Reading the responses to the recent topic titled, "I would sell all my bitcoins if…." has left me concerned.
The kinds of responses on that thread reveal a deep misunderstanding of bitcoin and the current monetary system in many of those who are speculating. Let's consider the scenario in which bitcoin reaches $1000 or let's say $10,000 per bitcoin. Many have said they will cash out if bitcoin reaches this point. Why??
If bitcoin reaches $10,000 it will have to be because the fiat currencies of the world are tumbling to worthlessness via a hyperinflation type scenario and bitcoin is the safe haven, which if you know anything about the current monetary systems of the world, you know this is inevitable. (there have been 3800 fiat currencies throughout history and EVERY SINGLE LAST ONE has crashed to worthlessness; a value of zero) Why would you then sell all of your sound money (Bitcoin) for a bunch of fiat money that is inevitably becoming worthless? I don't understand the logic in doing that.
If bitcoin ever reaches $10,000 per bitcoin, you will NEVER see me selling for fiat paper money. You may however see me having a shopping spree at Overstock.com or TigerDirect.com or NewEgg.com! I will be buying things I want with my bitcoin profits DIRECTLY WITH BITCOIN, not selling my bitcoin for paper fiat. Hopefully by then there will be many more options, perhaps even Amazon.com will be accepting bitcoin for goods and I can have my shopping spree there.
Point being, selling bitcoin for dollars seems counterproductive. Why convert your paper fiat currency into sound value storing superior bitcoin, only to sell all of your superior bitcoin back for worthless antiquated fiat currency again? Why not just spend the bitcoin itself to buy what you want instead of taking a loss by converting back into dollars which will inflate away eventually anyway?
First, every single fiat currency has not "crashed to worthlessness; a value of zero." USD may be worth less than it used to be, but it's not worth zero. Ditto the Euro, Yen, Yuan, Ruble, etc. etc. You get the point. All these currencies currently have a value more than zero; your hyperbole got the best of you.
Second, you say that if Bitcoin ever reaches $10,000, it will have to be because the fiat currencies of the world are tumbling to worthlessness via hyperinflation. This isn't true. Bitcoin reached $1100 in 2013 as part of a hysterical bubble before coming back down to a reasonable level. It had nothing to do with faulty currency and everything to do with speculation and hysteria by people with an unreasonable expectation of what Bitcoin is and how fast it's going to become what it's eventually going to be. Bitcoin's price history has operated in defiance of fiat policy to this point, not correlated to it.
Third, and most importantly, you directly counter the logic of your post later on when you say that if bitcoin goes to 10 grand, you'll be buying things "with your bitcoin profits." However, as you earlier asserted, if bitcoin were ever to get to 10 grand, it MUST be because all the fiat is failing. Assuming you were to be right about that for a second, you wouldn't be making any profit at all, you'd simply be staying where you were. If hyperinflation is happening around you, but you're in a stable currency, that doesn't give you more value than you had before hyperinflation because the prices of everything denominated in USD will be hyperinflating with the currency. And anything denominated in bitcoin will stay stable, the same as your value in bitcoin. So fiat inflation gives you no more buying power than you had before. That's a pretty critical thing not to understand.
