[drewblaisdell]

> Sure. Let's start with a thought experiment: I have something very rare, which has no practical uses but which is easy to give to others. Will you give me your car for a big pile of it?

How does the success/value of gold not completely destroy this line of reasoning?

I'm not saying it is destined for success or failure, just that this is not a coherent argument against Bitcoin.

[westicle]

I read that whole thought experiment assuming that "something very rare, which has no practical uses but which is easy to give to others" was cash.

Which is awkward.

[betterunix]

Go buy your lunch with a lump of gold if you need to be reminded that gold is not used as a currency outside of a few highly niche markets.

[aryastark]

This line of reasoning is inane, and comes up every time gold or Bitcoin is mentioned.

Gold and Bitcoin are merely stores of value. Just like your paper bills with dead presidents on them. Or stocks or bonds. Which has next to nothing to do with how you pay for something. You can easily barter for an item, or pay with credit cards. Some places still do not accept American Express. Some places don't accept any credit cards. That doesn't take away from the fact that they are convenient. Likewise, I can see that Bitcoin could eventually become very convenient for micropayments, since credit cards charge merchants a fee. AFAIK, Bitcoin transfers are cheap or entirely free, thus making micropayments possible.

[betterunix]

Currencies are not just stores of value. Real estate is a store of value also, but nobody uses land or buildings as currency.

Once upon a time, gold was used as currency. Merchants would have scales, weights, and other equipment needed to deal in gold. That is not how gold is used in today's world; there are only a few highly niche markets where gold is used as currency, and everywhere else you have either fiat currency or currency that is backed by gold (with fiat currency being vastly more popular these days).

It is also wrong to separate printed money from the rest of the money supply when you are talking about fiat currency. Paper money is just a representation of the currency; the value of a dollar bill is equal to the value of four quarters and equal to the value of a bank account with one dollar in it. Fiat currency is an abstraction created by laws, which is implemented in various ways (paper money, coins, electronic transactions, etc.).

[jafaku]

I guess the Yen and the Pound Sterling are not currencies either then, since my local restaurant doesn't accept them.

[betterunix]

The Yen and the Pound are currencies in certain markets. Lumps of gold are used as currency only in highly niche markets. I did say that gold is a currency in such markets, but it is not generally used as currency in most of the world.