Topic: Bitcoin as P2P currency vs Bitcoin as an asset (Read 575 times)

Bitcoin is considered as an asset rather than currency which is not what Satoshi intended but it is not affecting the adoption of bitcoin in any way. The popularity keeps growing year by year and the price as well so its our money so we can use it as we want whether as currency or as an asset that is the biggest positive of decentralized monetary system.

It is the public's choice indeed. If the public finds its use more as an asset to store for the long term then it will be so and if they find its use in spending and buying groceries then by all means it will compete with existing digital payment systems. One thing is for sure that the second option is limited at this point in this world and hence the first point is what the position of bitcoin among common people is.

Hence for me both of them are possible uses. It is money and it has a growth potential, but its limited use in my place so I prefer to keep it as store of value for now.

If we go by the reason why Bitcoin was created it's solely for P2P without any third party intervention but now we don't see people viewing Bitcoin as the same since they are more interested in the returns and primary objective have become as a investment and there are two reasons for it, first one being the capability of Bitcoin to give better returns and risk factor is lesser compared to Altcoins, secondly due to the higher fee and transaction time it takes as there are lot of better options available in market for lightening speed transaction t much lesser price.

I venture into both, as an asset and also for p2p transactions. I found myself using it for p2p mostly because of my needs that arise when I least expect it even when I’ve decided to keep some for the future. Gladly enough, no much loss have been encountered during that period and the value as always increased as of the time I want to exchange the coin to fiat through p2p. Bitcoin has indeed pave way for a means of dependable savings for the long term, I know this will continue to be adopted and more people will buy into this technology as years pass by. I have reasoned and decided to use bitcoin for both purposes, as an asset and for p2p transactions and they both working out for me.

You can think of Bitcoin as an asset or Bitcoin as P2P, it doesn't matter. We don't need to compartmentalize whether Bitcoin is an asset or not, the most important thing is how Bitcoin can be adopted by more people globally. Whether people consider it as an investment or for payment is up to them, the point is that Bitcoin as a digital asset must maintain its existence and we must continue to support it in the future.

I agree with everything _act_ said and you about using bitcoin as a means of international payment or to transfer money abroad is much more convenient and better than fiat currency. But I will not agree with you that bitcoin will guarantee profits to those who invest in it. Bitcoin is a highly volatile asset and a financial market, so owning it does not guarantee that you will never lose money and always make a profit.
Up to now, there are many people who have changed their lives by investing in bitcoin, but there are also many people who have lost money when investing in bitcoin. Everything does not depend on bitcoin, profit or loss depends on the abilities of each investor.

Your explanation is exactly my base of action with Bitcoin too, and to say the truth I think all Bitcoin are really interested in Bitcoin because of its store of value ability, I mean why would anyone choose fiat to save when there is Bitcoin which can guarantee you profits when the inflation has eaten up the world although you using your Bitcoin doesn't mean you have escaped the inflation in terms price variation on commodity but atleast you will be moving with it as the value of your Bitcoin will aslo possibly increase with it so the effect won't be felt that much.

And for the case of it as means of transaction, I think that the best and good reason to transact with Bitcoin especially in a region like mine when most international transaction seem to be charge huge amount by bank and only the procedure involved will get you tired so using a less stressful means like Bitcoin is a perfect example.

Personally, I think Bitcoin's attractiveness as an investment instrument has outweighed its usage as a P2P money. Due to its rising value and transactional efficiency issues, especially during high congestion, this transition is occurring. These factors have affected Bitcoin's perception and use in the community. Let's not ignore the technology's ability to evolve.

I'm hopeful about Bitcoin's dual identity. Bitcoin is beautiful because of its adaptability. In addition to being an asset, it has P2P currency potential. Future technological advances may revive its use as a transactional currency. So while I voted in your poll, I believe Bitcoin's P2P currency adventure isn't ended; it's just maturing as a digital asset.

I know people who buy U.S. dollars to hold and sell in the future because they speculate that the dollar will appreciate against their local currency or another currency. Same with the British pound and this has not in any way made the dollar and pounds any less as currencies, so why is it different from Bitcoin?

Why do people struggle so hard to separate the asset features of Bitcoin from the currency feature? It can be both. A currency can be an asset and that's exactly what Bitcoin is. The difference is, if you hold Bitcoin you stand to gain much more than someone who holds any fiat currency at all.
Bitcoin is a currency and an asset.
Using it as a currency doesn't stop it from being an asset and using it as an asset doesn't stop it from being a currency.

We use our Bitcoin for various purposes and there are many earning opportunities in it which range from investments, rewards, trading and payments but let's limit it to what you discuss here which is the investment part as an asset and P2P. I must say that I have only heard about this P2P of a thing for earning sakes and since many are engaging in it, it means that it is rewarding indeed. If not, they will not be engaging in it. However, when you consider the risks, I think that the risk is so small, that it is just similar to something that is almost certain in rewards so long as you keep your coins safe and trust the service you are using for the P2P transactions. But I do not have time for it, I have a whole lot of activities per day that can't allow me to concentrate on such a service, not to talk of making money through it. But for investment, especially HODLing, it is a very good way to earn through Bitcoin.

What is needed to be done is to ensure that you buy your coin and close your eyes. As we all know, Bitcoin is good and will continue to appreciate in value, so over time, there is no way one will not still make his money in multiples with Bitcoin. Still, I think that reasonable investors will make more money through the purchase of Bitcoin. They need to know when to buy and when to sell, not that they will continue to harbour it in their wallet forever. This can help them to sell when it is falling and buy again at a lower price. Before you know it, you would have gained so much money over time. So conclusively, you need to understand the two and know how they work their risks, the sparable time for them and the gain possibilities in them. For me, I will do what I have the time for which is HODLing, and I also know that to gain more through P2P, you need more money. But this is not necessary with the purchase of the asset itself.

