We may find out soon enough:
With price changes occurring at a greater frequency, consumers might become accustomed to not even knowing the price level at which an item should cost. For instance, some have become desensitized to the always-changing price at the gas pump.
As long as payments to suppliers are made in a base currency (e.g., USD) then, the prices for goods and services sold for bitcoins will likely need to change at nearly the same frequency. But in a hyperinflationary period frequently changing prices will not be an attribute known only to those buying and selling using bitcoins.
I could see bitcoin being useful in hyperinflationary times in a number of ways though.
Hyperinflation elevates the significance of one bitcoin property. Payments sent using bitcoin clear faster than when sent using banking networks. When accepting credit card for payment, a merchant loses about 3% to the payment card network fee. If hyperinflation is occurring, the merchant could lose more yet if the merchant's buying power from the funds end up much less by the time those funds actually clear for spending a few days later. In this regard, in hyperinflationary times Bitcoin is supreme.
I do not understand much of the market yet, only the sufficient to understand why fiat generates inflaction when government has debts (mainly because I am Brazillian
Maybe one day BTC will be used for price listings for the same reason that the URV once was. :-)
-
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/10/04/130329523/how-fake-money-saved-brazilbut not sufficient enough to understand what will happen with BTC.
A lot of things could happen. It all depends on where and when bitcoin spreads. If those in investment finance start offering bitcoin as an investment vehicle and sell it on margin and that practice sees any uptake then that would cause huge bitcoin exchange rate volatility.
If the government's response to hyperinflation is price controls then an undergound economy would likely build. A pseudonymous digital currency would likely find greater adoption in such an economy.
The following blog post and the comments made in response are some good reading:
http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2010/09/apocalypse-and-bubbles.html specifically, the "Even in the midst of Apocalypse, things will get better" reply:
http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2010/09/apocalypse-and-bubbles.html#comment-75257930[edited]
