Bitcoin’s ‘moral imperative’ to replace fiat currencies

afr.com:

Bitcoin can fulfil a dual role as both a store of value and money to buy goods and services, and must replace “debased” fiat currencies in emerging nations helmed by corrupt governments, The Australian Financial Review’s Crypto Summit heard.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency has raced to a $US524 billion ($828 billion) market value, and a single coin was worth $US27,220 on Monday, just 14 years after its original inception in 2009. Valuation peaked at more than $US65,000 a coin in November 2021.

Brian Armstrong the billoinaire founder of Coinbase said bitcoin will be adopted as money in the future.  Peter Rae

Brian Armstrong, the billionaire 40-year-old founder of leading US crypto exchange Coinbase, said bitcoin should be owned as a hedge against price inflation, which reached 8.4 per cent in the December quarter of 2022 in Australia before slowing to 6 per cent year-on-year in the June quarter of 2023.

Mr Armstrong added one reason bitcoin was not being adopted more quickly as money for everyday transactions was because holders were reluctant to spend it given they believed its value would appreciate in the future.

“Bitcoin’s a type of currency that is deflationary,” Mr Armstrong said.

“If it’s inflationary, you have more incentive to spend it. If it’s deflationary you have more incentive to save it because in the future you may end up converting [your bitcoin] to fiat currencies when you need to spend.”

Another crypto evangelist, Daniel Roberts, the co-founder of US-based and Nasdaq-listed bitcoin miner Iris Energy, said investors were kidding themselves if they believed cash was a safe or risk-free investment to hold.

Daniel Roberts, co-founder and co-chief executive of Iris Energy. Michael Quelch

“Fiat currencies