[mbrock]

Dictionary definitions of fiat money involve states that enforce the legal tender status of the money. In that sense, BTC is not fiat money.

[abritinthebay]

True, "fiat money" would technically be "inconvertible paper money made legal tender by a government decree."

Bitcoin by contrast is "inconvertible digital money made legal tender by no-one because it's not legal tender".

So.. it's fiat in the sense that "by fiat" sense - which is where fiat money as a term comes from, but not in the strict "fiat money" sense of the phrase.

[gnaritas]

Fiat also means money that isn't a commodity or backed by a commodity. Bitcoin is fiat in this sense the same as USD. Additionally, the blockchain and it's rules are a form of government that is issuing bitcoin and thus it qualifies as government issued as well. You don't have to be a state to be a government.