These articles are just thin air, especially Forbes, where articles can be easily bought for driving traffic to your webpage.
They are not trying to write the objective situation as it is , but are writing more what they think people will read and like. BTC is a hot topic and they are just throwing together an artcile for them to read. For example, how do they know that people is buying BTC becasue they dont trust goverment? Most people buy it for the future potential.
Topic: 2021-02-02 Forbes - Bitcoin Is Not Money—Yet (Read 329 times)
It needs to be really accepted and used as unit of account / exchange
just exchange it always back to fiat - not really money
just exchange it always back to fiat - not really money
we are in 2021 where several places accept bitcoin as a payment method and little by little bitcoin will no longer be just something to do Hodl
Rakuten's customers can now use Bitcoin for shopping
Mastercard announces support for crypto on its network
it's a matter of time for all countries in the world to use bitcoin as a payment method
Rakuten's customers can now use Bitcoin for shopping
Mastercard announces support for crypto on its network
it's a matter of time for all countries in the world to use bitcoin as a payment method
most countries are protecting their local currencies by not defining Crypto currencies as currencies.... they define it as a Commodity. Their reason for this is simple, if it is a commodity... then it cannot be a threat to their Fiat currency. 
The problem with that is this... Commodities can also be a currency. Take Forex trading for instance... you trade "currencies" as a Cmmodity, but you still use it as a currency.
The problem with that is this... Commodities can also be a currency. Take Forex trading for instance... you trade "currencies" as a Cmmodity, but you still use it as a currency.
Money didn't exist thousands of years ago. The whole concept of currencies/money developed from people bartering with commodities. One commodity tended to become the most popular to barter with, for a variety of reasons. Traders started to use a different word to describe that most-popular bartering item, and so we ended up with something called "money".
It is not easy to move from era to era, and it is also not easy to move from a political or economic system to a new one, Bitcoin is a transition from an economic era to a new economic era, from the era of banking and centralization to the era of decentralization and privacy, it will not be easy Those who control the old regime to leave all of this without resistance. They are trying with all their might to preserve their ancient heritage.
So it is not at all surprising to find hundreds of articles acknowledging the power and popularity of Bitcoin, but in the end they say that this is a bubble or that its volatile prices will not make it acceptable globally or that it is not money in the first place.
So it is not at all surprising to find hundreds of articles acknowledging the power and popularity of Bitcoin, but in the end they say that this is a bubble or that its volatile prices will not make it acceptable globally or that it is not money in the first place.
Digital currency is going to rule the world after 10 to 15 years and it will happen for sure. It may take time for the older generation to accept crypto as money but new generation is very smart and good in computers which make them to accept and realize the advantages and usage of crypto.
Another reason that prevents bitcoin from becoming an alternative to the dollar is the denial by many people of the cryptocurrency in general.
What the writer or composer of that article doesn't understand yet is that series of organisations now accept Bitcoin as a means of payment all across the world. I read that a grocery shop now accepts cryptocurrency as a mean of payment which is likely to be Bitcoin.
Although, he may be right saying it's not money as money is expected to be generally accepted as a means of payment. But to many of us, Bitcoin is more than money as it stores values money can never store.
Although, he may be right saying it's not money as money is expected to be generally accepted as a means of payment. But to many of us, Bitcoin is more than money as it stores values money can never store.
Like you said, it is not generally accepted as the means of exchange yet and don't get me wrong, I am Pro Bitcoin but most Government will not accept Bitcoin as a replacement to the General Fiat. Many organizations might be accepting it, also understand that, those are personal businesses.
As a store of value, How many of us like to HODL our Cryptos outside the Stable coins which by the way is tied to the fiat currency when we are in a Bear market? I like when i see people using that phrase "Store of value" will you would even hodl the fiat is because as I said, it is tied to the fiat currency, if not, it wouldn't be good enough as a store of Value.
It is not money? Well, I would beg to differ.... I have bought several products and also paid for services with Bitcoin on the Internet. The thing is, most countries are protecting their local currencies by not defining Crypto currencies as currencies.... they define it as a Commodity. Their reason for this is simple, if it is a commodity... then it cannot be a threat to their Fiat currency.
The problem with that is this... Commodities can also be a currency. Take Forex trading for instance... you trade "currencies" as a Cmmodity, but you still use it as a currency.
People will use Crypto currency as they see fit.... if Fiat payment systems fails them (Pornhub/PayPal and Credit cards) ...then they will simply switch to the alternative.
The problem with that is this... Commodities can also be a currency. Take Forex trading for instance... you trade "currencies" as a Cmmodity, but you still use it as a currency.
People will use Crypto currency as they see fit.... if Fiat payment systems fails them (Pornhub/PayPal and Credit cards) ...then they will simply switch to the alternative.