A good product is one that can be used in many cases and brings benefits to everyone. If a product is not used for its original purpose, it does not mean that it is a defective or poor quality product. People have been too stubborn to always rely on bitcoin's whitepaper and claim that it has failed when not used as a currency. Meanwhile, we can use bitcoin as currency, invest, create our own bank...it's a good multi-tool. It's confusing that we can use it for many use cases but some people feel uncomfortable with that.

I'm also with you guys on this and its the popular vote ATM. Bitcoin can be both,
we decide when and how we want to use it. Thats the beauty of Bitcoin its original
usage is still available eventhough its Asset functionality is most focussed on lately.

Its not just limited to those two options either, its a great way to transport wealth
discretely and can be a temporary escape from inflation.

Both aspects are inseparable from each other, if bitcoin was not a decentralized currency which could be used for P2P transactions if you wanted then bitcoin will have no value as an asset, so all of those thinking they are only using it as an investment are wrong on their views, they are fully dependent on this still being the case as if for some reason this changed then their investment will plummet out of nowhere, and those that use bitcoin mostly to do transactions and do not care about investing in it, also depend on the value people see in bitcoin as an investment, because this determines how much they can buy with their coins.

Some people won't care anyway if they won't utilize or maximize their Bitcoin experience. What important for them is they can earn a decent profit and this is only possible if they will treat their BTC like an asset. And besides, like you said, not many places or countries supports the use of BTC as a currency means. It was only a sad news for you if you are the opposite user.

However, those people who are financially capable can be able to migrate on other locations only to solve this issue. For those who are not like that. They can only wait and pray that the status of BTC are soon going to change. But I think it will for sure, because BTC is the future of the money.

That's the crux of the matter, no one prohibits us from using bitcoin for both purposes. So why do we waste time discussing the issue of choosing one or the other, when we can choose both? Like me, I use bitcoin as an investment rather than using it as a P2P currency, but when I need to transfer money to relatives abroad or certain websites accept bitcoin payments. I still use bitcoin as a P2P payment method, everything is still very smooth and without any problems. No one can ban or force me to use bitcoin for my own purposes, so there is no reason for me to choose only 1 of 2 bitcoin use cases.

I am a fan of why need to choose between 2 when I can have them both?  Look at the brighter side mate and not just on single area here because bitcoin is created as currency so what does it mean ? to either use for payment/transaction or you can just keep them with you.


Having an Asset is better but the advantage also of using as p2p is there so i will use this as p2p and will keep holding at the same time .

Holding Bitcoin as an asset and holding it for a longer period of time is a wiser act than Bitcoin P2P transactions. We have seen many users face losses while doing P2P transactions and when they start trading with little money they face many types of losses especially high transaction fees which frustrates users. Although the term hold has been around for a long time which gives a trader high profits and returns that's why this term is used by everyone just to make enough money in the future. Although people hold Bitcoins but they are also involved in P2P transactions and regularly they continue their weekly or monthly income by doing these transactions. Most people see Bitcoin as a bright future and hold it for a long time. That's why people use secure wallets to keep their assets safe and keep their keys in a safe place to keep their funds intact.

For me, I will treat bitcoin as an asset only. Yes,  I can use it for transactions at such times, but if only necessary and there is no other option, it is because bitcoin to me is like a precious asset that I cannot attain to spend on something that I could buy with a fiat, maybe because I want to accumulate more bitcoin so that I can earn from it long-term.

Especially now that the transaction fee is very high, I don't recommend doing transactions frequently as you will be affected by the fee. You can do a once-in-a while transaction, but what if it is urgent? then you will need to endure the transaction fees. Anyway,  as I said, it is better to treat bitcoin as an asset and let it grow first. Maybe some other assets or coins I could use, but bitcoin? Nope, it will stay in my wallet and keep growing.

Usage as P2P currency is very high limited and this will increase only when there is universal acceptance. We can't expect it to happen in the short or in the long run. For now the growth of Bitcoin is tremendous and the same makes people consider it an investment than currency. People doesn't go in search of places and spend. On the go if there is some place that accept bitcoin, they just use it to keep the circulation market of real time usage. This also helps in the betterment of the market.

I abstained from voting as my option wasn't there. I would've loved to see an option that covers my thought process of Bitcoin and that's – Bitcoin is more of an asset than P2P. Saying it's equally P2P as asset makes it look like a 50/50 thing. Definitely, it's not. We're all gearing towards a bull rally and preaching hodling just like realtors would advise clients buying land to hodl on once they know a big company is coming their way to buy too. Once that happens, price of land in that vicinity shoots up. It's the same thing we're expecting after halving. P2P is more of exchange for goods and services or regular payment. Such won't give anyone the excitement of making a crazy ROI like we anticipate with Bitcoin.

Because in the country where I live, Bitcoin is only allowed as an investment or asset, so I do it according to the rules determined by my country.
But that doesn't mean I can't use Bitcoin as a p2p payment tool. And I also use it personally or individually among fellow Bitcoin users when I need something that is out of reach, and also sometimes unexpected things happen and I have to use it for transactions.
So I use both, because in the country where I live there are no shops or traders who use Bitcoin transactions because of the regulations, so I prefer Bitcoin as an investment or asset because it is more promising in terms of profits and storing value.

Yes, isn't that what I wrote about Bitcoin was first promoted as a coin to solve the high fee for global transactions of fiat? Then it started having a storage value which is nothing but a replacement of the existing fiat currency. The next step it did was getting a huge pump in its value while the currency that it is now compared to in terms of value is getting devalued. That is the reason why I feel it is an asset than a P2P currency, considering there are other altcoins that are far better than Bitcoin in terms of a P2P currency.

