"For many people, their first sense of Bitcoin is that it is magic internet money-something easily ignored and certainly not worth the time needed to understand it. Many of the people I talk to about Bitcoin say that their "plan" is just to ignore it until it goes away. As we will learn throughout this book, that isn't really an option."
"Many of the people I talk to about Bitcoin say that their "plan" is just to ignore it until it goes away. As we will learn throughout this book, that isn't really an option. Most people also laugh when presented with their first opportunity to exchange "real money" for bitcoin. But bitcoin is real money; better money than any of us have had in our lifetimes-and it is so much more."
"In the most fundamental form, money is any object that is used for some combination of the following purposes: 1. A medium of exchange (folks can buy stuff with it); 2. A unit of account (folks can reliably use it to price stuff); and 3. A store of value (folks can buy stuff with it later)."
Bitcoin combines features of hard assets, fiat currency, bank accounts, payment systems, and monetary policy into a single, novel monetary system. Many people initially dismiss or plan to ignore Bitcoin, yet it operates as real money that can serve for saving, everyday transactions, and international transfers. Money fundamentally serves three purposes: a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and a store of value. Historical monies have been diverse, ranging from shells and salt to gold and paper notes. Understanding these monetary functions clarifies why Bitcoin can substitute for multiple existing financial roles simultaneously.
Read at Bitcoin Magazine
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