Bitcoin will never be money as most countries will have the same legal standing one having 1 recognized legal tender in their country, that is why you won't see EUROs or Canadian dollars being spent in the US because they aren't recognized as a legal tender in the US. Ever since majority of the countries have classified Bitcoin as some kind of "crypto" or "digital" asset we can expect at best for Bitcoin being a mode of investment as well as being accepted as a medium of exchange which as of the present is what it is now. So technically speaking Bitcoin is not money but has some of the aspects as a fiat currency which for me personally is something that is acceptable as legally speaking Bitcoin cannot be money not unless is is recognized by that country as one.
LeGaulois nice breakdown analysis. My only critic goes in one direction: bitcoin is up and running since more than ten years, its ecosystem is quite new but you cannot say that it is just at the beginning.
As others said, bitcoin can be money to me if I see it that way. I have used it quite a lot in the past to consider it money. Today, I am 99% holding and spending less than 1% and I try always to re-buy whatever I spend as soon as possible.
As others said, bitcoin can be money to me if I see it that way. I have used it quite a lot in the past to consider it money. Today, I am 99% holding and spending less than 1% and I try always to re-buy whatever I spend as soon as possible.
A decade is nothing, trust me Bitcoin is still a baby.
When we will be able to receive our salary in BTC, pay our bills, groceries, taxes, and live the same way that we do with our local currency it will be totally different. Currently, we don't have many solutions. Either you convert BTC to fiat, buy a voucher, a BTC debit card, or similar solutions.
What I truly want is to use Bitcoin without this. When I'm at the supermarket and want to pay I want the cashier to tell me "sir, it's a total of 0.005BTC" "Ok, give me your address"
Most of the time when we are paying a merchant with Bitcoin we're using a 3rd party. It shouldn't be that way, Bitcoin has never been designed to work like this. In another word, we need to use an alternative solution to use an alternative currency.
I prefer to see BTC at $10 and accepted worldwide and everywhere than BTC @$30k and struggling to use it.
Even in terms of development, there is still a lot to do but it can't be done in 10 years. As the adage says "Rome wasn't built in a day"
I hope you are wrong about bolded part, but time will tell. :-) It certainly isn't there yet. Being able to remain in crypto without having to use centralized fiat gateways is a good goal and one that many people are working to make happen. A driving factor will be "cancel culturing" people's ability to accept payments (like their social media). Look at Stripe cancelling Trump's ability to accept payments (https://www.cnet.com/news/stripe-reportedly-quits-processing-payments-for-trump-campaign-website/ ) etc.
The more the authoritarian collectivists attempt to shut down dissent by both muzzling people and preventing them from even accepting payments, the more likely people will realize they can stay in crypto. I fear that this type of cancelling will continue to increase which could encourage this.
Who knows for sure though.
The more people in bitcoin, the longer bitcoin exists and the higher the fiat price, and the more stable it becomes which then knocks off one point of Steve Forbes' argument.
Key word here is "YET" but unfortunately bitcoin is not waiting for anyone as can be seen from the soaring price of bitcoin which is evidence enough to show any doubting person that adoption is there. This bird(bitcoin) has clearly taken off going higher each day that goes by.
But this does not invalidate its volatility, so it only goes higher and higher on the chart indicating the number of people who have it as an asset
LeGaulois nice breakdown analysis. My only critic goes in one direction: bitcoin is up and running since more than ten years, its ecosystem is quite new but you cannot say that it is just at the beginning.
As others said, bitcoin can be money to me if I see it that way. I have used it quite a lot in the past to consider it money. Today, I am 99% holding and spending less than 1% and I try always to re-buy whatever I spend as soon as possible.
As others said, bitcoin can be money to me if I see it that way. I have used it quite a lot in the past to consider it money. Today, I am 99% holding and spending less than 1% and I try always to re-buy whatever I spend as soon as possible.
A decade is nothing, trust me Bitcoin is still a baby.
When we will be able to receive our salary in BTC, pay our bills, groceries, taxes, and live the same way that we do with our local currency it will be totally different. Currently, we don't have many solutions. Either you convert BTC to fiat, buy a voucher, a BTC debit card, or similar solutions.
What I truly want is to use Bitcoin without this. When I'm at the supermarket and want to pay I want the cashier to tell me "sir, it's a total of 0.005BTC" "Ok, give me your address"
Most of the time when we are paying a merchant with Bitcoin we're using a 3rd party. It shouldn't be that way, Bitcoin has never been designed to work like this. In another word, we need to use an alternative solution to use an alternative currency.
I prefer to see BTC at $10 and accepted worldwide and everywhere than BTC @$30k and struggling to use it.
