OptimusPrime
Back in 2002
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Why do you say bitcoin isn't money? I've had the exact same argument from the opposite end of the spectrum, and I've always put forward that bitcoin is money.
To me, 'money' is the one or one of few widely accepted methods of payment in a society. I'm guessing Bitcoin is growing in people using it for transactions, but I read something recently that said 8% of people that own Bitcoin bought it to spend it as currency. The rest bought it as some kind of investment.
Which makes sense. Gresham's Law will tell you that given the choice of spending dollars, which are worth less and less every day, or Bitcoin, which are not, people are going to spend their dollars and hold their Bitcoin.
Historically, when money would emerge in a society, it was from trading commodities until you had a reasonably consistent value of these commodities relative to one another, and the one or ones that had the most desirable traits, durability, divisibility, scarcity, etc. became used as a store of value for indirect trade. There is none of that for Bitcoin, no background for what things are worth. Could that eventually develop? I suppose anything is possible, but does it have the traits people want in money? It is definitely divisible and scarce. It's portable as long as the technology to use it is available. Is it durable? You can't hold a bitcoin in your hand. I suppose if people trust technology enough, they could eventually consider their 1s and 0s to be durable. But then the technology to use it becomes just as much a part of the money. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems too complicated to be widely accepted, without the force of a gun anyway.
Which gives me another thought. The government would never force people to use Bitcoin, because they have no control over it and can't siphon off what they want. There is talk of the Federal Reserve coming up with a crypto-currency. I could see us heading there. A currency that we can't hold in our hands and the government can track our use and has complete control over? They would be all over that. Which makes me really hope that I'm right and people would never accept crypto-currencies as the money in society.
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