To be fair Bitcoin initially was a p2p token designed to pay miners for their job. Months after,   namely on "pizza day', this token has got the strains of p2p currency,  while now, judging its inability to adjust itself to daily payment routine, Bitcoin is better characterized as a digital asset for a wealth preservation rather than p2p currency.

In my opinion, whether bitcoin is an asset or a payment method depends on how each person uses it , there is no regulation that says if bitcoin were an asset its P2P feature would disappear . But what we need to accept is that the majority of people prefer to use bitcoin as an investment asset rather than using it as a currency . But this is understandable because making money is considered the top task for all of us in today's world .

For me, I know that bitcoin was originally created to be a P2P currency but I feel more comfortable considering it as an investment because of the benefits I mentioned . Those who say they don't want to profit from bitcoin, they just want bitcoin to be a stable currency are trying to be blatant liars, IMO.

i chose "equally p2p and asset" because i think that even though most of the holders treat bitcoin as an investment asset that can give them profits, we cannot ignore the fact that bitcoin was originally created as a digital currency by satoshi which allows people to to be able to make transactions securely and without intervention.

even though at some times bitcoin fees are in an unreasonable position, we cannot use that as a reason to rule out bitcoin as a means of payment and exchange and make it just an investment asset, because bitcoin is still a digital currency where people can use it for investment.

As for me, I'm not limited cause I can quickly adopt as many things to do with bitcoins but of course, it should be reasonable and legal as always. Sometimes I use bitcoins for online shopping and sometimes I only buy them to invest in the future so I am always flexible with it. I want to try to meet up with someone and buy some products with him with bitcoins but unfortunately, we don't have many people who are accustomed to Bitcoin payment in our community yet and I'm using bitcoins nowadays for whatever available options that I have in our country.

Bitcoin is a currency/ payment option as well as an asset. You can send money anywhere in the world using Bitcoin, and you don't need to worry about carrying a load of cash to the bank.  
Bitcoin price is continuously increasing, and you can consider Bitcoin as an asset because you can earn huge profits by just holding your Bitcoin for the long term. This way, Bitcoin can serve as an asset with exceptionally good ROI compared to other classes of assets. At the moment, I think Bitcoin is more of an asset than a payment method.

I think the best way to use Bitcoin is by maximizing it's capability since it is  able to do both as an asset or p2p. Though Bitcoins purpose of existence is to be intended as a form of payment it is also best to have it as an asset given it's high potential in the future.

You will agree with me that the transaction fee for Bitcoin has not been this high and it won't always be like this forever. It is possible that because of the high transaction fees some people won't be using Bitcoin as means of payment, but won't also rule out the fact that there are still people out there who are using Bitcoin for payment purposes irrespective of the high transaction fees. Yes I agree that there is nothing wrong with people storing Bitcoin as an asset.

I doubt what you are saying, with the current bitcoin transaction fees, I think there will not be too many people willing to use bitcoin for payment even if you are rich. No one is stupid enough to pay the bill for only $10-$20 but have to spend an additional $5-$10 as payment fee.

Furthermore, there is nothing wrong with people using bitcoin as an asset without ever using it for payment. I don't even care what purpose bitcoin was created for, what I care about is the benefit it brings me. As long as it does not cause harm and benefits us, we have the right to use it for any purpose we want. It is still bitcoin when we turn it into an asset.

I will treat Bitcoins as a digital asset always. Bitcoins are limited in numbers, that is no new Bitcoins can be formed or created. Hence if you use as a mode of payment or currency, then a time will come when the price of the coin will be high, but you won’t have sufficient. Hence it’s more profitable to treat Bitcoins as a currency rather than a currency.

Well, to be honest, It has always been a wise decision to choose bitcoin as an investment. The moment people have realized and understand it's high volatility, that is where they started to hold, the longer the better. Though bitcoin was originally created to become another currency outside of the legal tender, especially with international transactions or what we call borderless payments without the intervention of any 3rd party payment processors such as banks and remittances. But then again, because of it's high volatility, people decided to keep it as an investment and also considered as a store of value, since it's value did not depreciate after many years passed since it was created in 2009.
Bitcoin as a currency used for P2P transactions is somehow flawed in terms of transaction speed and fees. One would not want to purchase a cup of coffee and wait for several minutes or hour to get your transaction confirmed, there might be a solution for that like using the LN, but not everyone are using it currently. Altcoins existed because of these bitcoin flaws though. However, regardless whether or not there is a flaws in transaction speed and fees, bitcoin would still remain being considered as investment because of it's high volatility. When bitcoin become stable in the future, that is where we see a lot of people using it for transactions.

correct , how could you use these features when there are so much fees involving here so why need to be in that hard way of using bitcoin as P2P for whatever use we needed .
As long as the miner issues in prioritizing transactions ? i think it will be harder for Bitcoin to be used completely and  us to make another choice.
Bitcoin will still our favorite and only most trusted one.

I use Bitcoin for both. In my country not all business are accepting as a means of payment at the moment, but whenever I go to some places where they are accepting Bitcoin as a means of transaction I pay with Bitcoin. If we all keep Bitcoin as an asset without using it as p2p then I think we are not fully utilizing Bitcoin for the purpose it was created for. One of the reasons why Bitcoin was created was for it to be use as a means of settlement of transactions among peers.

As much as we want to do P2P with bitcoin, the story of Laszlo Hanyec's 10k bitcoin pizza has left us a lasting impression that will never ever go away and so we treated bitcoin as an asset as the years go by which isn't bad because if that's the way that we wanted bitcoin to be, who am I to contradict that, I'm just one person after all. Bitcoin being an asset isn't really a bad thing in my opinion because I've seen it change the lives of people and some friends because they've invested their hard-earned money on bitcoin and they got a fat profit and it's also a really good alternative for stock market as stocks aren't that easily accessible when it comes to your average Joe so in a way, bitcoin is basically a poor man's stock market because you can get in as low as $1.

