If you don't spend Bitcoin you're shorting the Bitcoin Revolution. \ stacker news ~bitcoin

If you don't spend Bitcoin you're shorting the Bitcoin Revolution.

810 sats \ 37 comments \ @ssaurel 23 Sep bitcoin

It's pretty simple to understand.

Bitcoin was designed to offer everyone a superior alternative to the fiat system, which is flawed and not fixable.

For this alternative to be truly sustainable, we need to do everything we can to develop a circular economy centered on the Bitcoin system.

This means pushing more merchants to support Bitcoin as the MoE of everyday life. It also means adopting the “Spend and Replace your Bitcoin” paradigm rather than getting stuck in the “HODL Bitcoin no matter what” paradigm.

This latter paradigm is gradually trapping Bitcoin as a simple SoV integrated into the current system. This plays into the hands of BlackRock and the other financial giants who want to rob us of the deeper meaning of the Bitcoin revolution.

So, if you don't spend your Bitcoin by not using it as an MoE, you're shorting the Bitcoin revolution.

Don't make this mistake!

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88 sats \ 1 reply \ @TheBTCManual 23 Sep

I didn't have a problem with fiats medium of exchange I had a problem with its ability to store value, that's why I needed the Bitcoin. Different tools for different needs

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @kepford 23 Sep

For people in countries with largely stable currencies and access to banking this is the case and the main reason IMO that bitcoin hasn't really caught on as a MoE.

31 sats \ 0 replies \ @CheezeGrater 23 Sep

I have one store where I can buy groceries with LN and it's almost just as smooth as using Fiat. I consider the (slight) fees an investment into my own future.

32 sats \ 15 replies \ @nullcount 23 Sep

"Spend and replace"

Is equal to...

"Sell and buy"

Is equal to...

HODL, but also pay exchange fees, tx fees, and cap-gains tax...

If paying taxes and fees is what it takes for the revolution to succeed, then I'm not so sure this is the revolution after all...

10 sats \ 3 replies \ @fiatbad 23 Sep

Maybe the hidden "taxes" we are all paying by staying on the Fiat Standard are far greater than the measly taxes we pay via spend-and-replace.

Maybe paying taxes and fees to get this revolution going is exactly what we need.

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @nullcount 23 Sep

How does one "replace" without already having some melting fiat on the side ready to buy more btc?

My suggestion is to simply spend the fiat you already have and avoid paying fees/tax.

If we're talking about a pure circular economy (a.k.a. "spend and earn"), then I agree totally (assuming you aren't taking a pay-cut or paying extra fees to earn directly in BTC).

I heard someone argue once that "spend and replace" is great because it helps the bottom line of bitcoin businesses that facilitate exchange. IMO you're not a bitcoin business if you primarily facilitate fiat/btc trades. Those businesses are just another middleman seeking rent from bitcoiners (making them poorer).

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @fiatbad 23 Sep

Yea, good points.

The story of Bitcoin Beach in El Salvador sounded like one of competition. Merchants began accepting Bitcoin because they were losing business if they did not.

If we want to end The Creature from Jekyll Island, then we have to have something like Bitcoin Beach happen everywhere else. This only happens if revolutionaries force the matter. It never happens if we just use fiat and are complacent about adoption. In my opinion, Bitcoin loses its major use-case if we just continue using fiat forever.

I love this discussion because I'm 50/50 with my opinions on it... I agree with both sides, and talking through the nuance is fascinating. I think it is at the heart of the Blocksize War as well.

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @nullcount 23 Sep

Circular economy does not have to start with the "spend" side, it can also start from the "earn" side.

Instead of looking for ways to spend more of your sats "for the greater good" or whatever, focus on making things bitcoiners (rich people) want to buy "for your own personal gain".

Either way, you're helping the circular economy, one way just happens to make you richer while doing so.

1 sat \ 10 replies \ @random_ 23 Sep

Money thats only valuable if you dont use it lol

10 sats \ 9 replies \ @nullcount 23 Sep

Money that becomes more expensive to use the more people use it

10 sats \ 8 replies \ @random_ 23 Sep

Money with a security budget based on energy rather than violence.

0 sats \ 7 replies \ @nullcount 23 Sep

US Gov. owns >1% of supply which they "earned" thru violence

We should be telling them to spend and replace, not the poor plebs on SN lol

10 sats \ 6 replies \ @random_ 23 Sep

don't leave your laptop open when investigating a (simulated) DV incident.

don't leave your private keys in a cheetos tin

Seems simple enough.

