Bitcoin’s biggest strength might not be its price

[Alvin_talk]

If Bitcoin’s price stayed exactly where it is for the next 10 years, would you still consider Bitcoin valuable? Why or why not?

Ask yourself a simple question. Before bitcoin price became extraordinarily high as this, what made people see value in it? It is because of all these other features you mentioned. In conclusion, without the high price, people will still see potential in it and eventually invest in it, just the same way they did in the past.

Scalability is not the problem as long as the mempool is not getting congested often. There is also lightning network that you can have little part of your bitcoin.

Bitcoin transaction fee is low. Only when it is high is when the mempool is congested and not too often.

I think scalability is still a problem, uncongested mempool only means transactions are waiting for less time to be included in a block but does not automatically change the fact that it takes approximately 10 minutes for a transaction to be confirmed in the blockchain. As far as I know, bitcoin throughput is limited (approximately 3-7 transactions per second) when compared to payment systems in the fiat system (e.g visa can process thousands of transactions per second). Of course we have the Lightning network which supports the first layer network, but it still has its own flaws such as liquidity management and channel routing. My conclusion remains the same, bitcoin is not meant for everyone, it is for the few who value privacy, so if you mean scalability for those few is not a problem, I agree but anything beyond that I respectfully disagree.

[batang_bitcoin]

A lot of Bitcoin discussions eventually come back to price, how high it can go, when the next bull market starts, or whether we are heading into another correction.

But if we completely remove the price from the conversation, what is left?

Bitcoin gives people the ability to hold and transfer value without depending on a central bank, payment company, or government to approve every transaction. Its fixed supply, decentralized network, and predictable monetary rules are also very different from traditional financial systems.

You said that if we remove the price then there's no transfer of value in it. Because price determines the value and if it's not there, it means that there's nothing that we're transferring.

If Bitcoin’s price stayed exactly where it is for the next 10 years, would you still consider Bitcoin valuable? Why or why not?

Is this actually a question? yes it is! Why would we have to pick out an answer to an obvious question?

[Asiska02]

So I'm curious what others think:

If Bitcoin’s price stayed exactly where it is for the next 10 years, would you still consider Bitcoin valuable? Why or why not?

Bitcoin cannot remain like this in the next 10 years, it either continues to pump or dump in the next 10 years but it cannot just be stagnant in one place. Bitcoin will lose its value when it remains stagnant, not so many people will want to invest into it again. The price will continue to drop when people no longer find interest in it rather than it to remain stagnant knowing that it is the price that upholds the value of bitcoin

[Donneski]

If Bitcoin’s price stayed exactly where it is for the next 10 years, I will still consider it valuable. The truth is that price is what gets the most attention because it's not stable. However, one major reason people hold Bitcoin is because of the freedom it offers, the ability to hold and transfer value without depending on a bank, payment company or government is what most fascinating about Bitcoin for many. If Bitcoin price remains stable for a 10-year period but the network stays secured and decentralized, it's utility will not vanish all of sudden because the price stops moving.

I'm even of the opinion that if Bitcoin stays stable for long, it'll likely make people turn their attention to the things Bitcoin actually offers that are beyond speculation.

[Sandra_hakeem]

Bitcoin biggest strength comes from it's decentralization, censorship resistance and security, the price is an added advantage ~snip

What do you mean the price is just an added advantage? What defines its value other than the result of the market sentiment which is the difference in price, and the supply chain mechanism? It's all about decentralization, resistance and security and the result of those core features pulls network adoption.

Bitcoin's biggest strength is not the price and I can agree to that. Most financial institutions don't buy and hodl Bitcoin because they want to make the most out of the yield--- they invest because of its fundamental strength, which has nothing to do with the price.

[Slow death]

So I'm curious what others think:

If Bitcoin’s price stayed exactly where it is for the next 10 years, would you still consider Bitcoin valuable? Why or why not?

When people buy Bitcoin, most focus on the price, and that’s fine; the same applies to gold. Many people buy gold because of the price—even wealthy individuals buying a gold necklace consider the high cost and the fact that the asset will be worth a lot of money over the years. Of course, they appreciate the beauty, but the value of the gold itself is the main reason for the purchase. If it were just a beautiful iron necklace, they wouldn't pay a high price for it.

