People need to stop calling Bitcoin "a virtual currency"

[gondel]

The Bitcoin Foundation and community as a whole needs to step up to educate regulators to STOP using the derogatory term "virtual currency" as EU banking authority described it.

Bitcoin, litecoin, etc are digital or cryptocurrencies.

Try making just ONE bitcoin yourself and see how "virtual" it is.
It is absolutely certainly requires much more work than minting or printing $1, and I am not even talking about making a $1 by some ledger adjustment at the FED.

That is very much true. Virtual currency is a currency used in some facebook game or diamonds in wath ever online game . We are really talking about digital currency, the term virtual is no more valid for BTC

[PolarPoint]

We all know Cryptocurrency is a much more accurate term for bitcoin, but for those who do not, "virtual currency" is an easier concept to grasp. I don't mind which term mainstream media uses, if they think their readers would respond to it.

[EternalWingsofGod]

We all know Cryptocurrency is a much more accurate term for bitcoin, but for those who do not, "virtual currency" is an easier concept to grasp. I don't mind which term mainstream media uses, if they think their readers would respond to it.

True but a digital currency is something as easy to get as a virtual one
So this term makes as much sense for mainstream media use.

[CEG5952]

Honestly, I don't really care. This is playing with semantics. If you want to get technical, crypto-currency, sure. But I don't see what all the fuss is about to be honest. What am I missing?

[EternalWingsofGod]

Honestly, I don't really care. This is playing with semantics. If you want to get technical, crypto-currency, sure. But I don't see what all the fuss is about to be honest. What am I missing?

Seperation required to define World of Warcraft Currency and In Game Tokens Virtual Currency
From Bitcoin and cash based ones Digital Currency/Cryto

[E-valuta]

Amazing how so many peeps here can be so blind for the future. It's e-currency, rofl, how hard can it be.. its not cryptocurrency   


"hold on, ill send a cryptomail to my friend and ask him"

[roslinpl]

Virtual is the wrong word. Cryptomoney or cryptocurrency. It is about time that cryptography comes into the limelight.

Yes, crytocurrency or digital currency is correct term
The term virtual is not very accurate compared to those two.

Indeed. And as it was mentioned before word "virtual" mean something "not real"-virtual.

Bitcoins are 100% real and when you exchange them into $$$ they seems so real too :-)

That's why virtual currency term should be used only in a case where coins are truly virtual and have no real value in the world of economy. 

[JoelKatz]

Indeed. And as it was mentioned before word "virtual" mean something "not real"-virtual.

The "virtual" in "virtual currency" means acting like the corresponding physical object, but having its attributes created and maintained by the operation of software, just like in the terms "virtual reality" and "virtual machine". I don't particularly like the term "virtual currency" because it doesn't really describe any interesting or meaningful distinction between, say, Bitcoins and dollars. One can make physical Bitcoins, and most dollars are virtual.

[Aswan]

The Bitcoin Foundation and community as a whole needs to step up to educate regulators to STOP using the derogatory term "virtual currency" as EU banking authority described it.

Bitcoin, litecoin, etc are digital or cryptocurrencies.

Try making just ONE bitcoin yourself and see how "virtual" it is.
It is absolutely certainly requires much more work than minting or printing $1, and I am not even talking about making a $1 by some ledger adjustment at the FED.

Calling it virtual sounds like Fiat currencies aren't virtual when in fact they are.

[LiteCoinGuy]

Virtual is the wrong word. Cryptomoney or cryptocurrency. It is about time that cryptography comes into the limelight.

Yes, crytocurrency or digital currency is correct term
The term virtual is not very accurate compared to those two.

Indeed. And as it was mentioned before word "virtual" mean something "not real"-virtual.

Bitcoins are 100% real and when you exchange them into $$$ they seems so real too :-)

That's why virtual currency term should be used only in a case where coins are truly virtual and have no real value in the world of economy. 

not in dollars, in real value like a house or something. dollars are just cheap paper.

[elasticband]

bitcoin is a payment protocol, it is most likely not a currency, virtual or not.

[TEDmachine]

The US dollar is also a digital currency, by the way.

[bg002h]

Indeed. And as it was mentioned before word "virtual" mean something "not real"-virtual.

The "virtual" in "virtual currency" means acting like the corresponding physical object, but having its attributes created and maintained by the operation of software, just like in the terms "virtual reality" and "virtual machine". I don't particularly like the term "virtual currency" because it doesn't really describe any interesting or meaningful distinction between, say, Bitcoins and dollars. One can make physical Bitcoins, and most dollars are virtual.

As a regulatory specific term, it looks like FinCEN has already defined it.


As a general term, I don't use it. I use digital or crypto currency.

[Harley997]

Honestly, I don't really care. This is playing with semantics. If you want to get technical, crypto-currency, sure. But I don't see what all the fuss is about to be honest. What am I missing?

Seperation required to define World of Warcraft Currency and In Game Tokens Virtual Currency
From Bitcoin and cash based ones Digital Currency/Cryto

Virtual currencies in games like WoW do have some level of value, just not very much.

[MiningMole]

Isn't any currency that can be transferred electronically virtualized to some extent? Being virtual does not affect its use in reality.

[froggyfeels]

I like the term "transparent currency."
This phrase works well with the way the currency is mined/generated and also the presentation of transactions that show on the blockchain.
It can also refer to open source code for the currencies.
I think the general public would understand transparent currency.

Cryptocurrency will never play out and gain adoption in general public which is where the technology needs to go in order to realize it's full potential. Regular users don't even need to know about blockchains, coin algo's, etc. they just want to know that if they need to buy something the currency they are holding will pay for it.

Calling them altcoins will never work either...especially when btc is not the leader anymore.

Ecurrency and digital money are pretty good terms too...but they carry the perception of things like paypal, egold, etc.

[Bit_Happy]

People need to stop caring about Bitcoin as a currency, virtual or otherwise. It is far more valuable as a protocol.

Good reminder:
I'm excited about what new things will be developed from the Bitcoin protocol in the next few years.

[666uazan]

The US dollar is also a digital currency, by the way.

Actually in money supply terms M0 (the total of all physical USD coins and and bills in circulation) is only a fraction of the total money in existence. The Fed has stopped reporting on the M4 numbers so we don't actually know how many dollars there really are, but it is accurate to say that the vast majority of USD only exit as digitial information on some computer.

[Gimmelfarb]

hey, i've never heard this one before!!

yeah, i can see the arguments, sort of. but it just doesn't seem like a big deal to me. maybe when bitcoin becomes more legitimized, this will be more of an issue to press.

[BCB]

You are fighting the wrong battle.  I personally don't give a shit what anyone calls it as long at they do not criminalize or regulate into the oblivion the ability to cryptographically transfer digital tokens of value from one individual to another.