10 sats \ 5 replies \ @nullcount 23 Sep

I sleep soundly knowing that 40% of my working days are purely devoted to the US Gov (taxes). And for the remaining 60%, I'm working to make sure the US gov's BTC bags pump.

I'm a revolutionary, I know it.

10 sats \ 4 replies \ @random_ 23 Sep

Bitcoin is money for enemies.

The pump affects everyone, not just the gov, so thanks for your hard work. And remember to properly secure your keys by saving one shard on a hot device and one shard in a cheetos tin in your closet.

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20 sats \ 0 replies \ @SpaceHodler 23 Sep

I'll spend my bitcoin when I have no fiat left to spend. Until then I'll spend fiat. Trash needs to be gotten rid of first.

Bitcoin needs to be adopted as a SoV first. Once most people hold bitcoin and are paid in it, they will start spending it.

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby 23 Sep

Agree that bitcoiners should use bitcoin as a MoE but your post is very preachy. Money is a store of value first. Yes, as bitcoiners we should be the ones promoting its use as a MoE but to tell people they are shorting the bitcoin revolution because they aren’t using bitcoin the way you want is not the path either.

40 sats \ 2 replies \ @IamSINGLE 23 Sep

I have a simple question.

If we buy with BTC, what's the guarantee that it won't go in the hands of BlackRock and Grayscale?

11 sats \ 1 reply \ @kepford 23 Sep

Zero. But that doesn't matter. Real money is used by the good and evil.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @IamSINGLE 23 Sep

Thanks! This sounds right.

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @Coinsreporter 23 Sep

I'm not against it but it's better we do it on a second layer.

Why?

If we start using real Bitcoin for daily transactions for everything, it'll cost a lot of in transaction fees and the smaller the transaction is, the bigger cut it'll take and increase load on Bitcoin. May be I'm not correct but I don't wanna lose my Bitcoin, not a single sat.

11 sats \ 2 replies \ @BitcoinAbhi 23 Sep

On May 22, 2010, programmer Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 Bitcoin (BTC) for two Papa John's pizzas. This is considered to be the first purchase ever made with the digital currency. The value of those coins would be worth just under $700 million today.

Maybe that's why people don't want to spend too much

1 sat \ 1 reply \ @CruncherDefi 23 Sep

Have actually read and understood the OPs post?

Spend and replace. When Laszlo replaced the spend coins after pizza purchase, effectively no bitcoin upside profit is lost.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @SwearyDoctor 23 Sep

except that which got drained out in taxes in the process.

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @Satosora 23 Sep

Very superior, but not everyone wants to go through the labor of spend and replacing. Buying and holding will be good for some, others can spend. It takes everyone to build the community.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @rebel_nomad 24 Sep

Spend and replace? I walked away from it all in 2020 and have been holding onto the Bitcoin I have, selling gold to pay for my lifestyle as loafer in Asia...

Once we're into the next phase of this bullmarket I'll have to sell and/or use some, but the real challenge is to make a living outside of the whole Beast Machine, and for that I have to be stubborn as hell! ;-)

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Golu 23 Sep

Why should I spend if I don't require it to spend?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 23 Sep

Spend and replace but I think your argument is a bit reductive. That said, I agree with you in spirit. Someone has to be forging the path using bitcoin as a MoE and hardcore bitcoiners are the best candidates. Bitcoin solves several problems but the biggest and most obvious one for people in the US is store of value. Most people don't care about sovereignty or MoE frankly. In more oppressive countries these issues are higher in priority.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @DesertDave 23 Sep

I agree. Great post.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bee_Aye 23 Sep

there is too much friction in the US money regulatory complex for btc to become a medium of exchange used by normie spenders and businesses. will only thrive and grow in p2p exchanges, craigslist / fb market sales in current environment. Gotta start somewhere!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @scenicclutch04 23 Sep

People will use it for payments when there’s less friction. Currently there is more friction.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @LowK3y19 23 Sep

I can’t just spend and buy new ones then I would lose all that I bought during the pandemic and I doubt I can snag more BTC for 20k anytime soon

2 sats \ 0 replies \ @CheezeGrater 23 Sep

Instead of buying something with fiat, buy BTC with the fiat, then buy the thing with the BTC...