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Topic: Could Bitcoin serve as a crypto-commodity alongside a crypto-currency? (Read 1170 times)

sr. member
Activity: 367
Merit: 250
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Surely a geniune crypto-currency to be used as cash would be something more like Freicoin, it has built in demurrage meaning it depreciates at a rate of 5% per year, which solves the hoarding problem. Obviously the world at large which is used to getting (very little in many "leading" economies)  interest on savings may find this concept hard to digest, but it has genuine merit. ( I do not yet own any Freicoins, I'm still researching alt-coins, I feel in honesty that the genuine crypto-currency to compliment Bitcoin will be able to have transactions confirmed much faster than Bitcoin/Freicoin).

Introducing a secondary alt-currency might appear to solve this stability problem, but none of the hoarders would be willing to keep their currency in Freicoin very long if they understood that it would be subject to inflation.  Indeed overtime in the long term, the friecoin/bitcoin exchange rate would be expected to drop.  This is precisely the reason why I've moved investments to bitcoin.  But the tricky thing is, I have no problem spending that bitcoin for when I actually need something.  This gives me no incentive whatsoever to use freicoin.  Going from bitcoin to freicoin just to make a purchase would offer me no immediate advantage and it would just be an extra step.
member
Activity: 84
Merit: 10
Bitcoin is both a currency and a commodity.  This has always been the case.  Always.

The best way to deal with bitcoin is to stop trying to layer crap on top of it, and just use it.  It doesn't need more layers of crap - that's just a way for marketers and business management 'professionals' to get into the game without putting in any skin.

I note that light is both a particle and a wave.

And that nobody knows if the cat is dead...
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Activity: 107
Merit: 10
Everywhere I look on the forums I see the same thing mentioned time and again. People say things like  "for bitcoin's value to really soar it must be accepted by some major companies as a currency" and "Bitcoin's price just needs to appreciate high enough to become stable".   Well given the volatile exchange rate and deflationary nature of bitcoin, I'm finding it hard to have confidence that either of those events could ever happen.  Even if a couple of major players do start accepting it and the value shoots through the roof, no one really has an idea what "high enough" is.  What if it got to $3000 and was still bouncing about like a mad thing? Eventually things would turn ugly and those that don't get out in time will find themselves up the creek without a paddle.  

However I believe there is an alternative future for Bitcoin. Some criticise bitcoin becuse it's not backed by anything. I say lets take it a step further.  Let's have crypto-currency backed by Bitcoin.  OK, that's not quite right, but what I mean is lets have a purpose built crypto-currency for making our purchases, paying wages etc, and then if people want to save they can convert to bitcoin for hoarding purposes.  

Surely a geniune crypto-currency to be used as cash would be something more like Freicoin, it has built in demurrage meaning it depreciates at a rate of 5% per year, which solves the hoarding problem. Obviously the world at large which is used to getting (very little in many "leading" economies)  interest on savings may find this concept hard to digest, but it has genuine merit. ( I do not yet own any Freicoins, I'm still researching alt-coins, I feel in honesty that the genuine crypto-currency to compliment Bitcoin will be able to have transactions confirmed much faster than Bitcoin/Freicoin).

Does anyone else think that would make for a more sensible and secure future for bitcoin? Or do you feel that there is not really a need for a crypto-commodity, and that we only need a crypto-currency?  As you can tell I'm really interested to get peoples opinion on this!


 
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