Thanks for all the replies, I really appreciate everyone who made an intelligent point joining the debate, whether we agree or not. I'm pleased to see that many people do agree with me. Here are some words for those who dont:
I'd rather spend my bitcoins than change it to EUR. I only buy EUR and USD so I can get more bitcoins when the price fluctuate.
Spend them on what? There's nothing other than drugs to spend them on. If you want to buy literally anything else (and drugs too), you'll find EUR and USD absolutely perfect for your needs.
I hope you can sell them before the dollar goes bust.
anyone who wants dollars in this environment is not paying a great deal of attention
Hahaha. I am good with dollars, thanks. You can buy things with dollars, plus invest them in legitimate things. You can't buy anything with Bitcoin, and 90% of Bitcoin investments are a scam.
You're suggesting only terrorists & criminals use bitcoin?
What a thing to say.
There are plenty of legit reasons to support and use bitcoins.
1. Economic stability. Bitcoins are more stable than currency printed by central banks.
2. Low transfer costs.
3. Independence from banks, credit cards and others who have near to a monopoly on money exchanges.
4. Protection from inflation.
I'm suggesting that only those who wish to break a law, rule or regulation have a good reason to use bitcoin.
Also, with regards to your points.
1. What utter nonsense. The dollar has been pretty steady against the gbp for 2 years now. Bitcoin has been up and down like a yo-yo. It's the least stable currency in the world.
2. It's only low until all the coins are mined.
3. There are no monopolies with banks and credit cards. I agree that Paypal has a ridiculous monopoly but there's no need for another currency to stop them, just a better system.
4. See point 1.
Why the fuck would someone go to the hassle of converting USD into Bitcoin when they could go on amazon and buy any of that instantly with their credit card?
Of course, there's also all the normal people who simply want to hedge against inflation and therefore buy some gold, silver and Bitcoins - what's wrong with that?
This is the only decent counterargument I've seen. However the fact remains that you can't eat gold, silver or Bitcoins. If you want food or to pay your mortgage/rent, you still need to turn it into government backed currency. I also think the price fluctuates way too much to make it useful for this purpose, but I guess as a wildcard hedge in a basket of commodities it kinda makes sense. Kinda. But I honestly don't think many people are interested in doing that. Most people see inflation as a fact of life, not something to wage a life long battle against. That might be unwise but it is the prevailing attitude.
I use Bitcoin because it is usually simpler and faster and cheaper and more secure than all other ways of international money transfer.
In my opinion the future is legal. I sell coins every day to people who use the coins to pay for services or as a store of value / investment. Nothing of this is illegal. And the value will of course drop to the bottom if Bitcoin is deemed illegal. Both I and most other people will get rid of all we have as soon as possible, and it is going to be hard to do it in a legal way.
Simpler? Than going to a bank and doing an IBAN transfer? Man, cheaper maybe but not simpler. Getting money in and out of Bitcoin is an extreme hassle for most people. I don't think, for most people, it's a substantially better way to transfer money internationally. It's pretty slow, there is a hassle getting money in and out the system, and transfers won't be free forever.
Plus, for people to use Bitcoin to transfer money, they need to be aware of it, and they need to make a special effort to use it. Why would anyone spend money in order to market the system like that? They would need a reason, and that means exchange fees.
As to your 2nd point, if Bitcoin is made illegal somewhere then the value will soar. And of course people will be able to use it legally in another country.
