Bitcoin certainly isn't money according to this definition and it never will be. It cannot melt and therefore fails 8.
However, I don't think this concept of "money" is interesting or useful. May I introduce a related but far more relevant term: "minney".
A "minney" is anything which is used as a medium of exchange, store of value, and unit of account. The "success" of a minney is simply a measure of the degree to which it is used for these purposes.
Bitcoin is certainly a minney (as are many of the altcoins) but is not a very successful one at present. I believe it has the potential to be a very successful minney in the future.
Topic: I know Gold and Silver are money. Is Bitcoin money? - page 3. (Read 2413 times)
I thought about this last night, and I think it's important everyone understands this.
You started with "I know gold and silver are money. Is bitcoin money?"
The question is, why do you KNOW gold and silver are money? What makes them have VALUE to YOU?
It can't easily be spent, you won't know how much in spendable currency you truly have until someone offers to pay that amount to you.
It cannot be easily split into smaller pieces of currency, so owning it isn't feasible for the regular person.
It cannot be spent readily, (how many grocery stores accept gold as a form of payment?)
Stability, well it's gone from very mediocre to extremely valuable due to the world economy in the past 8 years.
So you have to ask yourself, why is GOLD money?
Gold is money because we know it is limited, it has rarity, and because we say so.
Sand is NOT money because it's too plentiful, it is easily obtained by everyone.
Bitcoin, IS money because we say so, just like gold.
But it is better than gold.
Like gold, Bitcoin has rarity, except we know exactly how rare it is (the total maximum number of bitcoins.)
Like gold, it is not easily spent at a grocery store, but that can change, unlike gold, which will not be accepted by your local grocery store.
Like gold, even though you can't eat it, or make a viable shelter out of it, it has value because of it's rarity. It's a "because we say so" store of value.
Unlike gold:
You can store all of it you own in a secure location in your house.
You can spend part of the amount stored in your house, and keep it safe. (You can have it all on a USB, put some on a phone, and if your phone is stolen, your phone has a secure password and you can withdraw the bitcoins from a backup of the phone's wallet, so you don't actually lose your money.)
There is no weight to bitcoins, so you can have an unlimited amount in your possession.
Although blockchain would like to use the term, "Be your own bank", I don't agree with your usage, but it does apply to bitcoin.
My usage of "Bitcoin: Be Your Own Bank" is more like,
You can store ALL of your bitcoin in your home, and withdraw and deposit as you feel like. So the trip to the bank is as simple as taking out the USB from your safe and putting it in your laptop to send some money to a hot wallet. Then returning it to storage.
So with bitcoin, you really can BE YOUR OWN BANK!
Thanks.
You started with "I know gold and silver are money. Is bitcoin money?"
The question is, why do you KNOW gold and silver are money? What makes them have VALUE to YOU?
It can't easily be spent, you won't know how much in spendable currency you truly have until someone offers to pay that amount to you.
It cannot be easily split into smaller pieces of currency, so owning it isn't feasible for the regular person.
It cannot be spent readily, (how many grocery stores accept gold as a form of payment?)
Stability, well it's gone from very mediocre to extremely valuable due to the world economy in the past 8 years.
So you have to ask yourself, why is GOLD money?
Gold is money because we know it is limited, it has rarity, and because we say so.
Sand is NOT money because it's too plentiful, it is easily obtained by everyone.
Bitcoin, IS money because we say so, just like gold.
But it is better than gold.
Like gold, Bitcoin has rarity, except we know exactly how rare it is (the total maximum number of bitcoins.)
Like gold, it is not easily spent at a grocery store, but that can change, unlike gold, which will not be accepted by your local grocery store.
Like gold, even though you can't eat it, or make a viable shelter out of it, it has value because of it's rarity. It's a "because we say so" store of value.
Unlike gold:
You can store all of it you own in a secure location in your house.
You can spend part of the amount stored in your house, and keep it safe. (You can have it all on a USB, put some on a phone, and if your phone is stolen, your phone has a secure password and you can withdraw the bitcoins from a backup of the phone's wallet, so you don't actually lose your money.)