Bitcoin still does its job as P2P currency, you can send your coins from your wallet to any wallet, doesn't matter where you or the receiver lives but that doesn't mean that our need of using Bitcoin as a P2P currency is fulfilled. It become super expensive to make a Bitcoin transaction, making it very impractical to make a small Bitcoin transactions or to use it frequently even for big transactions.
Bitcoin will really totally fail as a P2P currency if miners censor transactions according to the malfunctioning blockchain analysis companies. It's really becoming more of an asset than a P2P currency, that's what ETF approval proves again.

Bitcoin is really bad as a currency. It is slow and expensive. Especially the kind of payment technology available in the market, Bitcoin looks like coming from stone age. So I would not call Bitcoin a currency system. Surely not an ideal one. The only area where Bitcoin can shine as a currency system, is international transfers.

Bitcoin is a great investment. If I look from the inception of Bitcoin, it has outperformed any other asset classes. But for currency system, we have much better options available in the market.

Agreed that if we follow what is stated in bitcoin's white paper, Satoshi created it to be a peer-to-peer currency. But has anyone ever wondered why he holds such a large amount of bitcoin for himself and why many people who got involved in bitcoin early on also hold large amounts of bitcoin? Have they also considered the case that bitcoin would be used as an asset like gold and not as a currency?

Furthermore, whether bitcoin is a currency or an investment doesn't really matter. The most important thing is that it brings benefits, convenience, and rights to us and that is a very good thing. So there is no reason for us to be upset when bitcoin becomes an asset.

I don't see Bitcoin as a currency yet, at least not for small transactions. If I want to buy something for 10$ I have to pay 2$ transaction fee which is nuts. But for larger transactions, its not so bad.
and due to scarcity its price will go up continually. like a 10000BTC pizza in 2010 is like 0.0005BTC now, so i would rather hold and increase the value of what I am holding than use it to buy goods. Bitcoin actually discourages people from spending but rather encourages holding which is what an asset is.
And as a merchant Bitcoin is too volatile with price jumps and corrections, it is not stable enough to accept as a form of payment.

Personally - I do not use bitcoin as a means of payment although I am willing to accept bitcoin as a means of payment for my services or wages. Of course, that doesn't mean I don't support adoption - but I tend to want to exploit Bitcoin's potential as a value-added asset even though I might change my mind on that one day.

Bitcoin adoption will continue to expand and grow by the day - but it is probably true that most will simply take advantage of bitcoin's price volatility to gain returns in both the short and long term. In my opinion - this doesn't change the basic idea of ​​bitcoin as a currency, but something of value and potential profit is worth taking advantage of.

I do not see why Bitcoin would lose its adoption as a p2p currency. But as far as transactions go, the problem with ordinals needs to be solved before we start making long-term assumptions on which groups lose their rate of adoption. And while we have lightning, it is not yet as adopted as it might be someday. And it would not be a permanent solution to the ordinal parasites. Bitcoin works, but if we want to optimize Bitcoin then we need more long term thinking on solutions.

Bitcoin is the most important asset. And that is not going to be changing anytime soon.

I have also observed of recent that a lot of people see Bitcoin more from the angle of investment, the reason people who sell Bitcoin are demonized and made to appear like the enemies of Bitcoin. If you go through this forum, you will see that those who claim to have held Bitcoin are praised and respected far more than those who sold, even those who own businesses that accept Bitcoin are not exempted. I now begin to wonder if Bitcoin was created to be held in wallets or transacted in our day-to-day activities. I feel this psychological barrier is what all lovers of Bitcoin must come together to address so that people can feel proud to transact in Bitcoin as that is also a way of helping Bitcoin.

From the angle of investments and treating Bitcoin like an assets, I don't have a problem with that as I'm also doing that. It is just an opportunity to keep what one feel will appreciate with time. There is nothing wrong with that but it should not be seen as all there is to Bitcoin. The beauty of Bitcoin is in it being traded.

The growth bitcoin has achieved in a short period of time has made people prioritize bitcoin mainly as an asset rather than a P2P currency. Maybe the global adoption and increase in acceptance would change the mentality of people and let them prioritize bitcoin as a currency over investment.

Just think of the price of an X product priced at $100 when the price of Bitcoin is $45000, and the same product will be priced at $100 when the price of Bitcoin is $40000. This makes a difference in the amount spent on the same product at different times. This means two people buying it at different times using bitcoin could've paid a higher and a lower price for the same product. People don't accept it, and for this reason, it is often considered an investment asset.

Making Bitcoin a P2P currency and making Bitcoin an investment are both now done by people all over the world in countries that don't ban Bitcoin.
Because it can be used for these two purposes, Bitcoin is a favorite coin, even though Bitcoin users as a transaction tool experience a few obstacles due to high transaction fees.

Because I couldn't do shopping, I made Bitcoin an investment aspect. If I want to make Bitcoin a currency for transactions, I have to convert it into fiat currency.

up until now, only few merchants are accepting btc payment method or better yet, not many btc holders are willing to pay using their btc. not only because the fees are quite expensive these days but they feel they want to hold it for investment purposes. maybe, they will be motivated to use btc for payment if the volatility is not so much and the fees are quite cheaper. but til then, i don't think many crypto users will be using this top currency just to pay for their online purchases.

so even if you found a merchant or coffee shop accepting btc, do you think you will be willing to pay using your btc incurring a hefty amount of fee and won't know when will your transaction be confirmed? that's the bottleneck we are still facing up to this day. so there's no doubt, many holders are still on the side of having btc as an asset and not just as a currency to be used for everyday purchases.

