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Why are journalists obsessed with bitcoin needing to replace money? It doesn't have to in order to succeed.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
gooseus 9y ago
What exactly does "succeeding" look like for bitcoin nowadays? Because back before it became "that the thing that everyone was trying to profit from", there was at least the sense that it would be somewhat useful as a currency, if not replace cash entirely for most online transactions.
- tenaciousDaniel 9y ago
  It really doesn't seem like crypto could ever be useful as a replacement for currency, because it's deflationary. There are a few interesting projects looking to create a stable coin on top of Ethereum.
  - perl4ever 9y ago
    Has anybody (smarter than me) looked at the Bitcoin code and said "what if we try to change it such that transaction costs are capped rather than number of coins"? That would basically make the supply proportional to demand...or something like that.
    - xorcist 9y ago
      It doesn't seem to matter much if transaction costs are fixed. 0.0005 BTC paid for a transaction two years ago. It will still pay for a transaction. That doesn't seem to make many end users much happier. They would rather like to see transaction costs sharply drop to compensate for the equally sharp rise in USD/BTC value. Sadly, that's not how it works, which has led to endless drama on the Internet.
      - perl4ever 9y ago
        I meant real transaction costs, not nominal. Which of course points vaguely to the idea that if the supply of bitcoins expanded proportional to usage maybe it wouldn't be deflationary?
        tenaciousDaniel 9y ago
        I've never understood why the supply needs to be fixed. So long as there's a mechanism around creating new coins.
afterburner 9y ago
Because that's the pitch from bitcoin fans.
aplorbust 9y ago
What is Bitcoin Really Worth? By ROBERT J. SHILLER DEC. 15, 2017 Robert J. Shiller, Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale, is an adviser to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, part of the CME Group. These are his views, not those of the exchange.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

What exactly does "succeeding" look like for bitcoin nowadays? Because back before it became "that the thing that everyone was trying to profit from", there was at least the sense that it would be somewhat useful as a currency, if not replace cash entirely for most online transactions.

tenaciousDaniel 9y ago
It really doesn't seem like crypto could ever be useful as a replacement for currency, because it's deflationary. There are a few interesting projects looking to create a stable coin on top of Ethereum.
- perl4ever 9y ago
  Has anybody (smarter than me) looked at the Bitcoin code and said "what if we try to change it such that transaction costs are capped rather than number of coins"? That would basically make the supply proportional to demand...or something like that.
  - xorcist 9y ago
    It doesn't seem to matter much if transaction costs are fixed. 0.0005 BTC paid for a transaction two years ago. It will still pay for a transaction. That doesn't seem to make many end users much happier. They would rather like to see transaction costs sharply drop to compensate for the equally sharp rise in USD/BTC value. Sadly, that's not how it works, which has led to endless drama on the Internet.
    - perl4ever 9y ago
      I meant real transaction costs, not nominal. Which of course points vaguely to the idea that if the supply of bitcoins expanded proportional to usage maybe it wouldn't be deflationary?
      - tenaciousDaniel 9y ago
        I've never understood why the supply needs to be fixed. So long as there's a mechanism around creating new coins.

afterburner 9y ago

Because that's the pitch from bitcoin fans.

aplorbust 9y ago

What is Bitcoin Really Worth? By ROBERT J. SHILLER DEC. 15, 2017 Robert J. Shiller, Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale, is an adviser to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, part of the CME Group. These are his views, not those of the exchange.