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I was discussing with some people these days (in a bar, drinking some beers paid with sats) about what is Bitcoin as financial instrument.
And I made a simple drawing on a piece of paper using the 3 circles diagram, positioning myself in the middle:

Where do you position yourself in this diagram?

I will explain why I position myself in the middle, based on how I use bitcoin and what is for me. Maybe for each one of you is something different.
1. Bitcoin as money is:
  • medium of exchange
  • unit of account
  • self banking / self custody
  • financial sovereignty
  • worldwide acceptance (no need to use a currency exchange)
  • property
  • freedom of speech / censorship resistance
  • no coercion
  • path to freedom
2. Bitcoin as asset is:
  • limited property
  • still depending on a fiat currency
  • capital gains
  • possible coercion for taxation
  • custodial / self-custodial
  • dependable of a currency exchange
  • you are still under a fiat system
3. Bitcoin as currency is:
  • backed by bitcoin as money
  • is used only as currency exchange platform, to facilitate exchanges between other fiat currencies (paypal over bitcoin)
  • capital gains (maybe)
  • property (maybe if is self-custody)
  • possible coercion for taxation
  • you are still under a fiat system
Discuss...
71 sats \ 0 replies \ @OT 13 Sep
I feel like its mostly a money.
An asset feels like something you would trade. And a currency feels like its something issued from a government.
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A "Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System"?
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That's pretty much where TheWildHustle is.
If not its 10 toes deep into the money camp, striving for 11.
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21 sats \ 0 replies \ @zx 13 Sep
I like that answer. I sit in the money part of Venn. Asset and currency are always derided by opposition, which is retarded but fine. P2P electronic cash system for the win.
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good one, I forgot about it.
But where do YOU position yourself in that image?
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110 sats \ 1 reply \ @bitalion 13 Sep
Money, that has always been its purpose, although many claim that it is a store of value, everything is clear in the whitepaper bitcoin a P2P electronic cash system
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OK but where do YOU position yourself in that image?
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I don't think of these categories as intersecting circles, but rather as subsets of each other.
"Asset" is the broadest category for things of financial value.
"Currencies" are a type of asset that are primarily valued for their value in exchange.
"Money" is a type of currency that also serves as a store of value and unit of account, as well as being universally accepted as payment within the community.
Eventually, I expect bitcoin to emerge as the one real money, at which time it will also be the only currency.
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49 sats \ 0 replies \ @jgbtc 13 Sep
That was my thought too. The circles are not perfectly aligned because fiat has distorted how we think about money so severely. Bitcoin aligns these circles and I'm right in the middle.
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100 sats \ 0 replies \ @Lux 14 Sep
Bitcoin is money
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Over time it takes on more of those attributes as it gets adopted.
  • It started as just a digital property, like online beanie babies.
  • Soon we found that monetarily worthwhile, so began trading it for fiat. (Securitized)
  • Then it became apparent that we could use it as a Store of Value.
  • As we become bitcoin rich, we spend some, making it a Method of Exchange.
  • And one day, when most everyone is spending it, we'll all price our good in it, using it as a Unit of Account.
Clearly we are working on Method of Exchange still, and as Layer2 payment rails are perfected we'll get the rest of the world jumping on board easily. Right now it's not so easy. I'd say another 10 years before it's an actual Unit of Account anywhere. Maybe 20 years before it's a Unit of Account (and the world's reserve currency) everywhere.
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I look forward to Bitcoin being money that doesn't care what the USD value is. In a self sustaining , sovereign community where everyone trades services and goods for Bitcoin with each other, the value outside that community could be irrelevant.
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Like a gallon of milk could be 10 sats because we say so and go from there to value everything else.
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Definitely in the middle of the picture. I see it as CURRENCY-ASSET-MONEY
And there is no second best. It is definitely the best.
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Asset -> Money -> Currency I see it evolving. It tried to be a currency out of the gate, "Electronic cash". But, for a lot of reasons I wrote a bit about, adoption is slow. The SoV property appears to have attracted the first major layer of adoption. Good money is taken out of circulation and bad money is spent and circulated. Gresham's Law. Looking into history, this aligns with many other forms of money when they were introduced. First they are collected, then exchanged for major ceremonies like weddings and appointing new leaders/rulers. Then for large transactions, then for everything like gold. Bitcoin is much more divisible and portable than Yap stones and gold, so I have no doubt that Bitcoin will become much more widely adopted.
It's not so much where "I" sit in the Venn diagram. But rather where Bitcoin sits currently.
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For me Bitcoin is only money/currency.
Asset remember fiat mindset as "investment"
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In the middle with you Darth. Bitcoin can be all these things and different things for different people.
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I am in the middle.
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I would say here
although I still depend on fiat in many things to live, and I use bitcoin a lot as a savings
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yeah, the question is not really about where you position in the actual moment, but where do you position in general, where do you want to go.
This was done like an exercise, because I saw that many people cannot see where is going Bitcoin.
Moving away from fiat dependency is a loooong and hard journey. Took me many years preparing and wasn't easy at all.
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I understand you, but I have always been clear that bitcoin is money. That it can behave in other ways and that each person perceives it differently? Of course it does.
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for you in Cuba I think is even harder...
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It's difficult, because sometimes you don't have enough money to find what you need, there are power cuts, and much more. Luckily I have a beautiful family and that's worth more than anything else in the world.
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I feel if you pushed the three circles closer to the middle, and the middle space was larger, I would be in that larger space in the middle.
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Keep in mind that in fact are 2 middle spaces: one that contain all 3 "features" and one that contain only the bottom 2.
In fact are 4 convergent spaces...
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I just feel the circles should be closer together since all three features merge after a while. Especially if you are using bitcoin constantly.
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Bitcoin is everything, but most importantly it’s open source! A gift for humanity
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bitcoin is a networking protocol with built-in scarcity. if bitcoin is used for truth discovery, you'll get more true knowledge for fewer sats over time. this way, it is also an anti-deception mechanism, so that fewer sats are needed to destroy more lies over time. participation in the network will connect you with more people who have true knowledge.
what is pursuit of knowledge? it is a fight against nescience (not-knowing) and against ignorance (refusal to know). knowledge leads to order and prosperity. nescience and ignorance lead to chaos and destruction.
the concept of money as we were raised to understand it has to become obsolete in order for us to move forward.
"you may say i'm a dreamer, but i'm not the only one."
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Bitcoin is freedom in its purest form. It breaks you free of government and big corporations and lets you operate freely in ways that previously did not exist.
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Disintermediation Technology
Financial Self Defense
All power for nobody.
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Freedom of speech Freedom of movement Freedom of property rights
Enforced peacefully for all
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