pull down to refresh
2 sats \ 5 replies \ @davidw 1 Dec 2023 \ on: The Util: A Stabilizing Unit of Account for the Bitcoin Economy bitcoin
Would love to hear your logic here. Many of us bitcoiners will debate you on this until the cows come home…
Sometimes, a little reading is all it takes
reply
Perhaps I should have been more specific with my questioning.
Just because I don’t know next week if it will buy me more hours or less of someone’s time, doesn’t mean I can’t use Bitcoin next week as a medium of exchange. Or can’t plan or budget around this.
Stating it is poor, is a bit hyperbolic. Furthermore in the paper it states that:
For Bitcoin to be competitive as money, it needs a native unit of account that reflects a consistent amount of value in real terms.
Bitcoin doesn‘t need this. It’s being adopted just fine as money. It’s a bit alienating to read things written this way.
Yes, there are many merchants that may struggle with the volatility for now, because their other bills are denominated in fiat. They would likely benefit from a stablecoin today. But for the rest of us, our unit of account is already in the future state.
I’m sure protocols and tokens like this will exist. And I hope they get people off the dollar standard. Just wonder if we can be more mindful of language.
reply
Thanks for the feedback. Perhaps "unit of account" is too encompassing of a term. Most say that money has three functions (unit of account, store of value, and medium of exchange), but some include a fourth function: a standard of deferred payment.
The reason that a standard of deferred payment is usually left out is that it is considered redundant. A good unit of account should be a good standard of deferred payment, the thinking goes. But I recognize that not everyone agrees.
My intention was not to use language that was alienating, and I appreciate the feedback.
reply
Thanks for responding and kudos on all the work you’ve put into it. I know many people in the world desire a stablecoin when planning for expenses. I’m just of the opinion that this is mostly only because of the ills of the fiat credit system and Bitcoin will serve us well in future regarding price stability.
What are your planned next steps? Get this operational?
And did you consider alternative implementations, like say a moving average of Bitcoin’s past pricing?
reply
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Getting this operational is definitely the goal, but the precise manner and timing is still TBD. I have a working prototype, which I’ll share publicly when ready.
reply