Topic: Do most bitcoin users actually think.. - page 2. (Read 3557 times)

No, and no. Arguably Bitcoin is already a great success for the people it appeals to, and it could very well always remain a niche, or subculture. There is no need for it to replace anything to be successful. It can just add to the world. It's not a zero sum game...

Your question is a bit like asking "Will Linux ever replace every computer operating system in the world"? Sure, with web servers (and later Android) it made a great paces toward large share of the computational devices on the world, but it hasn't replaced anything.

Short Answer: Not much.

Then
1 Bitcoin = 1 Ferrari
It's that simple.

No..and it doesn't need to. The reality of the situation is that if a very small percentage of the world thinks "Hey..I think I want to use or hold a bitcoin" then we're moving multiple orders of magnitude higher.

What happens if 12 million people each want 1 bitcoin?

Most currency is already electronic in nature. Trading in pieces of paper really declined a generation ago. I can imagine a time when a “one world” electronic funds transfer system exists that is controlled by no political system, relies on no governments backing and is used as a standard transfer of wealth between nation states.  Bitcoin or some successor would fulfill that role nicely. I don’t believe Bitcoin is well suited for the “man in the street” to use as his daily currency system (like fiat) but it definitely has a purpose. It has been fun being a part of this experiment nonetheless.

If a magic man approached me today and told me "Yes BTC will prosper as long as whatever fiat you choose." I would dump every penny today.

While I don't think that Bitcoin is ever going to exclusively exist as money, and that some form of fiat currency will continue to exist pretty much everywhere on Earth; I do think that Bitcoin (or it's successor) has the potential to become the world's next global reserve currency.  I can't envision a future wherein international trade is likely to return to any kind of gold standard; too many problems with letters-of-credit and such that Bitcoin solves natively.  In two generations, banknotes with the promise of "backing" by Bitcoin reserves will be common enough as well.  The age of paper fiat currencies is fading away, but it will take many generations before fiat is no longer dominate.

You don't think people will give up on fiat? The problem is, when fiat enters hyperinflation, people don't have a choice.

We live in an interesting time where the worlds' major fiat currencies are being printed at an alarming rate. And by alarming, I mean - look at the freakin' graph. That the USD and JPY haven't seen hyperinflation yet is astounding. The current rate of printing means that either (1) they will stop printing and the economy will crash and fiat will die, or (2) they will continue printing up until a point that triggers a hyperinflation event, the economy will still crash, and fiat will be just as dead. It isn't a question of waiting for QE to work - QE doesn't work. It's a last-resort tactic that can only end badly.

What's being done right now and for the recent past is a Keynesian experiment. Don't assume fiat will continue to be stable just because it's been that way for most of your life. Tunnel vision etc.

That being said, bitcoin's future could be anyone's guess. There are numerous possibilities -
- A future world with a combination of local currencies, barter, real bills systems, precious metals, localized freeconomies, resource-based economies, and assorted cryptocoins.
Look through history and you will find examples of local currencies, precious metals, barter economies, and even on a smaller scale, tribal and village economies. Fiat was a nice experiment in state domination and its result was that Satoshi invented bitcoin to get us back on track

Oh yeah, and what Elwar said. In the end, what matters to me is that I can use Bitcoin for many of the things I wish to purchase, which I can.

As long as I can use bitcoin for what I need to use and leave government currency behind that is all I care about. If other people use it or not, that is up to them.

I can already use bitcoin for about 80% of what I spend on.

Bitcoin could really make online as well as person 2 person transaction very easy and practical.

example: If you are with a friend and want to remit 213 dollars, this is impractical since your friend does not accept credit cards.

that amount of cash isn't prohibitive but nobody thinks it is smart to carry that much around, your friend ultimately wants this in their account and may tolerate paypal, but doesn't really want to, because it will take 3 days before it gets anywhere they can actually use, and the "abnormal transaction" might freeze their paypal account since they dont use it regularly.

They could also give out banknotes that are backed up by Bitcoins lol
All they would need to do is printing notes with Bitcoin adresses without private keys, but the right to claim them for this banknote somewhere.

I don't think so, but it doesn't need to. Email didn't completely replace written/printed letters

Physical coins have a real edge..

Potentially some trusted source, like Government, could make physical coins equivalent to their own cryptocurrency.. stamping them with a unique number.

Most likely Bitcoin will become an established parallel and perhaps in a couple of decades once it's confirmed itself, then we'll be born with an amount of BTC to our name and utopia will naturally follow.. it's all good

not in my lifetime..
but i am an old fart.

I am convinced some kind of crypto currency will be the world-wide currency in the future. However, if that is Bitcoin or some world-government backed currency in the future, I don't know.

Not because of bitcoin fiat is dead because the world is tired of greedy backstabbing control freaks.  Things are moving most people don't know about.  They few are not going to be allowed to control everyone much longer.

I don't know if other people will use it everyday for basic purchases, I just know that I will.

No.

you prob want to have a password then, just sayin

I think QR codes are easy. 

Cash register has a QR code. I scan and pay. The hyperfast bitcoin network of the future verifies the payment.  That was easy. I didn't have to touch filthy disease-laden cash or remember any passwords.  I pressed a button, typed in the amount, and the cash register rings.  It's a germophobe's dream!