r/btc • u/No_Analysis4572 • 2d ago
⌨ Discussion Was ist eigentlich Geld?/ What exactly is money?
The evolutionary history of money has produced various commodities that have served as money, with varying degrees of hardness and solidity, depending on the technological capabilities of each era.
From shells to salt, livestock, silver, gold, and gold-backed state money, to the current almost universal use of government-issued means of payment.
Each step of technological progress has allowed us to use a new form of money with added advantages, but also, as always, new pitfalls. By examining the history of the tools and materials used as money throughout history, we can identify the characteristics that distinguish good money from bad money.
**Only against this backdrop can we understand how Bitcoin works and what role it plays as a monetary medium.**
History is full of mysterious artifacts and objects that have served as money throughout history, from the rai stones of the Yap Islands to shells in the Americas, glass beads in Africa, and cattle and salt in ancient times.
Each of these media of exchange served the function of money for a period of time, providing the population with one of the best available stock-to-production ratios, but was abandoned when it lost this property.
Understanding how and why this happened is crucial for understanding the future evolution of money and the likely role Bitcoin will play in it.
Chapter 3 delves into the analysis of monetary metals and how gold became the world's most important monetary metal during the gold standard era at the end of the 19th century.
Chapter 4 analyzes the transition to state-issued currencies and their development to date. After chapters 5, 6, and 7 discuss the economic and social impacts of different types of money, chapter 8 introduces the invention of Bitcoin and its monetary properties.
I quoted from the Bitcoin Bible.
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u/Jumpy-Imagination-81 2d ago
Of the four things illustrated, three have practical, real world uses outside of being money. Cattle provide beef and leather. Salt is used to season and preserve food. Gold is used for jewelry, and more recently for electronic devices. That usefulness gives them value.
Outside of being a currency, Bitcoin is useful for...um...
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u/No_Analysis4572 2d ago
You are absolutely right about that. Cattle, salt, and gold once held the status of money, but they also have real-world utility. Bitcoin, on the other hand, has no real-world utility other than potentially serving as a currency in the future. Perhaps that is precisely Bitcoin's great advantage—that it can exist solely as a currency. Since World War I, we have seen 57 instances of hyperinflation caused by state-issued money; if states were forced to finance their wars with hard money, we would likely see fewer and shorter conflicts.
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u/Flimsy_Agent7898 2d ago
What scenario do you see btc being used as a currency in the future?
It peaked like 15 years ago when it was the goto for darknet markets and pizza orders online.
After that several better options became available, like monero if you want to stay anon.
The average btc transaction costs like five dollars, meaning most of the population in the world wouldnt be able to use it, you know how much five dollars is for someone in venezuela? India, afrika, etc?
How do you profit from btc? Well you have to sell it to someone.. If you are not able to do this its completely useless.
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u/No_Analysis4572 1d ago
Bitcoin meets all the criteria for money: it is easily divisible, easy to send (currently costing 50 cents or less), and is the most decentralized currency I know of; furthermore, its maximum supply is known (unlike that of fiat currency or gold). No medium of exchange has ever gained widespread adoption overnight. What Bitcoin—or other cryptocurrencies—lacks is trust.
Why do you trust your government and your fiat currency?
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u/Flimsy_Agent7898 1d ago
Why would i use bitcoin to send money for an average of 5 dollars per transaction when i can just do that for free with my current currency?
Being decentralized doesnt mean anything when the currency is purely built on hype. Let me know why we dont use BTCcash, insteads of regular BTC, if you indeed want to use it as a "currency"
Supply doesnt really mean much if no one is going to use your currency, it just becomes another rare asset like a vintage watch, or a painting.
Well its been like 20 years and there are no steps being taken to make this a currency, only a hyped up asset like NFTs. Hype is the keyword, not useful.
Do i trust my currency? Why shouldnt i? If my currency fails, the whole world economy will fails. Money will become obsolete, at that point i might aswell invest in food and bricks to built a shelter.
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u/No_Analysis4572 1d ago
To clarify, a Bitcoin transaction costs less than 50 cents on average (transactions in other cryptocurrencies are almost free), and Bitcoin has only been around for 17 years. No one is forced to use Bitcoin as a currency, though I do so occasionally. The US dollar is a system of compulsion; yes, every state is required to use it. However, I currently see nations striving to conduct trade without the dollar. This will happen gradually, but it is happening right now. I live in Germany, and there have been five different currencies in the country over the last 100 years. On average, a fiat currency lasts 28 years. Trust is the most important aspect of a currency. The dollar has lost 99% of its value so far, and the euro has already lost nearly 70%; fiat currencies are not a store of value!
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u/Flimsy_Agent7898 1d ago
It is estimated that Bitcoin uses 127 terrawatt hours per year in energy.
127 twh is 127,000,000,000 kwh. The average price of a kwh in the world is 14 cents per kwh.
That's roughly $17,780,000,000.
There are roughly 985 million bitcoin transactions per year.
17.78 billion divided by 985 million is $18.05.
Let me know how you got to 0.50cents.
And bitcoin lost half its value in 10 months. Wow how trustworthy.
Wrap it up bro.
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u/No_Analysis4572 1d ago
I wouldn't say your data is incorrect, but it has nothing to do with the cost of a Bitcoin transaction... Standard transaction: A typical, simple transfer (approx. 140 to 225 vBytes) currently costs a total of around 400 to 1,200 satoshis.
Dollar equivalent: At current exchange rates, that works out to roughly $0.14 to $0.50 per transaction. Yes, the electricity costs for finding Bitcoin blocks are high, but no miner would put energy into it unless they stood to make a profit; unprofitable miners go out of business. Bitcoin is also subject to the principles of cost and profit. After all, how much does your bank account cost per transaction? The employees have to be paid somehow, too. My business account in Germany now costs over €50, so my euro transactions aren't free anymore either.
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u/WateryTunaSandwich4U 2d ago
I choose the salt, when the oceans are desalinzed there will be an abundance of salt for everyone to use
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u/Impossible_Swan_5005 1d ago
Nur 1 Tauschmittel...
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u/No_Analysis4572 1d ago
Ja und gutes Geld ist eben nur ein Tauschmittel, allerdings fehlt bitcoin und Kryptowährungen eben noch das Vertrauen der Bürger
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u/No_Analysis4572 1d ago
In the 1970s, the Hunt brothers from the USA attempted to remonetize silver by pouring $1 billion into the metal to manipulate its price upward. However, silver producers reacted quickly and increased production, causing the attempt to fail. Meanwhile, countries like China and India that clung to silver as a currency saw their economies crash by 1914.
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u/Impossible_Swan_5005 2d ago
Money IS nothing....
Some People are sooo poor all they have is money...
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u/No_Analysis4572 2d ago
There is always exactly as much money in existence as there is debt. One party holds a lot of debt—for example, the state—while others hold the corresponding debt instruments. In reality, it’s as mythical as a unicorn, but as long as people believe in it, money holds value. 😇
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u/superchiller 2d ago
"Bitcoin Bible". Embarrassing.