with Bitcoin have become relevant in this discussion when we are basically talking about Bitcoin becoming a unit of value.

Why?

There are two things: value that reflects on price, and ROI.
With higher value, Bitcoin becomes stronger and with good ROI based on past years, Bitcoin is possibly a more favorite investment asset. They are important to help to increase Bitcoin value, to expand its adoption and more. Without good ROI, or good speculative ROI, Bitcoin will no longer be an interesting and favorite investment asset.

Besides, Bitcoin has become an investment asset because people made it one due to its price being volatile since it has a fixed supply and increasing or decreasing demand makes it move up and down, but we all know that Bitcoin wasn't created to become what it has become today; it was created to be used as a payment method to make decentralized peer-to-peer transactions, but unfortunately, most people don't even know it can be used that way anymore.

Are you sure?

An asset that is used more with time, adopted more with time, will become more valuable, and it's just very basic. Especially Bitcoin is not inflationary like fiat currencies so its purchasing power must increase with time.

No fiat currency has a chart like this.
https://charts.bitbo.io/satoshi-per-dollar/

[casinosfyi]

Bitcoin has the potential to be its own unit of value, but it encounters significant economic challenges. Most people assess Bitcoin's value in terms of national currencies like Dollars or Euros.

For Bitcoin to operate independently, the global economy would need to transition pricing everyday items, salaries and taxes directly in Bitcoin.

[Jubilee58]

Bitcoin is a virtual or digital currency that is not used physically for any transaction, but used digitally to make online transactions. Bitcoin coin is also a store of value which you can only own by investing your fiat currency into it.
Fiat currency cannot cease from operation or cease from being used because it is the currency that is widely accepted by everyone, and is a legal tender everywhere in the world.
Bitcoin cannot take over fiat currency because they operate in different environment, which is physical, and digital, and for Bitcoin to replace fiat currency it means Bitcoin has to be accepted as legal tender , and accepted world wide, and also printed like the fiat currency, and somehow if this happens, it could be fully influenced by the government, and it's purpose would be compromised.

[abaeze]

It's sounds like a stupid question, but it's been a tangle in my head for a long time.

Bitcoin definitely implemented a peer to peer ecosystem in this regard, which basically gave us financial freedom and at the same time deflated fiat currency and at the same time anti-bank. And bitcoin it's self has become the most valuable virtual asset in the world. But even then we use USD i.e. fiat currency to measure the value of bitcoin.

Now my question is that will bitcoin itself become an exchange value without fiat currency in the future? Or will fiat currency always exist to explain?

I would like to note here that this topic is not for comparing "bitcoin vs fiat currency", here, the main goal is to discussing bitcoin as a unit of account in the future.

If I think positively, it seems to me that although I am not sure, I am saying that maybe there will come a time when the 21 million supply will spread across the world and when people start using mass and energy completely, meaning that there will be literally no value left in the $, then anyone can exchange anything else through Bitcoin if they want. Maybe now it seems imaginary but think about one thing, even 15-17 years ago when the first Bitcoin was born, people could not trust and believe in it, but now it has become the largest digital asset worldwide, whose market cap is competing with the market cap of gold, although the difference is much greater, but still it is a great achievement in this short time.

Nothing is impossible in the world anymore. However, the reality is that fiat currency and digital currency Bitcoin will coexist, but the time for BTC to stand alone without fiat has not yet come.

[YOSHIE]

I would like to note here that this topic is not for comparing "bitcoin vs fiat currency", here, the main goal is to discussing bitcoin as a unit of account in the future.

It takes a long process for Bitcoin to become a digital currency that has its own unit of value and Bitcoin must go through several main factors and Bitcoin must go through more mature stages, but for now I think Bitcoin is not yet stable and cannotto replace fiat currency.

There are also other reasons why Bitcoin cannot be used as a separate unit of value, such as prices often rising and falling very quickly, as well as government regulations regarding the determination of Bitcoin as a legal means of payment in general, like fiat and also other factors.