[03-22-2015] When Does Bitcoin Become Money?

[bitbouillion]

It's still money. Just because it's a foreign currency doesn't mean someone cannot accept it. It's still wealth.

Gold, stocks, real estate, bonds - that's all wealth. But you can't pay taxes with that, only with money you can.

That might be the definition of legal tender, but foreign currency is still money.

"Legal tender" is just the official status of money. Because Dollar is legal tender, you can pay taxes with them in the US. Yen is not legal tender in US, thus you can't pay taxes in the US. Ability to pay taxes is one important property of money, so Yen is not money in the US, although other features/properties of money for Yen are still given.

Some coiuntries even accept many other currencies from around the world. Some countries in Africa actually prefer dollars or euroes to their own fiat.

In those countries the US-Dollar is legal tender or defacto legal tender, so it becomes money there. 

Besides, I think the very definition of what is money has changed or at least evolved with bitcoin.

No, Bitcoin does not change that. A power could define bitcoin as legal tender, but other features/properties of money are not given for bitcoin.

[Armis]

http://btcfeed.net/news/when-does-bitcoin-become-money/

Many Bitcoin enthusiasts already see Bitcoin as just another form of money. And this is  partially true, as you can use Bitcoin to pay for goods and services, both online and offline. However, the mainstream masses seem to associate Bitcoin with a “currency” at best, and “fake internet money” in the worst case scenario. But when will Bitcoin actually become money?

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You must first define the word "money" so we could debate if bitcoin is money or not.

I think bitcoin is money.  It is both a commodity and a currency, the distinction come with usage.  When you buy and sell it on an exchange it is a commodity, however when you used it to buy or sell something else, that is where it is a means of exchange (of that "something else") as such is a currency.

To the extent that BTC is used more as a commodity than a currency it is a low store of value, to the extent that it is not directly tied to any govt, company, or entity it has low store of value, and to the extent that it is associated with the underclass of world society it has a low store of value; change those things and you suddenly increase security, and faith in the instrument to the extent that people will use it more as a currency than a commodity.  When that happens it will become stable.  The more stable the currency is, the less attractive it will be as a commodity and more attractive it will be as a currency.

[Rampton]

It's still money. Just because it's a foreign currency doesn't mean someone cannot accept it. It's still wealth.

Gold, stocks, real estate, bonds - that's all wealth. But you can't pay taxes with that, only with money you can.

That might be the definition of legal tender, but foreign currency is still money.

"Legal tender" is just the official status of money. Because Dollar is legal tender, you can pay taxes with them in the US. Yen is not legal tender in US, thus you can't pay taxes in the US. Ability to pay taxes is one important property of money, so Yen is not money in the US, although other features/properties of money for Yen are still given.

Being able to pay your taxes with something isn't the definition of something suddenly becoming money. Money doesn't suddenly become meaningless or worthless because you can't pay taxes with it. I can't pay US taxes with UK money but it's still money.

Some coiuntries even accept many other currencies from around the world. Some countries in Africa actually prefer dollars or euroes to their own fiat.

In those countries the US-Dollar is legal tender or defacto legal tender, so it becomes money there. 

Not true. There are many countries in Africa all with different laws regarding what is legal tender. I doubt you can pay your taxes in US dollars in most of them either. People just choose to accept whatever they want because other currencies are stronger, but are you saying if the us dollar falls out of favor in the US and bitcoin became their defacto currency then it would become 'money' there even if you couldn't pay your taxes with it? It's still money regardless but you seem to be contradicting yourself here.

[coinpr0n]

When you can pay your taxes with it, other government things. Basically until then (forever?) it is not "real" money. I personally lean towards the German interpretation as a private money.

[bitbouillion]

Ability to pay taxes is one feature of 'money', but not the only.

Foreign currency can become legal tender. One example is Kosovo, which is not a member of the Euro zone. In 1999 the Deutsche Mark was unilaterally introduced as legal tender and in 2002 it was replaced by the Euro. They do not have their own currency and Euro is a foreign currency, but since you can even pay taxes with Euros it has all the features of money there.

[johnyj]

Money must have universal acceptance, at least in a country. From this perspective, bitcoin is not even universal accepted on internet, not even mention the physical world, so it still have lots of catch up to do