I would love to be able to make purchases through Bitcoin, but it's just not possible, because there aren't sellers willing to accept it as payment method. Maybe the problem isn't with Bitcoin holders. It's not about them not willing to spend their coins and being only focused in long term profits by holding BTC as an asset. The problem is that they don't have where to spend their coins. There aren't sales offers and opportunities in large scale.

Maybe in some big urban centers at the main capitals of the world it's already a possibility, but for Bitcoin enthusiasts living at smaller regions and poorly developed countries it's hard to find someone else who is also an adopter of the digital currency. It would be great to buy a car or an apartment directly through P2P Bitcoin transaction, but hardly ever you will find the car or place you are looking for with this payment option. In fact, you should consider yourself lucky enough if you are able to find at least one seller accepting BTC as payment anywhere in your area.

It ends that we have no choice, besides using Bitcoin exclusively as an asset.

Anyhow we intend to use our Bitcoin is all left to us. The Bitcoin peer to peer adoption is still currently going on but due to the high fee that is involve in transacting units of Bitcoin, maybe investors and traders are now looking out for other coins too they can use for peer to peer transactions due to the high fee and transaction time for a single confirmation if the network fee is not upto what could push and make the Bitcoin to be confirmed immediately. Those who have Bitcoin in their personal wallets not on exchanges are still finding it hard for them to transfer due to the high network fee everyone is facing which is annoying.

'P2P mainly' seems to be the least popular position (after not being sure, but that's not really a position). That might be upsetting to some, considering what Bitcoin was supposed to become, according to its creator. But being an asset isn't a bad thing per se, and we need to look at this matter from a practical perspective. In practice, Bitcoin isn't adopted enough to properly function as a currency. If someone wants to go out of their way to do it, it can be possible to use Bitcoin like that in some regions, but that's not how money usually functions. It's actually inspiring that the majority maintain that it's equally a currency and an asset, considering how challenging using Bitcoin as a currency is.

I know that Bitcoin was originally created for p2p purposes, to guarantee privacy between two people's transaction that will not involve any third party, but today clearly that original p2p plan has been overtaken, it's now an investment asset. Greater number of people that holds Bitcoin are for investment purposes, I believe that it's a very small number of people that still holds it for p2p purposes. I believe that the reason why people don't use Bitcoin to pay for goods and services is that it's adoption has not increased where everybody has a wallet address and the issue of high transaction fees is a discouraging factor, unless it's between two people which can not drive adoption. But far more people are buying Bitcoin and holding it for investment, they'll accumulate it to sale when price pumps and during bull runs, others holds Bitcoin for trading.

Yes, we are the ones who turned bitcoin into an asset, but even though it is an asset, an investment, it has never lost its peer-to-peer currency feature. It may not be recognized and become a commonly used currency, but also no one can prohibit us from using it as a P2P currency if we need to use it and no one can remove the P2P feature of bitcoin.

Most of us here are bitcoin investors, very few people use it as currency, but that doesn't mean no one uses it as currency. Right on this forum, I don't remember each person's exact name, but sometimes I still meet some people who are using and spreading bitcoin as a currency, not everyone considers it an investment like us. Therefore, in my opinion, no matter how much bitcoin value increases and is recognized by the government as a commodity, asset...it will never lose its P2P feature.

You don't have to spend all your BTC on goods and services, but you can spend a portion of it, this is why bitcoiners separate their long term BTC holdings, from funds they want to use for spending on the go. The easy way to do it is to create an online wallet and always keep < or exactly $100 in it, if it gets exhausted, you can always top it up again, this will be your wallet for spending BTC on things you can spend it on.
BTC is a decentralized network that is not controlled by anyone, how can you stop its value from rising. Take note that there is nothing wrong in the level that BTC has risen to and its growth is also going to continue.
BTC is still p2p electronic cash.

Indeed, most people if you asked them what is their purpose in joining and learning crypto is for profit, and if you asked them about Bitcoin they would just literally see it as an possibility to make a profit by taking advantage of its volatility. Some wouldn't even mentioned about the P2P cause mainly the thing that they want for Bitcoin is the profit they could get. It is not that sad or big deal cause it has already given a lot of people the opportunity to change their lives in a good way or bad way. It is still has the possibility for Bitcoin to be used an fiat in the future.

I totally agree with you on this but I think there is still enough fait value in the world that can be added to bitcoin. If I'm not mistaken bitcoin price increase when more people invest in it. Cause that's what value is all about, when bitcoin was created it didn't have any value until it was used for a transaction. So I think as long as people keep on investing in bitcoin it would continue to grow and for this action to continue it would still have a little volatility in it. So i guess bitcoin at its peak would be when every wordly value is now attached to bitcoin, no fait in any country and bitcoin as the only means of transaction, and this should be when bitcoin stabilises. And that would be a long wait for change, and the process might be far slower than we think.
I think p2p usage can happen even before then, if the congestion issue would be solved, bitcoin would be used more for  p2p transactions since transaction fees would be more stable and affordable in all market conditions. And I think people are still very used to fait currency as a means of daily transactions for several reasons which we cant deny to.
And these could be
1. The average person still has little knowledge about bitcoin, neither do they understand any other form of transaction that is different from the traditional financial services.
2. What people continue to hear about everyday is how bitcoin continues to improve in price, and this impacts them to only see bitcoin as an investment, not as a means of transaction. To check this our enter your stress or even on this forum people discuss more about bitcoin price more than its usability or utility, we are the once still spreading the idea of bitcoin as an investment opportunity than its utility and safety it brings.
3. Bitcoin still sounds so foreign to my mom who is just in her late 30's and same for many other of you here. If I were to teach her, she would ask me questions on same topic for days before she can understand it. So I think more companies should make a more user friendly interface for old users like my ma. And she can rely on etfs is she wants to invest.
With only this three points I think I've made It clear that bitcoin is still a long way from p2p adoption and this process would happen more slowly as people continues to buy the idea of bitcoin as a means for daily transactions with affordable gas fees for each transaction.

