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> there is zero (actually negative) market uptake of bitcoin as a payment platform ... This is because no work has gone into scaling up transaction throughput
by Udik 9y ago
> there is zero (actually negative) market uptake of bitcoin as a payment platform ... This is because no work has gone into scaling up transaction throughput
No, or only partly so. The other, more fundamental reason why bitcoin will never be a payment platform, is that it doesn't behave as a currency, but as a commodity. The hard limit on the number of bitcoin is both the guarantee of its value and what makes it an intrinsically deflationary good. Its monstrous current price proves it, and it can only go up (almost) indefinitely or go bust.
With these characteristics, nobody will ever want to use it as a payment method. You don't want to pay with a bitcoin, when you know that in the future that same bitcoin will be worth n times its value today. If you have used bitcoins in the past for transactions- you might have paid 50 bitcoins for a book in 2011- I'm sure you're sorely regretting it now.
- ckastner 9y agoInitially I perceived Bitcoin to be a payment platform, but I too now believe that it now behaves more like a commodity. Which is odd, because without any other utility, what's the point in choosing this commodity over others?
- aerique 9y agoThe only reason I can think of is entirely human: because others are using it.
- VMG 9y ago> With these characteristics, nobody will ever want to use it as a payment method. People have used gold as a payment method for millenia. If holding bitcoin is as attractive as you say it is, businesses will give discounts for bitcoin payment which can compensate the effect you describe. In other words, if bitcoin is as attractive as you say it is, you would convert to fiat only when you want purchase something, and the merchant would immediately convert from fiat to bitcoin. Why would both parties in the transaction chose to transact in such an inefficient way?
- marcosscriven 9y agoI’ve seen forums posts from the early days where people have mentioned giving a tenth or so of a Bitcoin as a tip to thank them for an answer. Quite a tip now!