Bitcoin is not a currency and this is why.

[franky1]

lets clarify points mis-understood by previous posts. especially the OP.

currency can be anything. cigarettes in prison, vodka for favours in russia, etc. so currency so not a sustainable loop. currency includes products, favours, money, stocks, shares, commodities, property, assets, etc...

a sustainable loop is a small segment of the umbrella category of currency. and the OP should realize this small segment he talks about is 'money', thus the OP's topic should be that 'bitcoin is not money and this is why'

before the rebuttles come in.. money is not limited to FIAT (federally owned monetary currency) or legal tender or whatever.. money is the main sustainable currency used in any economy no matter who rules it, who owns it or how its used.

now lets move onto commodities.. as i hate that silly misconception.. bitcoin is not tangible or intrinsic (keywords of commodities), bitcoin however is in the realm of being an ASSET currency...

now with that said. bitcoin is a currency, its an asset currency, but it has not got to the point of being treated as money...... yet!

[cozk]

Why is everyone and their dogs feel the need of posting their opinion on such matter ? Still beyond me.

My IQ lowers each time i take the time to read all the non sense some of you post.

Leaving this ''one among many'' fruitless topics.

[johnyj]

Fiat money does not circulate by itself, banks get savings and loan them out to complete the loop. The key for circulation is the income. If everyone's income is in bitcoin's form, then they must spend them

[jabo38]

lets clarify points mis-understood by previous posts. especially the OP.

currency can be anything. cigarettes in prison, vodka for favours in russia, etc. so currency so not a sustainable loop. currency includes products, favours, money, stocks, shares, commodities, property, assets, etc...

a sustainable loop is a small segment of the umbrella category of currency. and the OP should realize this small segment he talks about is 'money', thus the OP's topic should be that 'bitcoin is not money and this is why'

before the rebuttles come in.. money is not limited to FIAT (federally owned monetary currency) or legal tender or whatever.. money is the main sustainable currency used in any economy no matter who rules it, who owns it or how its used.

now lets move onto commodities.. as i hate that silly misconception.. bitcoin is not tangible or intrinsic (keywords of commodities), bitcoin however is in the realm of being an ASSET currency...

now with that said. bitcoin is a currency, its an asset currency, but it has not got to the point of being treated as money...... yet!

I like debating you. 

You say "po-tay-to" and I say "po-tah-to",
You say "to-may-to" and I say "to-mah-to"

Yes, technically you are right, and I wasn't this time. :-)  Though it is nice to see the that the underlying point is something we can agree on. 

The key word in the OP's argument is yet.

very key word

If i gave an American some swiss francs or Japanese yen it would be awkward to use it in 'the loop' you describe, but  not impossible - they are still currencies. 

They would work just fine if I travel to Japan or Switzerland.  The loop doesn't have to exist everywhere, but we need a loop somewhere. 

bitcoin


bit = digital

coin = currency

built to be used as a currency


bitcoin = digital currency


who cares if you hold, trade, invest

it is still a currency

wow

This is like saying
I do not use my house to live in, I rent it out therefore it is not a house


people trade the us dollar and hold it, invest in it, does this mean when they do this it is not a currency

I can call my coffee mug a mugcoin and try to pass it off as money, it doesn't make it so. 

The key distinguished here is that not all commodities are currencies, but all currencies can be commodities.  Or as Franky would more accurately say, "all money is an asset, but not all assets are money"

[Ingatqhvq]

Certainly Bitcoin is not a currency, because currency can't be invested, but Bitcoin can be invested. The true value of Bitcoin is not mostly related to the economy policy but the investors and the market. Bitcoin is not mainly used to purchase goods, and the value is not fixed. I think that's the big reason for your question. 

True, Bitcoin has great potential, and it worth to invest.

[coinits]

A sustainable loop = currency
no loop = investment/commodity

With a currency I can give a token to a man at a market selling produce.  He can use it to pay school fees for his child.  The school can give it to the teacher for teaching, and then the teacher can give it back to me.  Then the cycle starts again.

Bitcoin isn't really like that right now.  Yes, sometimes people pay for things in Bitcoins, but far more often Bitcoins are either 1. held (hodl), or 2. used as a mediator from fiat -> bitcoin -> fiat, or 3. sometimes when we are lucky fiat -> bitcoin -> purchase at one of the few places accepting bitcoin -> fiat. 