There is no weight to bitcoins, so you can have an unlimited amount in your possession.
Although blockchain would like to use the term, "Be your own bank", I don't agree with your usage, but it does apply to bitcoin.
My usage of "Bitcoin: Be Your Own Bank" is more like,
You can store ALL of your bitcoin in your home, and withdraw and deposit as you feel like. So the trip to the bank is as simple as taking out the USB from your safe and putting it in your laptop to send some money to a hot wallet. Then returning it to storage.
So with bitcoin, you really can BE YOUR OWN BANK!
Thanks.
Bitcoin lacks numbers 1 7 and 8.
I think it fits 1, 7, and 8 as well.
1.) You use a debit card right? Plenty of people accept online payments today. I think the vast majority of people do... Bitcoin is made of the same binary data type.
7.) Stability isn't inborn to the material used in money, it's a relative factor compared with the scale of the user base. The value of gold is determined by social networking (bartering is social networking when you scale it to an economy). The stability is affected by supply; Bitcoin does have a fixed supply.
8.) Bitcoin can't be melted but it can serve other purposes; colored coins for instance just being one other purpose. The root of why number 8 is important isn't the melting of metal, rather the practical use of precious metal outside of money. Bitcoin doesn't have manufacturing use outside of money but it does meet the root requirement that the material be useful for a purpose outside of money.
I don't know that malleability is really a big factor now that we are in the digital age. I think we live in a world that deals with a lot more intangible objects than thousands of years ago when gold, silver, etc. were used as a form of money.
Bitcoin lacks numbers 1 7 and 8.
BTC
I love and use bitcoin regularly. Prior to discovering, bitcoin, I could be considered a gold/silver bug. I'm convinced about the quality of the aforementioned metals but would like your opinion on bitcoin.
Is it money?
For any medium of exchange to be considered money, it must possess the following qualities:
1. General Acceptability
The material of which money is made should be acceptable to all without any hesitation.
2. Portability
Money should be easily carried or transferred from one place to another.
3. Durability
Money material must last for a long time without losing its value.
4. Divisibility
Money material must be easily sub-divided to allow for the purchase of smaller units of the commodities.
5. Homogeneity
Money should be homogeneous. Its units should be identical; they should be of equal quality and physically indistinguishable.
6. Cognisability
Money should be easily recognized.
7. Stability
The value of money should remain stable and should not change for a long period of time.
8. Malleability
The money material should be capable of being melted and put to different forms. Gold, silver, copper, etc., have this quality.
The precious metals, gold and silver by and large, possess the above mentioned qualities of good money material. It is because of this reason, that these metals have been used as money for a considerably long period of time. Government printed money, on the other hand, is not very durable(tears easily), it is not recognized outside of specific borders but might be be capable of being put to different forms(toilet paper)
Is Bitcoin money?
I love and use bitcoin regularly. Prior to discovering, bitcoin, I could be considered a gold/silver bug. I'm convinced about the quality of the aforementioned metals but would like your opinion on bitcoin.
Is it money?
For any medium of exchange to be considered money, it must possess the following qualities:
1. General Acceptability
The material of which money is made should be acceptable to all without any hesitation.
2. Portability
Money should be easily carried or transferred from one place to another.
3. Durability
Money material must last for a long time without losing its value.
4. Divisibility
Money material must be easily sub-divided to allow for the purchase of smaller units of the commodities.
5. Homogeneity
Money should be homogeneous. Its units should be identical; they should be of equal quality and physically indistinguishable.
6. Cognisability
Money should be easily recognized.
7. Stability
The value of money should remain stable and should not change for a long period of time.
8. Malleability
The money material should be capable of being melted and put to different forms. Gold, silver, copper, etc., have this quality.
The precious metals, gold and silver by and large, possess the above mentioned qualities of good money material. It is because of this reason, that these metals have been used as money for a considerably long period of time. Government printed money, on the other hand, is not very durable(tears easily), it is not recognized outside of specific borders but might be be capable of being put to different forms(toilet paper)
Is Bitcoin money?
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