The truth is that people are very focused on financial gains. Regarding the transaction fees you mentioned: well, when I transfer money to my bank account in my home country, I pay high fees. For instance, transferring money from Western Union to a local bank incurs a high fee, as does transferring funds from a local mobile wallet to a local bank. So, I don't consider Bitcoin fees to be high. Take the withdrawal fee from the staking platform to Bitcoin, for example—it’s only $1.28. That means even if you were withdrawing 1 BTC, you would still only pay $1.28, whereas at a physical casino in my country, the fee would be around $100.

[Richbased]

If Bitcoin’s price stayed exactly where it is for the next 10 years, would you still consider Bitcoin valuable? Why or why not?

If something is valuable, it is not just because it increases in price over time but the ability to shield your money from inflation is already a value that bitcoin can give you. The price of 1 BTC is about $80,000, if the price remains till next 10 years it doesn't reduce it's value because the amount you hold will still remain.

The value of bitcoin is not only when you make a lot of profits from it but its scarcity is already another thing that gives it value because it cannot be mined excessively since the supply is released gradually in every 4 years cycle.

[mirakal]

Bitcoin remains valuable even if the price becomes fixed and stable, but we can't guarantee that the same amount of people will be rushing to invest in bitcoin. However, its decentralized security and scarcity will be the biggest strength of bitcoin that will always be valuable no matter what, regardless of its current and future price. Its high volatility that drives the bearish and bullish price of bitcoin only comes secondary.

[Questat]

So I'm curious what others think:

If Bitcoin’s price stayed exactly where it is for the next 10 years, would you still consider Bitcoin valuable? Why or why not?

Bitcoin cannot remain like this in the next 10 years, it either continues to pump or dump in the next 10 years but it cannot just be stagnant in one place. Bitcoin will lose its value when it remains stagnant, not so many people will want to invest into it again. The price will continue to drop when people no longer find interest in it rather than it to remain stagnant knowing that it is the price that upholds the value of bitcoin

Bitcoin will still remained being valuable through its utility and network value, even if the price dumps continuously. But knowing majority are here for its financial value, that kind of aspect will surely decreased in time until only a small number of people will use bitcoin.

However, we can't deny that bitcoin's value does not rely on its price alone. The utility of having this decentralized network is already creating value for bitcoin.

[sunsilk]

Bitcoin remains valuable even if the price becomes fixed and stable, but we can't guarantee that the same amount of people will be rushing to invest in bitcoin.

And that's because it makes no sense if there's no longer volatile price for it and people will move to another asset that's highly volatile.

We have been used to its volatile nature and so, we're adaptive to the other markets if ever we move outside bitcoin.

At the same time, Bitcoin still has real challenges: scalability, transaction fees, energy consumption, privacy, and the difficulty of getting ordinary people to actually use self-custody.

To be honest, is fee still a concern for us? at most times we only get to see 1 sat/vB as the tx fee.

And if it might only be concerning if it becomes 1 sat = $1 but that means 1 bitcoin is equal to $100M.

[Darker45]

Actually, discussions about Bitcoin's price are ultimately rooted in Bitcoin's technology.

I believe there's no price to talk about today without the revolutionary features that Bitcoin offers. If there was no decentralization, there'd have been no $126,000 ATH, $1 million by 2030, BlackRock offering spot Bitcoin ETF, super-cycle, and other facts, discussions, and speculations which assume that Bitcoin is valuable. 

If Bitcoin's price were to move sideward for the next 10 years, I'd still have my Bitcoin. After all, it remains decentralized, borderless, censorship-resistant, trustless, and so forth. But then again with a fixed supply and with fiat currencies fast losing their purchasing power, there's no other way for Bitcoin's price but up.

[hd49728]

Actually, discussions about Bitcoin's price are ultimately rooted in Bitcoin's technology.

If Bitcoin's price were to move sideward for the next 10 years, I'd still have my Bitcoin. After all, it remains decentralized, borderless, censorship-resistant, trustless, and so forth. But then again with a fixed supply and with fiat currencies fast losing their purchasing power, there's no other way for Bitcoin's price but up.

Many cryptocurrency projects talk about technology, innovation, revolutionary features but Bitcoin is the best so far but Bitcoin actually inherited developments of cryptography in previous decades as well as projects during Bitcoin prehistory era.

Bitcoin is an accounting revolution.
Bitcoin shook the world.

