This is good news in that we will see a real country with decent population use it and fail badly proving that Bitcoin is not viable as a valid currency. Once that is done its value should plummet dramatically. Until now it is not used for any payments and mainly for speculation/gambling to make easy money. Most of the people are just supporting it to hype up the value so they can make most profit.
Or, maybe just consider this, you are wrong and it ends up being very successful and more countries adopt it. For what it's worth, they have already been using Bitcoin in the El Zonte for some time now [1].
It doesn't really help my faith in BTC when the article never refers to actual Bitcoins like currency, and instead uses USD equivalent everywhere.
> Transfers of $35/family are made to 600 families every 3 weeks, which covers 50% of basic needs per household.
$35? Or $35 equivalent in Bitcoin? The article never really explains why giving them bitcoin is better than just giving them $35 in paper bills and coins. Just that the person giving the money will only do so as BTC, it doesn't sound like the townsfolk have any say in it.
> At the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin is $9226.56.
So anyone who paid their utility bill with Bitcoin at the time of the article overpaid by 4x compared to current bitcoin prices, or about 6x compared to the peak.
How realistic is it for this to continue when delaying a utility bill by a month could possibly make the value of that bill half, or double. I don't see how this can scale, and it sounds like the El Zonte situation only works because of the guaranteed BTC income by a benefactor.
Not only I have used it many times, I've even built a lightning network wallet (link in my profile).
You just have to look around and you'll see that millions of people are using it on a regular basis. Pure speculation can't make something become worth as much as Bitcoin is worth right now.
I would consider you wise then to use BTC for day to day activities considering you have used it many times. Did you use it to buy coffee when it was $60K and then use it to buy more BTC when it fell to $30K? Would you buy coffee with it when it is $150K or when it is $1 per coin?
Can we use Omni assets on Lightning yet? I havent checked in two or three years if anything besides bitcoin can be exchanged on that blockchain or state channel again
I'd suggest you write down on a piece of paper a measurable fact that would disprove your hypothesis. (The hypothesis you write down here as if it were a fact.)
In order for bitcoin to be used as valid currency it needs to be pegged to the local government issued fiat currency. If BTC fluctuates so much would you like a coffee or groceries with it knowing its value can be half or double tomorrow. Real question to ask yourself is have you used it to buy anything in the real world with it.
Right which proves the point that you believed in it and once it was practically put to use you see it is not practical anymore. Why use a currency that is not practical for day to day activity.
I continue to hold a small amount of bitcoin as a speculative investment. I hold much more ethereum as a speculative investment or to get yield from DeFi.
I am happy to pay and be paid in cryptocurrency, but I wouldn't want to allow my rainy day fund or funds set aside for specific purchases (i.e. maintaining continuity of life/business) to have exposure to the extreme volitility that cryptocurrencies have.
Just because one of the many potential use cases of cryptocurrency doesn't seem to be panning out very well doesn't mean that the other use cases are invalid.
