Topic: Bitcoin - If you had the choice to vote - Commodity or Currency? (Read 253 times)

most majority will support that bitcoin will be currency only not a commodity and my options also bitcoin will be a currency. the bitcoin will be our future currency it will be replace cash system.

Maybe on deepweb bitcoin is really accepted as a currency ,But sad to say , bitcoin today seems failed to become a full currency of the world because of many issues on bitcoin like very slow transaction. Many treated bitcoin as an asset than a currency. In fact many called bitcoin as gold 3.0. Just an opinion.

I find that BTC can exchange between other currencies and it can also be a standard for electronic currencies so it will be a currency. But technically, it is based on blockhan technology, it can be a commodity.

a "commodity" doesn't even make any sense for bitcoin! everything about bitcoin is designed in a way from day one to be a currency. the paper mentions it repeatedly as a digital cash and all the popularity that bitcoin has ever gained and will ever gain in the future has been because it is a currency. i see this as a question with one and only answer: a currency.

I would vote for Bitcoin as a currency as it offers quite a bit more security for my hard-earned "money" with its decentralization than regular centralized banking.

You know, the foreign exchange market is a global decentralized or over-the-counter market for the trading of currencies. So even if your government define Bitcoin as a currency, then traders can still trade it as a commodity. This is why I would want Bitcoin to be defined as a currency and why I would draw my X at the "Define Bitcoin as a Currency" option.

The moment when you define Bitcoin as a commodity, you restrict merchants from accepting it as a currency and that will hurt the whole Bitcoin eco-system.

I voted for commodity; I did this based on the active definitions of a currency vs the definition of a commodity.

Ultimate, since BTC is technically finite, I think it has to be looked at as a commodity since its value is very much defined by market operations, and if not now, then eventually, by supply and demand.

I think it's intent is certainly as a currency, but it's current characteristics, to me, really do not align with that of a currency (not backed by a Government FIAT, not a slowly decreasing inherit value if held.

Ultimately, in it's current state, BTC almost acts a currency that is backed by a commodity, although strangely it's almost itself as the commodity too.

Bottom line though, I think that because BTC, by definition, has a finite value, it ought to always be considered a commodity (keeping in mind that commodities can easily be used as currencies).

I see these two choices that can not be determined one of them for me.
because this option will make me lose the main function of bitcoin I use.

Undoubtedly I would define bitcoin as a currency. This is what bitcoin is supposed to be and what will be once the majority of people start using it in daily life.

I will stay with Satoshi's original intent for Bitcoin and that is for Bitcoin to be a P2P Cash payment alternative for the Fiat

system. It must be the perfect alternative for global payments over all other payment systems. Transactions must be cheap

and fast and also easily accessible.  Lately, more and more people are hoarding Bitcoin and using it as a store of value and

investment token. 

Hm. This a HOT  (Higher Order Thinking Skills) question and I think I can't choose between the two of it. But as what you've asked, I try to defend my opinion. If I will pick the particular usage of bitcoin, I really want it as both because for me, bitcoin is flexible. It can use as our currency and at the same time, it can be used to fill up our commodities.
But then, you are asking to choose only one and I think bitcoin serves as currency. Bitcoin existed to have a peer to peer connection using blockchain technology, hence it can only use as a medium of exchange.

The truth is, a case can be made for either designation, but the official answer depends largely upon geographical location and political influence. Like any form of money, Bitcoin may be readily exchanged for goods and services. It’s accepted around the globe as viable mode of payment.

Actually, there are countries where citizens have the ability to vote on (nearly) every political decision (e.g. swiss).

I, for my part, would always define bitcoin as a currency. Simply because:
(1) satoshi invented BTC as a digital currency, not an object to buy.
(2) Bitcoins value (not price) is defined by the usage. And the usage (as a currency) is to transfer wealth in a secure manner within seconds and with low fees.

Governments probably don't want to accept bitcoin as a currency because this would be the first step (realizing BTC is a currency) towards a global currency BTC.

In the long-term the political decision (whether currency or commodity) won't have a noteworty influence on BTC's adoption-/usage- rate.

This is a very interesting question. If I were give the option, I would be voting Bitcoin as Currency. Simply, because it is a revolutionary currency that is open to maximise in largest adoption. Furthermore, our government should consider that it is time to think that our fiat is now a traditional payment tool.  We should begin adopting blockchain technology for our fiat.

Of course I will vote for currency because at the first place, it was designed to work as a currency or a medium of payment. Although it has some characteristics of being a commodity (like gold), it should work the way satoshi nakamoto designed it, even it is not functioning as a currency right now. But the thing is, even we do vote for currency nor commodity, it will still function as both. And there will be a never ending debate about this because people and other governments have different look on what Bitcoin really is.

Ok, I edited my original post to add that BOTH is not an option. Although the majority of the people would want to vote for that, because Bitcoin is multi-functional. The whole point of the Poll is to determined what people would vote for, IF they only had these two options.

Currently most governments force their decision onto their citizens and most of them define Bitcoin as a commodity. I think the reason behind that is to protect their local reserve currency.  

We can only dream about such world where people were given choice to decide on political and administrative matters. But it will never become a reality. However, to answer your question, I will define bitcoin as a commodity instead of a currency system. Let me explain why,

1. Parallel currency system is not required:
Assuming the government already has an established fiat currency system so accepting bitcoin as a currency would just add another parallel currency system. It would just be an additional way to pay or receive money. So that is not a very effective way of leveraging the power of bitcoin.

2. Commodity won't restrict bitcoin to be used as a currency:
I would like to see bitcoin as an investment. This will provide few additional benefits to the current economic system. Because commodity will attract new investments from the market and due to the price fluctuations, it will provide a source of income to the speculators. Making bitcoin a commodity will certainly not restrict its usage as a currency.  People can still use it as a currency between the willing parties.

3. Extreme price fluctuation is not good for economy:
Yes, you heard that right. Extreme fluctuation can only be helpful if the price goes up and never goes down. But Bitcoin's price can go down to any extent within a very short period of time. So look at the below scenario,

Today's Bitcoin price: $1000
I accepted payment of 1 bitcoin in my store for a goods that costs $1000.

Tomorrow's bitcoin price: $800
I will make direct loss of $200 within a day. Similarly I would make profit of $200 if the price goes up to $1200.

This kind of extreme fluctuations is good for speculators but not good for the sellers of goods and services. It can bring good returns as well as great losses. We don't yet have organized hedge funds who can provide risk covers and not everyone is expert in it.

Even though bitcoin was initially started as a currency but we have deviated from that path long back. It has become an excellent but risky investment choice. So making it a commodity will pave the way for new possibilities.

a currency without a  doubt because bitcoin IS a currency and if you define it as something else it would be like calling the blue sky another color! not that it matters but definitions are sometimes helpful with the understanding and growing of the things. in this case if we define bitcoin as it really is, a currency, then it can grow much easier and faster than if we define it as something that it is not.

I vote for currency since there is only one choice,and the reason is simple from my angle of view.I just think that BTC has a better chance for success if people use it as a currency,otherwise could only become a speculative asset of some large and rich players.The best combination is to be both,commodity and currency since BTC have great infrastructure for for both options and this is blockchain.

I also think that such choice would not be good,in fact it even makes no sense-it is very unlikely that some government would ever think about it in this way.

I'm more inclined to be a commodity. While bitcoin has some monetary attributes, it is not possible to replace the French currency in a short time relative to the strong currency bit currency, which is more appropriate to define bitcoin as a speculative commodity.