Even in terms of development, there is still a lot to do but it can't be done in 10 years. As the adage says "Rome wasn't built in a day"
Key word here is "YET" but unfortunately bitcoin is not waiting for anyone as can be seen from the soaring price of bitcoin which is evidence enough to show any doubting person that adoption is there. This bird(bitcoin) has clearly taken off going higher each day that goes by.
Way that i thinking bitcoin and fiat will be friend, but bitcoin adaption will spreading fast, actually like other digital payment system bitcoin are actually spreading fast but the problem is regulation by government
LeGaulois nice breakdown analysis. My only critic goes in one direction: bitcoin is up and running since more than ten years, its ecosystem is quite new but you cannot say that it is just at the beginning.
As others said, bitcoin can be money to me if I see it that way. I have used it quite a lot in the past to consider it money. Today, I am 99% holding and spending less than 1% and I try always to re-buy whatever I spend as soon as possible.
As others said, bitcoin can be money to me if I see it that way. I have used it quite a lot in the past to consider it money. Today, I am 99% holding and spending less than 1% and I try always to re-buy whatever I spend as soon as possible.
A decade is nothing, trust me Bitcoin is still a baby.
When we will be able to receive our salary in BTC, pay our bills, groceries, taxes, and live the same way that we do with our local currency it will be totally different. Currently, we don't have many solutions. Either you convert BTC to fiat, buy a voucher, a BTC debit card, or similar solutions.
What I truly want is to use Bitcoin without this. When I'm at the supermarket and want to pay I want the cashier to tell me "sir, it's a total of 0.005BTC" "Ok, give me your address"
Most of the time when we are paying a merchant with Bitcoin we're using a 3rd party. It shouldn't be that way, Bitcoin has never been designed to work like this. In another word, we need to use an alternative solution to use an alternative currency.
I prefer to see BTC at $10 and accepted worldwide and everywhere than BTC @$30k and struggling to use it.
Even in terms of development, there is still a lot to do but it can't be done in 10 years. As the adage says "Rome wasn't built in a day"
LeGaulois nice breakdown analysis. My only critic goes in one direction: bitcoin is up and running since more than ten years, its ecosystem is quite new but you cannot say that it is just at the beginning.
As others said, bitcoin can be money to me if I see it that way. I have used it quite a lot in the past to consider it money. Today, I am 99% holding and spending less than 1% and I try always to re-buy whatever I spend as soon as possible.
As others said, bitcoin can be money to me if I see it that way. I have used it quite a lot in the past to consider it money. Today, I am 99% holding and spending less than 1% and I try always to re-buy whatever I spend as soon as possible.
To change a quote from Forrest Gump "money is as money does".
I can use bitcoin to pay for goods and services, therefore bitcoin is money to me; it clearly has money properties. Of course, the fact that its value changes wildly over time doesn't make it very appealing for long-term bindind contracts and agreement like Lucius explained but, hey, I can use bitcoin if I want.
Only one very last thing: I haven't read anywhere in the past that bitcoin wanted to be an alternative to the dollar and IMHO bitcoin was never invented to be that.
I can use bitcoin to pay for goods and services, therefore bitcoin is money to me; it clearly has money properties. Of course, the fact that its value changes wildly over time doesn't make it very appealing for long-term bindind contracts and agreement like Lucius explained but, hey, I can use bitcoin if I want.
Only one very last thing: I haven't read anywhere in the past that bitcoin wanted to be an alternative to the dollar and IMHO bitcoin was never invented to be that.
Well, the author is right in some way. Notice he doesn't say, it will never be an alternative, he says "yet", but let's take a couple of his argments
That's a reality despite the fact for example some countries start to use to avoid the US politic and/or for INTL. trades
And it's true, a good example we could mention is about Venezuela. Is the fact that central banks are having fun printing money going to speed things up? I don't know, probably in fact.
We can't deny the fact that it's very hard to use BTC the same way we spend fiat (paying bills, supermarket,...) But at the same time the ecosystem is just at the beginning.
Would you do it? Personally nope
And until today this is what has allowed our society to evolve economically. Let's take the example of banks. Without them, we wouldn't have been able to create businesses, (since they are the ones who finance), markets, wouldn't be able to create jobs, and all that.
So, yes, he might say "Bitcoin is not money YET" but in a near future, it will. Not totally replacing USD of course but at least an alternative.
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But that doesn’t make Bitcoin an alternative to the dollar yet.
That's a reality despite the fact for example some countries start to use to avoid the US politic and/or for INTL. trades
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People are rushing in because of a lack of faith in government currencies
And it's true, a good example we could mention is about Venezuela. Is the fact that central banks are having fun printing money going to speed things up? I don't know, probably in fact.
