What if Bitcoin doesn't become common currency?

Correct me if I'm off base, but I think the main goal behind Bitcoin's creation was to set up a straightforward peer-to-peer electronic cash system. A way for you and me to send money directly to each other, using it for everyday stuff like buying groceries, paying bills, and other daily transactions without banks getting in the way. Looking around now, it seems like that vision hasn’t fully happened. A lot of folks still like to just hold onto Bitcoin instead of using it for their daily expenses. I feel like Bitcoin has shifted more from digital cash to something akin to digital gold. This question’s been on my mind for a while. If Bitcoin never becomes a go-to daily currency, does that mean it has failed, or has it just morphed into something different? For many of us who are into Bitcoin, we see it more as a way to store value rather than something to spend. We’d rather hold onto Bitcoin long-term than use it on everyday purchases. But should we really be the ones to blame for this? I think the answer is no, but if you think otherwise, let me know why. It's been said that once people find an asset with potential for long-term growth, they’re less likely to spend it since that feels like throwing away future value. Plus, there’s the whole volatility issue. Bitcoin’s price isn’t stable, and for a currency intended for daily use, you’d expect it to have some steadiness. But nah, Bitcoin's price swings wildly over short periods. This volatility is becoming a major obstacle for using Bitcoin in day-to-day situations. Just the other day, I was at a mall buying some stuff, and when it was time to pay, I...

In the Bitcoin Whitepaper the first line states This doesnt necessarily mean that we should be able to buy a coffee with Bitcoin. Although it can be interpretited as such buy the "allow online payments". To me it reads more like payments for services [and goods online perhaps] and storage/transfer of wealth. For Bitcoin to become everyday money everyone interested in that concept would need to receive their salary - for example in Bitcoin and this would in turn be an incentive for more merchants to offer payments in Bitcoin. Michael Saylor once said that FIAT is perfect for buying coffee's and everyday items, its terrible as a means of saving or wealth preservation. Bitcoin isnt necessarily great for buying coffee's but is great as the other stuff.

We can actually say it wasnt. Not everyday users able to use bitcoin in everyday for transactions.  Maybe some uses it but for some they considered it as form of investment and store of value and keeps holding it. Definitely not! Some people usually stick with this mindset as they viewed bitcoin as an asset that could grow its value thats why some see this as good hedge for inflations but thats not the case cause volatlity is still there and not all the time favors the upward movement on market. For me Satoshi's goal achieved it mission for bitcoin. Well not in the way he like its but adoption is kicking on global scale.

Before asking this question, you must think about the age of Bitcoin, when it was created, when its Genesis Block was mined, and how long it has existed so far, then which utilities and use cases it has now. Asking these questions, then searching and finding answers by yourself, you will realize that Bitcoin has been very matured now, much stronger than it was in earliest years, and it already has many utilities and use cases. There will be potential, chances, and challenge in the future but Bitcoin will continue to grow and with many utilities and use cases, it won't fail just because of one use case no longer exist. The bullish case for Bitcoin, Lindy effect and Bitcoin as money. They're very good resources to debunk your fear, so please read them.

There’s no explanation stating that Bitcoin has to be everyday money... it’s just explained that Bitcoin serves as an alternative payment. So even if it doesn’t become everyday money, like for buying coffee or other everyday items, that’s not a major issue, because it remains an alternative that people can use for other purposes, such as cross-border payments, long-term investments, and so on. So Bitcoin doesn’t need to be everyday money, but if someone decides to accept Bitcoin and treat it as a means of daily payment, that is entirely their decision.

You asked to be corrected if you're wrong and I just did some justice. The idea behind Bitcoin creation was to have a payment system free from interference from other financial institutions. It has no business with what the payment is for, it doesn't matter how frequent the payment is made. As far as it prevents financial institutions from interfering in your payment, the aim is already achieved. Yes, just the same way some people still prefer to hold cash on their bank account instead of spending it. The fact that some people are holding it doesn't mean some people are not spending it. The transaction occurring on the blockchain on daily basis is from where? I think that's what matters. You should free your mind from such questions because it was never meant to become everyday money. So No, it doesn't fail as long as it operates independent from other financial institutions. No, this is not the reason. The shopping mall never had the intention of accepting Bitcoin as payment because that was a lame excuse. I don't know how they'll under-receive when payments is being sent with current market price and they can swap to stable coins instantly if they're scared of fluctuation.

This is, in a way, the role of the bitcoin network changing, not a failure. Originally it was a peer to peer cash. Now, as a peer to peer value store, it is more beneficial to most people. This is not its intended use. It was intended to be used as a a liquid cash. However, and the network was designed to support daily transactions, it is used as a store of value because the value is so volatile the cash system would break down. This is a real problem. Shop owners do not want to receieve less value in exchange for goods, and consumers do not want to pay more due to value drops. Its is not a cash, it is a value storage device. This is not the first time an intended use has not been how something has been used. The internet is an example of something that had a different intended use, and morphed to different uses over time. Bitcoin has shifted from being a peer to peer cash to being more digitally gold. This is not a failure. It is evolving. Its intended role is changing. When solutions for lite 2 or stables come out its role may shift back to cash for daily use.

Yeah, it feels more like evolution than failure. Bitcoin works as a store of value now, but it’s still used for payments too, even on platforms like bitcoinbetting.

