Why Bitcoin Has (Officially) Failed as a Currency...
0 up · 0 down · 0 ratings
Description
Because as a medium of exchange, Bitcoin is slow, expensive, and inefficient. The Bitcoin network processes roughly half a million transactions per day, and if you think that sounds like a lot, it's not. Because if you compare that to something like Visa, well Visa processes roughly 65,000 transactions every single second, which means Bitcoin's entire daily transaction volume could be cleared by the Visa network in under 8 seconds. And it doesn't stop there, because a single Bitcoin transaction has a carbon footprint equivalent to roughly 1.5 million visa transactions. And in terms of energy use, a single Bitcoin transaction consumes roughly the same amount of electricity as the average American household uses over 43 days. Which explains why Bitcoin hasn't become a widely adopted payment system yet. Because it isn't a good one.
The short argues that Bitcoin has “officially” failed as a currency because it is a slow, expensive, and inefficient medium of exchange. It claims the Bitcoin network processes roughly half a million transactions per day, and then contrasts that with Visa processing about 65,000 transactions every second. It also says the carbon footprint of a single Bitcoin transaction is equivalent to about 1.5 million Visa transactions, and that one Bitcoin transaction consumes electricity comparable to the average American household’s use over 43 days. The conclusion presented is that these performance and environmental downsides explain why Bitcoin has not become a widely adopted payment system, since “it isn’t a good one.”
Viewers repeatedly question Bitcoin’s suitability as a currency, saying it behaves more like an asset driven by confidence and speculation, and raising practical concerns about where to spend it and how to cash out back to dollars. Several comments debate the energy consumption numbers and how they are calculated, with one asking for clarification and another mentioning the Lightning Network. Many commenters find the tone or the “crypto bros” discussion funny or entertaining, while others argue about risk and control, and some say predictions about Bitcoin’s “downfall” have not held up or will not age well. A smaller cluster compares Bitcoin to other stores of value like gold and asks whether cash out is inherently a disqualifier.
Topics · finance · economics · business · markets
Questions answered
- Why is Bitcoin considered a poor currency as a medium of exchange?
- Bitcoin is described as slow, expensive, and inefficient, with limited transaction throughput and very high energy and carbon costs per transaction.
- How many transactions per day does Bitcoin handle compared with Visa’s transaction speed?
- The short states Bitcoin processes roughly half a million transactions per day, while Visa processes about 65,000 transactions every second, meaning Bitcoin’s daily volume could be cleared by Visa in under 8 seconds.
- How does the short compare Bitcoin’s environmental impact to Visa?
- It claims a single Bitcoin transaction has a carbon footprint equivalent to about 1.5 million Visa transactions, and it states the energy used is comparable to the average American household’s electricity use over 43 days.