Would it make sense to think of Bitcoin as a money or value protocol in a similar way to other protocols for data (TCP/IP), STMP, POP3, etc?
It seems to me that from a technical point of view, these are different things. When you talk about data transfer protocols, you can use them to transfer virtually any data, they only determine the format of their transfer.
You cannot transfer arbitrary money or assets through the bitcoin system. For example, if you want to transfer British Pounds, you first need to find someone willing to exchange their Bitcoins for your British Pounds at the sending location, and then someone else willing to exchange your Bitcoins for their British Pounds at the receiving location. It is impossible to do this automatically only with the functionality embedded in bitcoin.
Thus, bitcoin, of course, allows you to transfer money, but according to certain rules and in fact only bitcoins. Even if we take into account the controversial technology of Ordinals, they also allow you to operate only with certain data, you cannot transfer a random asset with their help.
if someone living in the UK and taking a strong bridge positioning effect through his own user account into core via this forum.
then you can directly exchange british pounds in satoshi amounts.
bitcoin is not build to prohibit this. but to encourage. it may have build from mostly USD direction roots. but technically it is like the principle of a template.
it was more like an original shipyard. this can change and it did already a lot.
or in picturing this better:
[put into anything you want to that you wanna see as money numbers with currency symbol] <-- this is the true power of bitcoin. a template unit containing everything else existing out there. but without people becoming bridges into core. no walking the bridge effect and swapping.
also works for british pounds therefore. just another stable coin in principle from outside perspective.
but you still as people from the UK prefer having a more centralised chain approach here i assume. have to create the necessary illusion for this outside world.
but this needs one strong enough guy building the bridge for it.
ideally a local living person. best connections into londons city i would guess (the financial district of it).
through exchanges you just get the outside interaction best done. extensions for this core bridge guy for outside selling an from outside incoming buying. also works the other way around. Input Output in principle (utxo principle. cause it can be anything you wanna transfer. core apps just show it in bitcoin and satoshi basis)
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/poundtoken/is at least a at the moments IO existing solution
if this is going to change depends on markets needs and what masses want to have using it for.
but it is if you ask me a good solid start for hence the name thether core into normal british pounds.
if you do not interpret more into this than the numbers shown. it is a stable solution for the problem.
but this people may not be satisfied yet.
but as said it can changed.
bitcoin was never build to be limited on usd
usd is only so strong in it cause internets ground fundamental strucures where just invented there.
this therefore makes sense this strong roots will always show in some way how the internet looks.
but nothing speaks against about building a direct IO flow making gbp into satoshis directly.
you can do this technically with as said any currency out there.
but it needs the right people building and being those bridges.
without them you cannot let run it stable and only most strongest centered local living people are the best choice for this. cause them rarely or never leaving their own home city!
a big important aspect of running anything stable for the internet. someone has to do the pillars for it job!