Ive referred to bitcoin as a commodity in previous posts and tweets, to much bewilderment. Isnt it a digital currency? Well, maybe, but not yet.
it IS a currency too because you can buy stuff with it, and that is enough reason for calling it a currency.Quote
I also dont believe Bitcoin is suitable as currency I think its a commodity that can be traded for goods and services.
the argument about commodity vs currency in bitcoin is a long one without end. but I believe that commodity has intrinsic value by definition so bitcoin can not be that based on this definition.
at some philosophical level
you can call everything commodity and say everything is like the old days when people used silk and salt to trade.Quote
It may become a currency in time, but it just isnt one right now. Its a scarce, digital commodity and the trading that takes place on exchanges really reflects the market sentiment around the value of this digital commodity.
as I said right now you can easily use bitcoin to buy anything you like just like you do with fiat. you can go to a store and either pay directly with bitcoin to the shop owner in exchange for the product you get (lets say groceries) or you can use a service that offers debit cards with bitcoin in them and do the purchase. you are using bitcoin as a currency and you can not do the same with any other commodity that you can name.
Quote
So, what is Bitcoin? It started off being defined in Satoshis Whitepaper as a Peer to Peer Electronic Cash System which I think misled a number of people. Yes, its a great long term vision, but it really doesnt explain what the steps are to becoming a digital cash system and how Bitcoin needs to evolve through these phases.
again what I said above. there is no misleading, it is currency.
Quote
For Bitcoin to become a trusted medium of exchange (aka a currency), it needs to be stable, and have low volatility. You cannot have a situation where your money is worth less (or even more) in a day or an hour. Volatility and unpredictability in currencies is harmful to businesses in particular, and if businesses cannot be assured that the Bitcoins they received the previous day will help them replenish their stock, then they will be unwilling to accept it and risk their livelihoods. This equally applies to people who are willing to earn Bitcoin. Im not talking about using Bitcoin as a payment network and converting to fiat, such as Abra or Bitpay. Im talking about accepting and holding Bitcoins because they are trusted and will not drop in value.
now after all the walls of text you come to a good point. I agree with this. I have also said it many times before that if we want to see bitcoin be used "more" as a currency we have to see a more stable price. otherwise people will see it as an investment "first".
but this doesn't mean bitcoin is not a currency!
let me put it this way.
in my country, the value of local currency is low and it has been going down for a couple of years now. many people here are investing in USD, they buy USD and hold it and when value of local currency goes down they can trade USD or sell it to have a profit.
now can you call USD a commodity and claim USD is not a currency?