From my perspective I think many people still view bitcoin as an investment asset because of the way the price continues to appreciate, which was not the main plan of its creator satoshi, satoshi envisioned a world where transactions can take place with relying on trusted third parties like banks that totally control transactions. But the reality of this has not yet become fully alive cause the cost of daily transactions with bitcoin is still very high cause of its gas fees so most bitcoiniers have not fully adopted bitcoin as a means for daily transactions with regard to the p2p.
Bitcoin can still achieve this p2p vision if gas fees becomes as affordable as bank transfer charges, so for now to keep the bitcoin dream burning and to  continue our mass adoption race, let bitcoin do what it can and let's benefit from it how we can. Until a new technologies comes in that can help to reduce gas fee price and help users have a better p2p transactions experience.

I want to ask you one thing, what is your purpose in joining this market? Is it for profit or are you looking for your privacy? Many people are always upset and criticize others for turning bitcoin into an investment, an asset rather than turning it into a P2P currency. But the funny thing is that they are the same people who are discussing bitcoin price every day and profit is the main reason why they are involved in bitcoin. You are sad that bitcoin cannot become a peer-to-peer currency, but if bitcoin no longer brings you profit and is only used like fiat, will you continue to stick with bitcoin?

The price of bitcoin is too big already and I don't think that we're ever going back to the P2P bitcoin because we just think that it's too precious. It's a sad thing that this happened to bitcoin but it's our fault this has come to this, we saw that value is going to be a thing and so we didn't stop trying to pump bitcoin so we can build our own wealth. I do hope that we will come back to P2P one but right now, I do think that bitcoin's price is just too high as I've said already.

The over reliance on Bitcoin as a P2P currency than an investment asset is totally dependent on the view of the conventional finance system as a failed one.

Who wouldn't want to enjoy the benefits that goes with Bitcoin as compared to the limitations of the regular fiat system.

i think slowly overtime bitcoin is switching from an investment asset to a P2P currency. in my opinion, this is going to happen very slowly over many years. when bitcoin was first released in 2009, no one really used it at all. bitcoin prices were less than a cent, basically nothing.  the market cap was so low. this made it so easy for bitcoin to literally pump and 100x - 1000x in price in a very short period of time. obviously only a very slim percentage of people gained from the huge spikes bitcoin did in the early days, because bitcoin wasn't well known, not a lot of people were invested into bitcoin. slowly overtime, more and more people get invested into bitcoin, the market cap grows over time, and it becomes harder for those huge bitcoin 100x spikes. flash forward to now, bitcoin is still very volatile, but now it doesn't go absolutely crazy like it used to in the old days.  depending on where we are in the 4 year cycle, it can 3-4x now, in maybe a year or so, nothing like it used to, obviously this is due to the market cap so massive now this market cap cant be multiplied as easy as it used to. as time keeps going by, i think we still will have bull markets and bear markets, but i think as bitcoin has been doing over time, it will continue to stable out slowly but surely. because bitcoin is stabling out, thats why I believe bitcoin is ever so slowly switching from an investment asset to a P2P currency.

edit: I forgot to emphasize how slow this process of switching from an asset to a p2p currency will happen. yes it can be used as a p2p currency now, and it always has been used as a p2p currency, but it is very volatile still. this is the one downside of it being used as a p2p currency now. its still very much like an asset.  it will become a better p2p currency and less of an asset as volatility slowly decreases over years maybe even decades. theyre interchangeable really, but slowly but surely it will become better use as a p2p then an asset slowly over years.

Bitcoin can be both asset and currency. I think majority of newbies who buy bitcoin do so with the intention to have an investment. Only people who have been in the crypto space will be interested in using bitcoin as a currency. This discussion has been going on for years, hopefully a poll will settle it. If enough people participate in the poll, we can use the stats form the poll as reference later on.
If bitcoin according to Satoshi is digital money then why call it investment.
Bitcoin IS an asset. Do you think it's bad?

For me, Bitcoin is a free world, depending on how it is used, it will be applied that way. Meaning that for some people using it as a currency to convert, exchange, send/receive, pay... it will be a p2p currency and vice versa will be stored as an asset. Bitcoin has flexibility for any usage idea. That would be good for bitcoin, bitcoin should not be imposed as a framework.

It is true that when it comes to direct p2p transactions. it is becoming a problem to use Bitcoin on chain for that. but I think if you are using a p2p platform like Paxful, Binance , OKEX P2P or P2p of any other exchange then these transaction fee won't be problem. because centralized exchanges have their own transfer systems between internal accounts.
so if you want to use Bitcoin for p2p. use a platform like these. or you can use layer2 sulotions or Stablecoins for your convenient,

but when you want to withdraw Cryptocurrency to fiat for personal expense. what method do you use to sell your bitcoins? do you use Bitcoin in p2p trading, or convert that into a stable coin and then do the p2p trade to withdraw that?

It is a free market, so what you think or do mustn't be what the other person does, the freedom in the BTC network is why a lot of people use it. Nevertheless BTC was originally created to be p2p electronic cash that is permissionless and censorship resistant, but if people found other use cases for a currency that runs on a free and decentralized network, nobody can stop them or should even want to.

BTC can be both an asset and p2p electronic cash, you can store BTC for the long time and as well maintain a wallet that stores < or exactly $100 for spending on the go. This is why so many of us use BTC, for its lack of censorship and control.

To be fair Bitcoin initially was a P2P currency, while now it has become an asset. Everyone here in the forum is always promoting the HODL concept that started from this forum. Maximalists are known to be the biggest accumulators and holders, so why ask this question as we have a lot of maxis here? There was a time when Bitcoin was considered as a P2P currency and that happened before LN was launched. Why was BTCLN even decided? The reason is that the main chain cannot help with adopting Bitcoin.

