[andrewcchen]

> Bitcoin appears to have greater staying power than most nations and currencies in history.

I would not make that statement so soon. Bitcoin has only existed for 10 years. Most nations and currencies, at least in recent history, have lasted for much longer than that.

[ekianjo]

> at least in recent history

That's precisely the weak point of your argument. Give it another 20-30 years and let's then count again how many currencies are still as strong as they were or merely still exist. The USD is in a special place since it's the default currency for worldwide exchanges, so what matters is all other currencies out there.

[cs702]

Agree! I edited this sentence so it would be a question, which better reflects what I actually intended to write.

[wyldfire]

Ten years down, millennia to go.

[cs702]

Countries and currencies cease to exist regularly. Here's an incomplete list of countries that have disappeared in recent history:

https://www.thoughtco.com/missing-countries-1435425

[shabda]

NO currency has survived a millennia.

Almost all currencies backed only by their governments, and not by physical gold, are at most a century old.

[pmiller2]

Not true. The pound sterling has been in continuous use since around 800 CE.

[thechao]

That's a ship-of-Theseus fallacy.

The pound sterling of 2019 is more related to the American dollar of 2019 than it is to the pound sterling of even WWII, nonetheless 800CE.

[pmiller2]

Not really. It’s just a matter of changing times and prices. Pounds and pennies have been a thing for 1200 years. What they buy has changed dramatically.

[rpz]

And additionally the American dollar is not the same as it was pre bretton woods, or pre federal reserve, etc.

[zajd]

The ship of Theseus isn't a fallacy, it's a thought experiment.

[Rmilb]

And lost 99% of its value!

[whb07]

So let’s go down the list of some of those currencies:

1. USD ~ is markedly different post breaking from gold standard so 40-50 years

2. EUR - created 1999

3. Russian ruble - post fall of Soviet Union.

I mean what’s the standard here? One way or another maybe the longest running one is the British pound but even then, one can easily argue like with the USD that breaking from the gold standard is a different currency altogether. But if “age” is what we’re talking about, it has to be closing in to what the Euro was at on 2009!