viewtopic.php?f=78&t=5326&start=60#p101335
will89 wrote:GoSeigen wrote:will89 wrote:Bitcoin isn't a currency, it's more akin to a commodity or a store of value like gold. I can't pay for my shopping with a gold bar either but it still has value.
The way you load all the arguments with phrases like 'proper currency' and 'foolish people' really isn't constructive.
This is disningenuous. You know very well that it is widely described as a currency. Your own claim that you have a card to "spend" bitcoin has the plain language implication that the bitcoin should be viewed as equivalent to a currency.
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This is just wrong, it's been widely discussed that Bitcoin is a commodity not a currency.
It's been widely discussed but that does not mean it's accepted or even clear: it's a moot point, for instance:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and worldwide payment system. It is the first decentralized digital currency – the system works without a central repository or single administrator. [with references]
Bitcoin is widely described and believed to be a "currency", with the limited understanding but positive connotations that go along with the term. If you don't like that, then feel free to fix the sources, but don't shoot the messenger!
Anyway, if you consider bitcoin not to be a currency, then we at least agree on that. Satoshi Nakamoto described bitcoin as an "electronic cash system" and not a "currency" in his whitepaper and I agree, that has not really changed.
will89 wrote:
My debit card for Bitcoin is no different to having a card where someone shaves a small bit of gold from my block every time I use the card for a GBP transaction.
True, a bit like gold, but that's different to your earlier claim that: "I have a crypto debit card in my wallet with Bitcoin loaded onto it that I can spend just like I would any other money."
I disagreed with the earlier statement. When you use a regular debit card or cash, you contract with a trader in pounds sterling and the trader receives the contracted amount in pounds sterling cash or via the debit card intermediary.
When you use your bitcoin debit card, the trader is not taking your bitcoin. They are taking the established currency. Your contract in bitcoins is with your card provider or their agent. When you buy something with the card, you agree that your card provider will liquidate some of your bitcoin at market value and advance real currency to the trader with whom you are dealing.
In this transaction you exposed to additional market risk: you are relying on the fact that there is a counterparty in the market for your bitcoin and are at the mercy of the price that party is prepared to pay for the bitcoin at that moment. In effect you are engaged in two deals and not one every time you pay for something: the purchase of the item from the trader and the sale of your bitcoin into the market.
If bitcoin were a proper currency with guaranteed, stable value, sound legal basis and accptable transaction costs, this arrangement might be viable.
Until then, this is quite different to a normal debit card; if a bitcoin card provider equates the two in their marketing that is a deceptive practice IMO.
GS