The forum was once flooded with topics comparing Bitcoin with Gold and even the mainstream media started doing it. Why? Because, after 2017 ATH Bitcoin was never considered a P2P currency even countries such as Argentina treat it as an asset class. The country of El Salvador has already implemented BTCLN with its localized wallet to increase the usability of Bitcoin as a legal tender.

For me personally. after arriving of Stablecoins, USDT and other Bitcoin became mostly just an asset, I always prefer to use Stablecoins for p2p purposes (only when withdrawing to fiat). Bitcoin is still my primary payment source when comes to getting paid for my work and other earning sources, as well as any altcoin I earn will be converted into bitcoin if I want to HODL them.
but that doesn't mean Bitcoin in general is not good for p2p. a lot of people still use Bitcoin for p2p.

While the Bitcoin spot ETF approvals are still on the news and it lingers. Take it from Larry Fink on what's his take on this topic.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says Bitcoin "Is An Asset Class That Protects You"
The usage of it as a P2P currency or choice of payment is never gone. But as time goes by, the use case of it is becoming more an asset or a store of value. IMHO, there's no need to debate on it. Choose Bitcoin what you prefer it to be, as an asset, as a P2P currency. What matters is that you hold it on your own hands and not with the exchanges just as many are still doing nowadays.

I actually don't like comparing Bitcoin as a P2P currency and Bitcoin as an asset. Of course, a currency or money will have to be an asset as well, but I think the question here is framed in such a way that asset means something that people invest in or speculate.

Bitcoin as a speculative asset is only attractive because of what it is, a P2P currency. I mean, even if you're treating Bitcoin purely as a new asset class, that it is being popularly perceived as such is precisely brought about by its very features as a legitimate P2P currency. We, therefore, can never disregard Bitcoin as a P2P currency.

I highly disagree with BlackRock's Larry Fink in saying that Bitcoin is not "ever going to be a currency" and that it is only an "asset class". He is wrong. Bitcoin has become an asset class precisely because it is a unique currency. It is sought after not because of anything else but because of its features as a P2P currency.

well, it is very true that nowadays people are more inclined to use bitcoin as an investment tool than P2P currency. However, this happens because of the potential for the price to increase at any time. Apart from that, I think that every day people still use bitcoin as a transaction tool on the internet or in the real world.
However, until now, both are still running, however, their use will depend on the consumer or owner of the bitcoin. they might be able to use it as a transaction tool, or an investment tool, because until now bitcoin still has all these functions.

Honestly speaking, p2p features help a lot in the exchange of a centralized platform. And even with other crypto assets, because, based on my experience, the transaction is actually fast. The only sad thing here in our country is that Binance is having a bit of a problem here.

By chance, we will again be obliged to use our local exchanges here, which have a large spread that is deducted from our transactions. Unlike when we use Binance P2P, it is very fast, there is no fee, and we have many users here in our country in cryptocurrency.

I don't think there is a debate, you just have to understand that Bitcoin has developed from the beginning specially when it become an asset to be traded. So yo can still used it as intended or designed by Satoshi to be p2p, although as of late I will say that with the fees going up not because Bitcoin is being used throughout but by some developers who found the loophole in the code and created ordinals.

However, I still think it is usable for us, and again, there should be no debate as we can take advantage of it as a commodities and make some money and then HODL and wait for the right time to sell to make huge profits.

The thing is that they are both right. It's not just that Bitcoin is both a currency and an investment, it's also about the fact that how the market performs affects how people view Bitcoin.

Imagine your local fiat currency is appreciating over time (reverse inflation) and stuff are getting cheaper which means you'd be able to buy more stuff with the same amount of money you had before. In that scenario, you'd stop spending money as long as the appreciation continues. Therefore treating your fiat like an "investment".
In real scenarios this resembles to what happens when governments raise interest rates.

That's exactly what's been happening to Bitcoin. When one day you see 10000BTC can purchase 2 pizzas and the next day 1000BTC does the same and 14 years later 0.0008BTC can buy the same 2 pizzas, you'll automatically not-want to spend your coins and will hold on to them so that next year you can buy 2 pizzas with 0.0002BTC!
But here is the twist, when price stops rising up so much (mass adoption) then people won't be willing to HODL as much and they'll start spending more.

We can even see this behavior in the past decade while we are before mass adoption. Each time price stabilizes more people are spending bitcoin more regularly.

Your post is quite confusing and not composed well so it can fail to express your opinion.

I guess you wanted to say about Bitcoin transaction fee and its impact on small and big users (in capital scale). I agree that Bitcoin transaction fee becomes more expensive since the appearance of Taproot, Ordinals, BRC2 tokens and Inscription exploitation on Bitcoin blockchain. They even abused ViaBTC Free transaction accelerator too.

This is true, people with small capital will hesitate to use Bitcoin blockchain for transaction recent months. Oppositely people with big capital will do not mind about it because they can spend $50 or $100 transaction fee easily, without headache.

• https://howmanyconfs.com/
• https://blog.lopp.net/how-many-bitcoin-confirmations-is-enough/

Two above resources will help you to know Bitcoin blockchain is the best for security and best for big capital movement.

I hope to see something will be improve technically.

At present, for me it is asset>P2P currency because I have limited avenues of spending the money and I am more concerned in growing my stash than spending it. Not every country is crypt-friendly, as you might be knowing.

Number of businesses using bitcoin as a primary means of transaction is much less than those using fiat. The impact of such companies on the economy is thus small but expected to grow in the near future. When that happens the balance will shift towards P2P>>>Asset.

Still then out main objective should be to collect coins for spending in future and now in this decade.

