Stripe on Ending Bitcoin Support – “Bitcoin has evolved to become better-suited to being an asset than being a means of exchange.” Frankly, Bitcoin transactions are probably more expensive than the average bank wire today. Interesting to see them mention Lightning, OmiseGO, Ethereum, and Stellar (that they have backed). The Dan Primark twitter thread is a good read, considering we are all now realising that the old conventional wisdom that Bitcoin is good for payments, is now gone.
Also, Bitcoin’s high valuation has ruined it as a medium of exchange – much volatility, less usability. The idea of the medium of exchange seems to be dying for Bitcoin at the moment.
This leaves Bitcoin as a “store of value,” like gold. In theory, any scarce thing can be a “store of value,” but the most common historical stores of value have had some intrinsic value (gold is a useful industrial metal, is nice to look at, and makes pretty jewelry). Bitcoin is just math whose results benefit no one, unless the math is being used to store value, a kind of circularity that seems risky to bet the future on.
Read the full story: Bitcoin’s zero-sum game, written by John Quiggin a Professor of Economics at the University of Queensland. I’m not sure I agree with his conclusion, but only time will tell in this journey, won’t it?
Since bitcoins are not useful as a medium of exchange, or desirable in themselves, their true value is zero. The highest price at which bitcoins have traded is around $20,000. At the time of writing, the market price is halfway between that level and zero. Pay your money (or not) and take your chances.
Probably a useful site: transactionfee.info. Touted to help you “Check the fee efficiency of your last transaction!”.
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