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Whatever Bitcoin is, it’s not money. We use money to buy products and services
We can't deny the fact that it's very hard to use BTC the same way we spend fiat (paying bills, supermarket,...) But at the same time the ecosystem is just at the beginning.
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Contracts are essential to an economy, whether for buying a house with a mortgage, leasing a car, purchasing insurance or countless other activities. Who in his right mind would sign a long-term contract based on Bitcoin? Had you taken out a mortgage in March 2020 for $250,000 in Bitcoin, you’d owe the bank almost $2 million today.
Would you do it? Personally nope
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The supply of money must be able to expand in order to meet the needs of a growing economy.
And until today this is what has allowed our society to evolve economically. Let's take the example of banks. Without them, we wouldn't have been able to create businesses, (since they are the ones who finance), markets, wouldn't be able to create jobs, and all that.
So, yes, he might say "Bitcoin is not money YET" but in a near future, it will. Not totally replacing USD of course but at least an alternative.
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"Another problem with Bitcoin is that there’s a fixed supply of it."
Says who? Discredited statist economists? This is a feature, not a bug. All those who are so deeply immersed in the current financial system and benefit immensely from it to see max supply only as a disadvantage or perhaps even a threat. If we look at how economic problems are solved nowadays, then it is clear why political/banking elites cannot come up with something they cannot fully control, and in addition they cannot print it when they need it and how much they need it.
They all dread a world in which they would become irrelevant - because fiat is one of the most important mechanisms for controlling society with banks as key institutions. Satoshi wrote (albeit in a different context) that Bitcoin touched the hornet's nest - and anyone who has ever encountered hornets knows that when they go on the attack, they don't give up even at the cost of death.
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But that doesn’t make Bitcoin an alternative to the dollar yet.
Is it really necessary for Bitcoin to be an alternative to the US dollar?
I don't really want the US government to see Bitcoin as an "alternative" or "competitor" to the USD.
If the US government sees BTC as an alternative then the government will go everything to try to stop that alternative.Bitcoin would be much better "flying under the radars" of the US authorities.
It would be great if the US government/Federal Reserve sees Bitcoin as an opportunity,rather than an alternative.Unfortunately,this won't happen.
Anyway,this is a pretty mediocre Forbes article.
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"Money works best when it has a stable value. "
Agreed, but over what time period? Fiat currencies lose value - by design - over time in order to pick the pockets of the masses of people and redistribute that value into someone else's pockets. Steve knows that, and kind of deals with that "fixed value, being tied to gold or something". Bitcoin handles that by being fixed in supply. Bitcoin will eventually have a more stable value. This is the "boot up" phases where the fiat price will be unstable, but appreciating for probably at least another order of magnitude or two until it reaches supply/demand equilibrium.
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"Another problem with Bitcoin is that there’s a fixed supply of it."
Says who? Discredited statist economists? This is a feature, not a bug.
I'm respect Steve Forbes for many things, but he isn't fully up to speed on crypto.
Given that many places have been printing even more money than they usually do to bolster their economy due to the pandemic lockdowns, it's not a question of "if" there will be consequences on the horizon, but "when". It's going to take a bit of time before the full effects are felt, but it will happen. Inflation is going to become an increasing concern and it will impact how the public perceive their money. Any arguments they make about "stable value" in Bitcoin won't hold up very well if fiat can't hold its own value.
What the writer or composer of that article doesn't understand yet is that series of organisations now accept Bitcoin as a means of payment all across the world. I read that a grocery shop now accepts cryptocurrency as a mean of payment which is likely to be Bitcoin.
Although, he may be right saying it's not money as money is expected to be generally accepted as a means of payment. But to many of us, Bitcoin is more than money as it stores values money can never store.
Although, he may be right saying it's not money as money is expected to be generally accepted as a means of payment. But to many of us, Bitcoin is more than money as it stores values money can never store.
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Bitcoin is the new darling of investors. It has rocketed since March 2020 from $5,000 to over $40,000 before pulling back. Fans are predicting that it will resume its rise and head to $100,000 or higher.
But that doesn’t make Bitcoin an alternative to the dollar yet.
People are rushing in because of a lack of faith in government currencies. The Federal Reserve and other central banks have crushed interest rates and are printing unimaginable amounts of money to pay for Covid relief measures and to stimulate damaged economies.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2021/02/02/bitcoin-is-not-money-yet/But that doesn’t make Bitcoin an alternative to the dollar yet.
People are rushing in because of a lack of faith in government currencies. The Federal Reserve and other central banks have crushed interest rates and are printing unimaginable amounts of money to pay for Covid relief measures and to stimulate damaged economies.
I could provide countless articles I have read over the years that will share a similar stance. To me, this article clearly shows how narrow minded some people can be thinking they know it all about everything. They clearly can see anything over the veil: good then, we have still some time to acquire more sats.
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