> And when BTC Transaction fees climb to $30, like they did a couple of weeks ago, then what? We just stop transacting?
If it is akin to one-time transaction of buying gold as a safe asset, then people gladly pay 30$. Even in poor countries. If you want to use BTC to buy coffee, then 30$ transaction fee is a hassle. But trying to judge the merits of BTC on how easily you can buy coffee with it is as dumb as trying to judge a fish by its ability to swim. They are not meant for that activity.
> The Yen is 1/100th, or less, than the Dollar. No one doubts that Japan is still an economic power.
Sure and it has been in that range for the last 30 years. It has held its value which actually proves my point that Yen is backed by some good governance and hence Japanese citizens may not actually need BTC. Now look at Zimbabwe where government printed 100Trillion bank bills and the currency's value was destroyed in a few years. That is the target market for BTC.
> Now look at Zimbabwe where government printed 100Trillion bank bills and the currency's value was destroyed in a few years.
Why can't they use US Dollars or Japanese Yen instead?
And if they're a country like Argentina where they print a ton of money and then ban US Dollars/Japanese Yen (etc. etc.), what prevents them from banning BTC as a means to protect the local currency?
Either the country is working in the global economic system (and therefore has access to global currencies like USD / Yen / etc. etc.), or it isn't and its probably cut off (including from BTC).
> But trying to judge the merits of BTC on how easily you can buy coffee with it is as dumb as trying to judge a fish by its ability to swim. They are not meant for that activity.
At larger than $1000+ valued denominations, you've now got the problem of counterparty risk, because BTC organizations disappear every few months. Who and/or what are you buying in BTC, and why do you trust that the other guy is going to keep existing 6 months from now? Even large companies like FTX turn out to be shams and disappear overnight.
Why do you want to transact with denominations of that size with people who are clearly untrustworthy?
On the other end, trying to use smaller denominations to experiment and grow the community... we have the random price of transactions (ex: $30) that prevents the use of cup-of-coffee-like transactions.
So BTC is dead on the small-end due to transaction fees. And its dead on the high-end due to unreliability of the community. What exactly should I use BTC for?
> Why can't they use US Dollars or Japanese Yen instead?
If you burnt by your own government, chances are you will not trust a foreign government either, especially the one which has a recurring record of bullying other countries and freezing dollar assets for foreign entities over geopolitical matters. There is a reason why Gold is so popular world over - people had shitty rulers for most of our history and they trusted no one, not even a benign ruler from some other country.
> its probably cut off (including from BTC).
You can't cut off BTC. That's the beauty - as long as you have internet, you can use BTC.
> Why do you want to transact with denominations of that size with people who are clearly untrustworthy?
Strawman. I didn't propose that at all.
> And its dead on the high-end due to unreliability of the community.
No it's not. You can store your wealth in BTC and use it sparingly with trusted parties, just like people have done it with Gold for centuries.
> What exactly should I use BTC for?
Store of value. Just like Gold. Con: it doesn't have long history of Gold. Pro: it is much easier to transfer or take it with you (just 12 words) when you are fleeing.
If it is akin to one-time transaction of buying gold as a safe asset, then people gladly pay 30$. Even in poor countries. If you want to use BTC to buy coffee, then 30$ transaction fee is a hassle. But trying to judge the merits of BTC on how easily you can buy coffee with it is as dumb as trying to judge a fish by its ability to swim. They are not meant for that activity.
> The Yen is 1/100th, or less, than the Dollar. No one doubts that Japan is still an economic power.
Sure and it has been in that range for the last 30 years. It has held its value which actually proves my point that Yen is backed by some good governance and hence Japanese citizens may not actually need BTC. Now look at Zimbabwe where government printed 100Trillion bank bills and the currency's value was destroyed in a few years. That is the target market for BTC.