About 100 times a day I see posts where people talk about bitcoin replacing the USD, or fiat in general. In addition to putting banks and many other businesses, out of business. I wanted to address these notions because not only do I not believe they will happen, I don’t want them to. I love bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but what I love even more are options. Im not talking about options such as going long or short, but rather the basic idea as a whole.
The way our economies are built today is off of spending, sometimes to an excessive level. Im not only talking about government here, but for regular consumers as well. If the spending stops, the economy shrinks, its as simple as that. It might not always be the case, but without spending at the levels we are today, many people would lose their jobs. I am not saying this is how our economy should be run, just that it is.
Inflationary currencies and the businesses built off the back of them, have their use cases. Taking out loans in inflationary currencies helps growth and also being paid in inflationary currency lets people who are willing and smart, to take advantage of savings. I see bitcoin, like I see the stock market, as a great option in addition to the system we already have in place. While in the past we might have been forced into using inflationary currency for long term savings, now we can use a form of deflationary currency.
By having the options and taking advantage of the options that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have given us, we can be rewarded greatly for saving. Everything else in the economy stays the same, except we can be better rewarded for first mover advantage. Bitcoin also has many other benefits and offers options such as potential anonymity/security and ease of movement across borders that other assets in the past had not. These are just more options that we can take advantage of with bitcoin.
Overall , while I do want to see the world change for the better and maybe at some point it will, I don’t see bitcoin destroying everything, but rather giving options to people who have never had them. I may be lucky because I can invest in the stock market and mostly avoid inflation, but the regular person in a third world country can not. I love financial freedom and the basis for financial freedom is having the option to put your money in different places. This is a huge part as to why I love bitcoin.
Thanks to @Elyaque for the badges