Bitcoin has become too valuable to give away for a coffee, especially when you could buy 10 coffees with the same amount of coin in a few years time. So obviously people prefer to hold it long term instead of spending it. Volatility has been gradually becoming more and more tame, with time and adoption. But that has to do with the fact that Bitcoin is not as adopted yet as it will be in the future. It is the next generation of money, but it is still early.

In some countries, people hold dollars because their local currency keeps losing value. Bitcoin was created as an alternative to fiat money. But people are free to use it the way they want. There were times when gold was used as a currency. Now, precious metals are kept as assets. The speculative nature of Bitcoin makes it a profitable asset. As Bitcoin becomes less volatile and adoption increases, its use as a currency will increase.

Yes, most people treat it like a store of value and investment but that has not changed the fact that you can transfer it to another person and in a way that there is no international borders in-between and at cheaper cost. I think that is enough, it is left to people to use it for either as investment, store of value or for P2P.

A lot of people don't understand that Bitcoin is offered to the world as an alternative, not as something they have to accept, and even less that it has to be in a certain period of time. If you look at the matter from that angle, then we can conclude that Bitcoin definitely fulfills its purpose for those who use it in the way it was intended, while some others have their own ideas and that is completely normal. --- If you mean direct payments in BTC, then volatility is a problem - but with so many payment processors, every seller can protect himself from the same volatility. History has already shown that many sellers who offered payments in BTC gave up for a simple reason - almost no one paid with it. A classic example of this is the island of Boracay, which was once called Bitcoin Island, but that didn't last long.

Bitcoin doesn't have to become everyday money. Because it's not for everyone, Bitcoin is pointed to people who needs it. People who want decentralisation control over their money are those who really needs Bitcoin. Spending it or not is their personal choices. War against the banks is why Bitcoin existed, it's not created to kill Fiat but to let you and I in total control of our money, finally.

As long as bitcoin can never be attacked or the network, then we should never expect that it should come to zero value or not be used as a digital currency for making payments, because it has come to stay, the same way we are making use of Fiat currency, bitcoin also will be more relevant on each day live and we cannot afford not to make use of it as long as we wanted to experience their financial change and freedom needed in handling our economy, it's still maintain the value of its legal tender in countries where it is being accepted.

Imo, I would rather see that we can use BTC as collateral for taking loans and using it for other stuff.

Exactly it’s not necessary about the volatility of bitcoin that has actually made it not to be used as a currency but because people are actually looking at it more as an asset and do not simply want to give it out for just payment method. They decide to treat it as a store of value and do prefer fiat as their currency for now which is not bad. It’s not volatility because bitcoin is getting less volatile. Also we can say that network security sometimes do prevent some people as they do not want to actually stay long waiting for confirmations to be completed, in the past it was transaction fee as a result of congestion but right now that’s not longer a barrier with Even second layer solutions like lightning network also providing alternative

No, because you are confused about intent and functionality. Bitcoin functions as a peer to peer electronic cash system, how people use it for other purposes has no impact on that. A super-car does not become a slow and limited power car simply because someone is driving it in a very slow way, does it? You need to let go of Satoshi's ideas and intentions. Bitcoin as a purely p2p electronic cash system was a very limited view and limited functionality, Bitcoin does so much more and needs to be examined from advanced perspectives. The cash perspective is a very narrow and limited view that is on a level for children, let it go. Yes, but also no. Wrong, most currencies are more volatile than Bitcoin unless they are completely controlled and those that are completely controlled can not be used as a comparison. That does not make any sense. The Bitcoin can be converted at time of receiving, therefore it can never be the case of "under receiving" unless the merchant willingly takes on this risk. Completely wrong. Stop making assumptions and generalizations based on your extremely limited experience. There are places and people who use Bitcoin as a currency on a daily basis, especially with LN, and it is beautiful. Just because you aren't, that does not mean that anyone else isn't. It already is, and that is a terrible idea. If you can't find a provider yet, you are doing something wrong. There are both centralized and decentralized platforms that provide this.

Bitcoin was indeed created as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system for online payments that occur directly between a first party and a second party without the involvement of a third party (financial institution). This system encompasses transactions such as everyday payments, but this isn’t mandatory, as not all users can use Bitcoin for everyday payment needs; therefore, those who use Bitcoin as an asset—much like a long-term investment—are also not wrong. This is one of the remarkable things about Bitcoin: its users gain freedom. In my opinion, you’ve already addressed this topic in the third paragraph.

According to the bitcoin whitepaper bitcoin was initially meant to be a P2P system free from the government but it's success also got accompanied by huge price improvement margins because of that people naturally had to diversify their idea of bitcoin being only a P2P cash system. We can't say it ended back in the day but the fact is  the idea of it's application was relatively at its peak back then. Now everyone's first view of bitcoin is an asset and P2P appears to look like a shadow of it instead of the opposite.

Just read the abstract section of the Bitcoin whitepaper and you'll immediately understand that Satoshi never said Bitcoin needed to be "everyday money," as you claim. He said, "A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution." That should explain what Bitcoin really is. Regardless of whether people treat it as an investment, it will not change Bitcoin's function as a peer-to-peer system that allows transfers without intermediaries. Why did it fail? It's absurd to assume that Bitcoin failed simply because it didn't become everyday money. In fact, Bitcoin is growing. It doesn't need to become "everyday money" to be considered successful. Judging by Bitcoin's current increasing adoption and value, it's already a success, in my opinion.