There simply is no loop yet. 

Someday it is possible that Bitcoin might make the jump from commodity to currency, and I do think it will happen, but I am doubtful that will happen in 2015. 

How are you going to instantly get $15,000 sent to your cousin Vladimir in Russia from USA?

[wadili89]

I always see Bitcoin as a precious commodity, like an electronic version of gold. It can be used for payment but I never thought its suited well for that.

[Clint]

bitcoin is still a currency coz it can be used in paying or sending money to someone

[wadili89]

bitcoin is still a currency coz it can be used in paying or sending money to someone

Gold can be used for that, stocks can be used, anything which has value can be used. This doesnt make it a currency.

Even legally Bitcoin is seen as a commodity, not a currency.

[bitbaby]

Well maybe it's not a currency yet but it takes time for every currency to get in the loop. You're making this statement as if it's over, it's only just starting.

[gjgjg]

If i gave an American some swiss francs or Japanese yen it would be awkward to use it in 'the loop' you describe, but  not impossible - they are still currencies. 

They would work just fine if I travel to Japan or Switzerland.  The loop doesn't have to exist everywhere, but we need a loop somewhere. 

[/quote]

But there is a btc loop, my point was that it was just hard to go through it for btc users, but it does exist (comparing the convenience of someone in usa tryng to use foreign currencies. They need to go to a lot of effort to use it, like btc users do, but doesnt change status of foreign currency as a currency).

[madmax6688]

Well maybe it's not a currency yet but it takes time for every currency to get in the loop. You're making this statement as if it's over, it's only just starting.

Rather than say it's not a currency say what it IS.

An assest.

A way of storing value like gold.

[BillyBobZorton]

That is because acceptance rate is so low. We are simply not at that stage just yet and it's true there are not many places where you can buy something with bitcoin. We need auction sites like ebay or amazon to change that. If this happens it will be big.

Acceptance is low because people still have never heard what Bitcoin is and those that did (that are not geeks) have a vague idea of it and don't see any real use for it unfortunately. Lets hope the future will make people see its place.

[xuan87]

bitcoin is still a currency coz it can be used in paying or sending money to someone

Gold can be used for that, stocks can be used, anything which has value can be used. This doesnt make it a currency.

Even legally Bitcoin is seen as a commodity, not a currency.

bitcoin is not currency but it's an internet currency.
It's nature is abstract not real

[Febo]

Bitcoin is not a currency and this is why.

Bitcoin is internet of currency.
It is not currency. Why to invent something there already is?


USD paper bill today is also not Roman Gold coin.
Is something diferent used today for same purpose as that roman gold coin used 2000 years ago.
It is just easier and much cheaper to send 1 million USD to Japan, then one box of Gold coin.


Bitcoin will be used for same purpose as USD was used yesterday.

[franky1]

I always see Bitcoin as a precious commodity, like an electronic version of gold. It can be used for payment but I never thought its suited well for that.

gold (the commodity) is used to be melted down and used to make products.

gold (the asset) is a store of value.. like the federal reserve use to have vaults full of it. not for production but for the purpose of value storage

commodities are items that are used in production. beef= nice beef burgers. wheat=bread oil=car fuel.. get my point?

so please will people realise bitcoin is not a commodity.. its an asset.

and anything in the world should a few people choose to use it as such, can use anything as a currency.. so bitcoins full description is an asset based currency

[jabo38]

Bitcoin is not a currency and this is why.

Bitcoin is internet of currency.
It is not currency. Why to invent something there already is?


USD paper bill today is also not Roman Gold coin.
Is something diferent used today for same purpose as that roman gold coin used 2000 years ago.
It is just easier and much cheaper to send 1 million USD to Japan, then one box of Gold coin.


Bitcoin will be used for same purpose as USD was used yesterday.

Bitcoin or a later 2.0 might very well end up being the Internet of currencies. But it isn't yet. That would be pretty cool though.

[dimsky]

Why can't bitcoins be a storage of value and a tradeable currency?

[elasticband]

bitcoin is still a currency coz it can be used in paying or sending money to someone

so by your definition paypal and western union are currecny as these can be used to pay for things and send value to someon

[cbeast]

bitcoin is still a currency coz it can be used in paying or sending money to someone

so by your definition paypal and western union are currecny as these can be used to pay for things and send value to someon

They still use banks or fiat. Try sending money without banks or fiat with them.