Bitcoin not only talk about the project vision but it has been very successful so far.
The bullish case for Bitcoin.

I believe there's no price to talk about today without the revolutionary features that Bitcoin offers. If there was no decentralization, there'd have been no $126,000 ATH, $1 million by 2030, BlackRock offering spot Bitcoin ETF, super-cycle, and other facts, discussions, and speculations which assume that Bitcoin is valuable.

Price prediction is a very hard task because markets and prices are unpredictable, and generalizing our lives are unpredictable too so I only have fundamental knowledge about Bitcoin, strong belief in it, and I will continue to do my bitcoin accumulation then holding my coin a long time.

[shinratensei_]

Where else you gonna get uncensored remittance and unfreezeable asset, bitcoin is the only one that have that. Other blockchains are centralized, bitcoin isn't and 51% attack is costly. Even if price stayed, it's still the best financial tool for many of us. Even if the asset wasn't deflationary, i'd still use it.

The technology is what makes current bitcoin's price not the other way around and this is why I don't even think it's possible for price to stay unchanged when the world is changing and inflation is never ending. By how economy works, bitcoin's destined to go up forever because capped supply and timeless solution that it solved. Besides that, it can be used for financial settlement on an immutable ledger where manipulation isn't possible, it'd help to the institutions to create a system that revolves around trustless system.

At the same time, Bitcoin still has real challenges: scalability, transaction fees, energy consumption, privacy, and the difficulty of getting ordinary people to actually use self-custody.

Aren't all these problem already solved by bitcoin's layer 2? even bitcoin right now isn't facing transaction fees problem, sending bitcoin has become very cheap. layer 2 comes to the rescue when traffic is becoming crowded. Lightning network exists for this sole purpose.

[Alpha Marine]

Bitcoin's biggest strength has never been its price. The price is a result of what Bitcoin was made of. How it was built, how unique it is and how innovative it is are its biggest strengths.
Bitcoin Core is such a brilliantly written code that even me, who doesn't understand a jake about code, sees the genius of it when I learn about it.

Generally, the biggest strength of assets and commodities is not their prices. It's in what value they give. If that thing stops giving value, the price drops.
If Bitcoin became centralised today and had an unlimited supply, no more halving, and no difficulty adjustment, then Bitcoin would become worthless.

If Bitcoin’s price stayed exactly where it is for the next 10 years, would you still consider Bitcoin valuable? Why or why not?

Practically, Bitcoin cannot stay at one price for the next 10 years because demand will change. It's either demand is rising or falling, and the price follows suit.
Hypothetically, if the price remains stagnant for 10 years, it would still be valuable because even though a vast majority of people are into Bitcoin for the profit, people still use Bitcoin as money and a store of value.

[Fiatless]

So I'm curious what others think:

If Bitcoin’s price stayed exactly where it is for the next 10 years, would you still consider Bitcoin valuable? Why or why not?

The currency of my country loses value constantly. Bitcoin, for me, is a hedge against inflation. If the price remains stagnant, it wouldn't help me achieve some of my major goals of keeping it. I might have to move my money to other assets that can protect my finances.

However, I will still be using it for financial transactions since it helps to bypass financial restrictions by the goverment and other middlemen.

What that is important is the electricity to be from clean energy. I will blame government and people for not generating clean energy. The world should be moving to clean energy.

Bitcoin miners are paying for the electricity. That means it increases employment. Bitcoin mining increase employment in electricity sector and also in miners manufacturing companies.

It's not all about clean energy. Some countries don't generate enough electricity to power Bitcoin mining. Ethiopia has cut electricity supply to Bitcoin miners by 75% because of power shortages. The country depends on hydroelectric reservoirs, and declining water inflows now threaten the national electricity supply. Kazakhstan also took thesame move because of constant national grid collapse. Bitcoin mining creates jobs and increases goverment revenue through tax and licence fees. But the goverment has other sectors they will prioritise for electricity supply.

[henmark]

I'm curious what others think:

If Bitcoin’s price stayed exactly where it is for the next 10 years, would you still consider Bitcoin valuable? Why or why not?

That's just hypothetical, because it can't actually happen since there is no way for anyone to suddenly stop all the trading activities for Bitcoin, given which, the price cannot be stagnant since it has a fixed supply and when that supply juggles around into different people's wallets and accounts, the price will keep changing because people will keep changing the price they ask for their owned bitcoins, and since there aren't many new bitcoins coming into circulation, this is going to keep the price volatile.

