If Bitcoin became the world (Reserve) currency

[kelsey]

they'd be significantly less then 21 mil btc surviving in a usable fashion. and any large mainstream take on would pretty much kill the blockchain.

[howardb]

Bitcoin won't ever become a world currency. Go look at places below or at the poverty line. They can't afford to own a Bitcoin wallet or have access to one.

I beg (no pun intended) to differ, even in places like kenya people like poor farmers are doing bitcoin transactions using SMS services on old (non-smart) 2g phones! ( CoinPip ) And yes ok, not all the world has a phone, but that too is changing very fast.

[Parazyd]

Bitcoin won't ever become a world currency. Go look at places below or at the poverty line. They can't afford to own a Bitcoin wallet or have access to one.

If it became the world currency, I would personally fund all the "poor countries" for Internet access and computers.

[howardb]

they'd be significantly less then 21 mil btc surviving in a usable fashion. and any large mainstream take on would pretty much kill the blockchain.

Yes, less that 21 mil would be usable (because of losses), but that just means less availability so higher bitcoin price. As for killing the blockchain, care to put an argument behind that? It's already widely recognised that not every device is going to be able to carry the blockchain in future as it scales, but that limitation is/has already being addressed by the coders to allow devices to only carry relevant (to them) portions of the blockchain.

[ljudotina]

Bitcoin won't ever become a world currency. Go look at places below or at the poverty line. They can't afford to own a Bitcoin wallet or have access to one.

This is not true and if you read this forum and / or news you would know it. Even in most undeveloped countries, ppl use OLD mobile phones that can send sms messages, and to use Bitcoin, SMS is all you need. Little bit of electricity, and connectivity and BTC can go to any place where Banks can go. Places that have absolutely zero electricity and connectivity to rest of the world AND are inhabitated arn't really in large percentage.
And there are movements (google) that are working on tech that would enable wifi access to any place in the world. All someone needs is little bit of electricity (one single small solar panel) and low poerd device like old phone, and there you go...BTC access.

[bryant.coleman]

Right now there are almost 200 different types of fiat currency circulating in the world. Why we need this much different currencies? A single currency will be good, and it will be even better if that currency is Bitcoin. 

Also, we are cutting down a lot of forest trees, to print the currency bills. If Bitcoin is adopted worldwide, then the deforestation rates can be reduced as well. Bitcoin is the most environmentally friendly currency.

[cbeast]

Bitcoin won't ever become a world currency. Go look at places below or at the poverty line. They can't afford to own a Bitcoin wallet or have access to one.

Your bitcoins are stored for free on the blockchain. The problem is getting poor people to access them. There are cheap solutions. We just need to develop them.

[Beliathon]

if bitcoin becomes the world currency, we wouldnt pay that:

 *pic of exorbitant fees*

This is exactly WHY Bitcoin is destined to become the currency of Earth...

...capitalism leaves the world with no choice! Bitcoin is a cheaper, faster, more secure, more sensible, more scientific way of doing money!

Middle-men parasites of the finance world, good riddance!

OP's math looks solid, btw.

[cbeast]

I would change the heading to "If Bitcoin became the world RESERVE currency"

Sovereign nations will probably choose to premine a POS cryptocoin you can exchange for bitcoins on their exchanges.

[Beliathon]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Internet

It took 7 years for the internet to go from handling 1% to 51% of all two-way information.
Another 7 years it went from 51% to 97%.

It only took that long because the internet didn't already exist.

The world's transition from fiat to crypto will be at least one order of magnitude faster. Meaning we're looking at 3-5 years for massive global adoption similar to what happened with the internet itself.

What I'm saying to you, dear reader, is that you should melt as much of your fiat into crypto as possible ASAP.

[cbeast]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Internet

It took 7 years for the internet to go from handling 1% to 51% of all two-way information.
Another 7 years it went from 51% to 97%.

It only took that long because the internet didn't already exist.

The world's transition from fiat to crypto will be at least one order of magnitude faster. Meaning we're looking at 3-5 years for massive global adoption similar to what happened with the internet itself.

What I'm saying to you, dear reader, is that you should melt as much of your fiat into crypto as possible ASAP.

My house has a For Sale sign in front. Just sayin.

[howardb]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Internet

It took 7 years for the internet to go from handling 1% to 51% of all two-way information.
Another 7 years it went from 51% to 97%.

It only took that long because the internet didn't already exist.

The world's transition from fiat to crypto will be at least one order of magnitude faster. Meaning we're looking at 3-5 years for massive global adoption similar to what happened with the internet itself.

What I'm saying to you, dear reader, is that you should melt as much of your fiat into crypto as possible ASAP.

My house has a For Sale sign in front. Just sayin.

If my wife would let me (sell), I would! £700,000 of asset doing 5% ish!! Just sayin

[PolarPoint]

I cannot see every single person in the world wanting to hold bitcoin in its current form. It is really difficult to make a bitcoin transaction for the non-techical person at the moment. A debit card in bitcoin will be nice.

[howardb]

I cannot see every single person in the world wanting to hold bitcoin in its current form. It is really difficult to make a bitcoin transaction for the non-techical person at the moment. A debit card in bitcoin will be nice.

Debit card is already there, look at bitplastic

It's also worth noting that as mass adoption happens, then we see a slow down in the requirement to change back and forth with fiat, people will simply be paid in, and pay in bitcoin, that is close to tipping point when friction starts to disappear.

[Meuh6879]

A debit card in bitcoin will be nice.

mastercard/visa don't allow this ... even Paypal don't allow this now (that it have "plastic card" associate to a credit revolving system ... and not to use the sold of the paypal account).

[howardb]

A debit card in bitcoin will be nice.

mastercard/visa don't allow this ... even Paypal don't allow this now (that it have "plastic card" associate to a credit revolving system ... and not to use the sold of the paypal account).

I'm sorry, you are wrong, at least two suppliers doing BTC denominated debit cards now (MasterCard):

https://bitplastic.com/
https://xapo.com/

[franky1]

the first step to become a reserve currency, is to stop  being measured and valued to the dollar.

this is simple. instead of saying bitcoin is $600 £400 we need to say:

bitcoin is 2 weeks minimum living costs of all countries

and as the demand for bitcoin increases, it will become 3weeks, 4 weeks.. which people can then translate to their native currency value, commodity prices of oil, gas, livestock, etc.

again we need to stop pegging bitcoin to the US dollar. and instead peg it to actual peoples lives.

[Ilsk]

the first step to become a reserve currency, is to stop  being measured and valued to the dollar.

Why? Isn't gold and other reserve stuff valued in USD?

[howardb]

the first step to become a reserve currency, is to stop  being measured and valued to the dollar.

Why? Isn't gold and other reserve stuff valued in USD?

People compare to the dollar because it currently IS the world reserve currency (Even though Euro is in fact the biggest currency).
But comparing is not the same as pegging! In fact, you could just as validly argue we are comparing the $ to bitcoin not vice versa.

Is the dollar sliding or bitcoin gaining? until bitcoin goes into trade weighted baskets there is no valid comparison.

[Beliathon]

the first step to become a reserve currency, is to stop  being measured and valued to the dollar.

This will never happen. What will happen, is people will flip the equation.

In the near future people will go from thinking about how many dollars a Bitcoin is worth, to thinking about what fraction of a Bitcoin a thousand dollars is worth.

When this shift in collective consciousness occurs, you'll know it.

Is the dollar sliding or bitcoin gaining?

Both. It's all relative.

Your perspective depends on whether you think primarily in terms of dollars or in terms of BTC. No matter how you look at it, though, the trend is clear.