A person will definitely be more motivated to invest if he knows why he should invest in Bitcoin. Bitcoin is undoubtedly playing an important role as a payment method as well. All the hurdles faced in fiat currency transactions can be seamlessly transacted with Bitcoin. Currently Bitcoin transactions are not widely used due to government restrictions in various places but if the government approves Bitcoin will be at the forefront of financial transactions including any banking system. However, those who have a good understanding of Bitcoin tend to focus on the holding rather than the transaction. Bitcoin will become a valuable asset in long-term investment allowing an investor to earn multiples of his wealth. I personally value investing in Bitcoin as well.

Having Bitcoin is good but the truth is that no matter how long you hold bitcoin, a day shall come when you will decide to sell in other to settle some pressing needs, both functions of Bitcoin are needed for the continue existence of bitcoin, it is advisable for people that receive Bitcoin as a payment and doesn't want to hold for a long term to use exchange wallet so that they won't experience transaction fee problems, their might be delay in receiving the bitcoin itself but once is in the exchange wallet, one can decide whether to leave it their or not, no matter how we see it, bitcoin was meant to exist with those stuffs you mentioned and everyone involved in bitcoin can not do without them but it is left for anyone to chose which one to start with.

I don't seems to agree with this, there's no loss in adoption rate of bitcoin because of it's p2p network, having an increasing transaction fee is entirely different to a condition whereby the network is having a problem or being under attack, whereas there have always been a solution to the high transaction fee you you understand some various ways to pay less, p2p has always been a network as it has been before now.


Well maybe to others as their needs maybe applicable to how they make use of bitcoin, some are still fine in making transactions with it despite the high fees while some don't even mind the cost for that, holding it as an asset is a decision we can take on our own, but remember there's no how you can hodl for that long without still ended on moving to another wallet for exchange.

"Bitcoin as P2P currency vs Bitcoin as an asset" - here the ratio will probably be about 10/90. There is simple confirmation of this. All institutional investors buy bitcoin not for use as a P2P currency, but as a speculative investment instrument. Even those who use it as P2P currency (in most cases) use it as an intermediate wrapper for dollars (or other national currency). I'll explain. People take their dollars, buy bitcoin, send it to others, who eventually convert it back into dollars so that the dollars can be used to buy other goods and services. In fact, at this stage, bitcoin is the same wrapper or shell for traditional money, and not an independent currency. This is one of the bitcoin entities along with an investment asset.

I use bitcoin only to hold and accumulate profit over time at least for now since it is hard to use bitcoin for everyday transactions considering its high transaction fees and slow transaction processes but i believe that this is the future, our future and i am sure that bitcoin could be used as an everyday currency someday but there would be a lot more developments needed in order for us to see that happen

Source? you can't just make a conclusion from your assumption.

There's a difference between P2P currency and currency, if Bitcoin is used to be a P2P currency, it means there's no relation with third party. While as a currency, it doesn't matter whether the person send their coins from CEX or wallet.

According to Bisq trading volume, there are still many people make trades, currently it's higher than 2020 (when Bitcoin price is low) and 2021 (the latest Bitcoin's ATH).


https://bisq.markets/

Using Bitcoin as P2P currency on the main chain is now a costly affair after the ongoing network spam. The transaction fee are too high for now to use it. For adoption the layer 2 solution is the best option available for Bitcoin to continue its adoption growth. Bitcoin is becoming more as an asset when we consider the amount of return it has generated since it was first traded. That is what I think about Bitcoin and that is why I choose asset in the poll.

Unlike before, if I want to send money to someone that is not in my country, I have no option than to use fiat which can be very slow and of high fee. Although bitcoin fee right now is also high but I can send it to the person aboard which would be very fast. If I want to make an foreign online payment, my country is allowed to pay but the bank is declining the transaction. I used bitcoin for the payment. There are times that fiat will fail someone as it is centrally controlled. But I still use fiat for making payments, especially locally which is fast and cheap.. Locally, I see no reason to use bitcoin.

Most of my transactions are local transactions. I use fiat for local transactions. Most of my transactions are local transactions. This always still makes me see bitcoin more as an investment. I have bitcoin because I invested in it. But sometimes I use it for payment. But what I noticed is that people use bitcoin to hedge against inflation and also as an investment, than to be used for P2P transaction. But we should still know that if you use bitcoin for investment, that is not affecting its purpose for P2P transactions.

Yes, this debate has been ongoing for some time now, with inconclusive opinions due to the criteria at hand. We understand that the primary purpose of Bitcoin's invention was to create a new financial system without room for a third party. However, things have taken a different turn as Bitcoin appreciates over time. Its ability to accumulate in price now makes it serve better as an investment rather than a medium of transaction.

The adoption of the peer-to-peer (p2p) system is still growing through large-scale businesses and e-commerce, but I believe the grassroots level (you and me) defines it more. Regardless, we still have p2p users.

Overtime multiple debates have been raised concerning Bitcoin losing its adoption as a P2P currency. A lot users who transact with little amounts of Bitcoins during intervals seem to be in support of loss in Bitcoin P2P adoption. However some other users especially business men who transact non stop with Bitcoin on a larger scale, seem to have the opinion that the adoption rate is quite ok. Of course no one is happy when transacting with Bitcoin during periods of high conjestions as fees can be sometimes annoying.

Nevertheless, Bitcoin has maintained a nice reputation for so long it has now become a wise choice for investment, hence the term hodling. Hodling has also become a topic of interest for Bitcoiners due to its ease and nice returns as time goes on. Due to this Bitcoin now seems more like a nice investment than a P2P currency to a large variety of hodlers.

This is not to say that a lot of person do not  engage equally in both P2P transactions and Hodling. But to see what a majority of Bitcoiners view Bitcoin as. I added a poll to this post so I recommend you venture casting a vote on what aspect you use Bitcoin the most.

Don't forget to keep your keys safe