However, to answer your question even if it has a hypothetical situation or condition, I would say yes, I would still consider Bitcoin valuable because things that you mentioned in your thread are useful in my opinion, more useful than making money per se, because I know I can make money also from other assets, but I can't use other assets the way I can use Bitcoin, and I'm talking about decentralization, mainly.

Most people don't realize how important the use cases of Bitcoin are, they are mostly busy in buying and selling or waiting for its price to increase so that they can make money, but if they think about it for a while, Bitcoin is so useful, especially when it comes to cross-border transactions.

[Sticky Bomb]

Bitcoin biggest strength comes from it's decentralization, censorship resistance and security, the price is an added advantage ~snip

What do you mean the price is just an added advantage? What defines its value other than the result of the market sentiment which is the difference in price, and the supply chain mechanism? It's all about decentralization, resistance and security and the result of those core features pulls network adoption.

The discussion isn't about value, but about biggest strength, so in that aspect, price is an added advantage to those who hold and use bitcoin because beyond harnessing it's decentralization and censorship resistant feature, their coins tends to appreciate, just like my stash has increased considerably in value over the last few weeks and currently with the price touching $84k this morning.

Bitcoin's biggest strength is not the price and I can agree to that. Most financial institutions don't buy and hodl Bitcoin because they want to make the most out of the yield--- they invest because of its fundamental strength, which has nothing to do with the price.

We are agreeing in different ways, the main strength isn't in the price, but if it was worth nothing, Believe me most institutions and big players would not see enough reason to harness that strength.

[bitLeap]

If Bitcoin’s price stayed exactly where it is for the next 10 years, would you still consider Bitcoin valuable? Why or why not?

The next 10 years is not a long time for the growth of bitcoin, I will not worry about it because bitcoin itself gives the meaning of real financial freedom that people have been looking for all this time. See how the concept of bitcoin began to face various regulatory hurdles, scalability and economic skepticism and how these challenges eventually dwindled, Bitcoin became the only asset that opened the eyes of the world to cross border transactions. After all, Bitcoin doesn't have to solve all financial problems, right?

[Sandra_hakeem]

Bitcoin biggest strength comes from it's decentralization, censorship resistance and security, the price is an added advantage ~snip

What do you mean the price is just an added advantage? What defines its value other than the result of the market sentiment which is the difference in price, and the supply chain mechanism? It's all about decentralization, resistance and security and the result of those core features pulls network adoption.

The discussion isn't about value, but about biggest strength, so in that aspect, price is an added advantage to those who hold and use bitcoin because beyond harnessing it's decentralization and censorship resistant feature~snip

You are still using the wrong choice of words here. Veering off topic briefly, it doesn't make any sense to say the price is an added advantage when, like I said earlier, the aforementioned features pulls network adoption---- that simply means the up or downtrend is a result of its momentum. With the exact words you used, it's like saying the price is a bonus or an extra.

We are agreeing in different ways, the main strength isn't in the price, but if it was worth nothing, Believe me most institutions and big players would not see enough reason to harness that strength.

This invalidates your claims of the price being an 'added advantage'. If most institutions would not harness the strength (in your own words) without the price, then the price itself is not an added advantage. Is that clear now?

[lovesmayfamilis]

Sometimes it just amazes me to see people ask a questions and go ahead to provide their self with the answers in the next paragraph.
Let me just answer your last since you have answered most of the questions you asked in the first paragraph.

If bitcoin stays at a fix price in the next 10 year, in my opinion it will be treated as we treat the stable coin and no more be regarded as an asset to keep. It will only be used for transactions but with more security and privacy to that which could be provided by the stable coins though. And that’s the decentralisation we are talking about.

In other words, bitcoin would turn into money. Now many people are afraid to transfer their business to bitcoin payments only because of its volatility. If this factor is eliminated, bitcoin will become what it was originally intended to be: a convenient and free form of money. With the free money that is convenient. The payment system is independent of the government and regulators. Bitcoin is original in its decentralization. If the exchange rate had remained stable, the activity of those who seek to make money on speculation might have decreased., but not those who are comfortable with bitcoin as a working payment instrument.