BITCOIN

Zola.

There is of course a flip side to that - paying in bitcoin during a parabolic run or realising longer term gains and essentially eating for free. 

Adyinvestment

Frequentlyhere said:

Adyinvestment said:

Thrugelmir said:

Who wants to hold a currency whose value could have fallen in the time you've entered the restaurant to the time you need to pay the bill. 

Isn't that the case with any currency in a foreign country?

No. The £/$/Euro very rarely dip 10% over the duration of a long lunch.

The correct answer is Yes

Saying one can fluctuate more than another doesn't change the answer.

Gary1984

The degree of volatility is clearly important and Bitcoin's high volatility makes it unsuitable for use in everyday transactions as are being discussed.

There's also the point that by paying in Bitcoin you're introducing currency risk for no good reason. My example was buying a meal abroad. But if I want fish & chips in the UK why would it even cross my mind to use anything other than the currency I get paid in and the one the chippie expects to receive payment in (Sterling)?

Gary1984

Zola. said:

There is of course a flip side to that - paying in bitcoin during a parabolic run or realising longer term gains and essentially eating for free. 

So we've gone from:

'You can pay for things in Bitcoin' to 'You can convert Bitcoin to local currency to pay for things' to 'using bitcoin forces you to speculate on its wild wild swings in valuation but you may win a free lunch!'

Zola.

You can do all of those things yes, although you are not forced to do anything...

HHarry

Over the course of 220 pages Bitcoin has,

Been the new fiat but with out The Man watching you
Been a store of wealth
Been the reserve currency for developing nations
Been a Forex oppurtunity.

Is it any wonder that the sceptics aren’t in any rush to change their minds.

Zola.

Those things are not mutually exclusive. 
Bitcoin will continue to be many more things as its use case widens... 

Malthusian

Zola. said:

There is of course a flip side to that - paying in bitcoin during a parabolic run or realising longer term gains and essentially eating for free a losing punter's lunch.

FTFY. Punters' free lunches out == punters' hunger in.

If you want to eat for free you could also just sit down next to a cashpoint and look forlorn until someone buys you a sandwich and a cup of tea.

Zola.

Irrelevant

lozzy1965

Zola. said:

Those things are not mutually exclusive. 
Bitcoin will continue to be many more things as its use case widens... 

I believe the 'use case' for "new fiat but with out The Man watching you" has well and truly failed.  I've heard a few pro BTC's acknowledge this.
"store of wealth" so far not so good.
"reserve currency for developing nations" so far not so good, kind of goes hand in hand with the previous 'use case'.
"a Forex opportunity", succeeded, as in it's been a total gamble so far, plenty of winners who were early to the party, not so much if late arrivers.
So not entirely sure it's a case of its use case widening so much as frantically rushing round trying to find one beyond being a way to switch money abroad quickly!