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Echoing the other comments here, but because of the blockchain every bitcoin is effectively unique as it is defined by its history of transactions. As is pointe

Echoing the other comments here, but because of the blockchain every bitcoin is effectively unique as it is defined by its history of transactions. As is pointed out by other commenters, a shadey transaction history could lead to lower value. A US dollar on the other hand is truly fungible. It doesn't carry that burden of knowing what transactions it was previously used for.

Rogach 1y ago
You mean this only for cash US dollar - i.e. physical bills? Not USD in bank accounts?
- Eddy_Viscosity2 1y ago
  USD in bank accounts is definitely fungible. They may track who sends what money to whom. But this transaction data is not tied to specific 'dollars' just to 'dollars' in general. So yes, perfectly fungible.
  - Rogach 1y ago
    Inside a single bank - definitely. But if you have dollars in different banks then they suddenly start having very different value. Couple examples just in case: 1. Spending dollars on US soil from an US bank account won't incur extra fees (at least visible to the person - I know about interchange fees, but they are borne by the merchant), while using card issued by a foreign bank can incur fees for cross-border transactions (at the level of 2-3% usually). 2. Sanctions and KYC concerns also make different dollars have different value. Money in US bank account of an US company employee can be used at face value - money in some less-favored country bank, not so much.
    - Eddy_Viscosity2 1y ago
      This examples don't mean the dollars aren't fungible only that where they are stored can make them less accessible or subject to fees. Its like the difference between a gold nugget in your hand and one that's buried deep in the ground. The gold itself is inter-changeable, one nugget is worth the same as the other if side by side. Only one is in a more inaccessible location and you'd have to pay the cost of retrieving it. If you magically switched the two nuggets, the situation would be exactly the same from a value perspective.
extraduder_ire 1y ago
I wouldn't say the US dollar is truly fungible. If you have one of those bills that DB Cooper got, you'll get into trouble if you spend it anywhere.
- Eddy_Viscosity2 1y ago
  Well, yes you are correct. Physical bills have unique serial numbers and a small (effectively insignificant) percentage of these bills are flagged as stolen and can be seized.
- bookofjoe 1y ago
  I'm assuming you're wrote this tongue in cheek. Cooper absconded with his bills in 1971 — 54 years ago. Do you really believe that spending one of them today would bring trouble?
  - rtkwe 1y ago
    I think there'd be a fair amount of interest though I'm not sure how tightly bills returned for destruction are monitored for known serial numbers like that so I'm not sure if anyone could notice. But if they are I think it'd trigger some interest at least just to figure out where you might have gotten it from. Anyone know if there's a monitoring program for serial numbers of interest?
    - bookofjoe 1y ago
      51.years.ago.
      - rtkwe 1y ago
        It's just numbers in a database if they're doing automated scanning, it's basically free to keep an alert around, and if the bills show up new out of nowhere it means there's a decent chance you're relatively close to their original source. The FBI gets out of bed for more inane things than maybe figuring out what happened to DB Cooper (he probably died during the jump or after landing) after all this time.
chipsrafferty 1y ago
This is true of US dollars too, it's just a matter of scale. US dollars are certainly worth less if they have a shady transaction history. That's why money laundering exists - I will pay you $100,000 in dirty money if you give me $95,000 in clean money. Also, US dollars are non-fungible in a collectibles sense because certain id numbers on bills are valuable, older years are valuable (and condition matters). With coins there's a lot more, too - misprints and the like. So I reject your idea. Either they are both fungible, or neither are.

Rogach 1y ago

You mean this only for cash US dollar - i.e. physical bills? Not USD in bank accounts?

Eddy_Viscosity2 1y ago
USD in bank accounts is definitely fungible. They may track who sends what money to whom. But this transaction data is not tied to specific 'dollars' just to 'dollars' in general. So yes, perfectly fungible.
- Rogach 1y ago
  Inside a single bank - definitely. But if you have dollars in different banks then they suddenly start having very different value. Couple examples just in case: 1. Spending dollars on US soil from an US bank account won't incur extra fees (at least visible to the person - I know about interchange fees, but they are borne by the merchant), while using card issued by a foreign bank can incur fees for cross-border transactions (at the level of 2-3% usually). 2. Sanctions and KYC concerns also make different dollars have different value. Money in US bank account of an US company employee can be used at face value - money in some less-favored country bank, not so much.
  - Eddy_Viscosity2 1y ago
    This examples don't mean the dollars aren't fungible only that where they are stored can make them less accessible or subject to fees. Its like the difference between a gold nugget in your hand and one that's buried deep in the ground. The gold itself is inter-changeable, one nugget is worth the same as the other if side by side. Only one is in a more inaccessible location and you'd have to pay the cost of retrieving it. If you magically switched the two nuggets, the situation would be exactly the same from a value perspective.

extraduder_ire 1y ago

I wouldn't say the US dollar is truly fungible. If you have one of those bills that DB Cooper got, you'll get into trouble if you spend it anywhere.

Eddy_Viscosity2 1y ago
Well, yes you are correct. Physical bills have unique serial numbers and a small (effectively insignificant) percentage of these bills are flagged as stolen and can be seized.
bookofjoe 1y ago
I'm assuming you're wrote this tongue in cheek. Cooper absconded with his bills in 1971 — 54 years ago. Do you really believe that spending one of them today would bring trouble?
- rtkwe 1y ago
  I think there'd be a fair amount of interest though I'm not sure how tightly bills returned for destruction are monitored for known serial numbers like that so I'm not sure if anyone could notice. But if they are I think it'd trigger some interest at least just to figure out where you might have gotten it from. Anyone know if there's a monitoring program for serial numbers of interest?
  - bookofjoe 1y ago
    51.years.ago.
    - rtkwe 1y ago
      It's just numbers in a database if they're doing automated scanning, it's basically free to keep an alert around, and if the bills show up new out of nowhere it means there's a decent chance you're relatively close to their original source. The FBI gets out of bed for more inane things than maybe figuring out what happened to DB Cooper (he probably died during the jump or after landing) after all this time.

chipsrafferty 1y ago

This is true of US dollars too, it's just a matter of scale. US dollars are certainly worth less if they have a shady transaction history. That's why money laundering exists - I will pay you $100,000 in dirty money if you give me $95,000 in clean money. Also, US dollars are non-fungible in a collectibles sense because certain id numbers on bills are valuable, older years are valuable (and condition matters). With coins there's a lot more, too - misprints and the like. So I reject your idea. Either they are both fungible, or neither are.