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If you're trying to make a profit by trading BTC... fine, I get it. What other reasons are there to trade BTC?

Vojtěch Strnad
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HipsterGlasses
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    Why do people trade other currencies? – Pieter Wuille Jul 24 '14 at 22:17
  • You're not limited. Any product or service you can imagine, you can buy with Bitcoin. – Meni Rosenfeld Jul 25 '14 at 08:05
  • Ok I think I finally understand. Here's my best shot at it. Criticisms welcome: -There are two types of exchanges: peer2peer like Bitstamp and direct to consumer like Coinbase, which also provides a gateway for merchants. Merchants don't want to deal with volatility so they need Coinbases guarantee BTC to USD price and so are willing to pay 1% fees. On the other hand, Coinbase needs a peer2peer like Bitstamp so it can stock up on its own stock of BTCs. It's a supporting economy. Both exchanges are need at this point considering the volatility. Capitalism at its finest. Thoughts? – HipsterGlasses Jul 25 '14 at 13:34
  • Going off my last post. Coinbase also needs peer2peer exchanges so it can sell its BTCs for USD. Overall, the exchanges support one another. – HipsterGlasses Jul 25 '14 at 13:44
  • @MeniRosenfeld Any except for most. Haven't seen a single store near me take them. –  Jul 25 '14 at 13:46
  • Without a doubt more and more merchants are accepting them. So I don't think thats a problem at this point. – HipsterGlasses Jul 25 '14 at 13:59
  • @Cincinnatus: I didn't say "any store or service provider". I said "any product or service". Of course, that too may not be literally accurate, but is by and large true. – Meni Rosenfeld Jul 25 '14 at 14:56
  • @Cincinnatus: Also, you're not supposed to "see" a store near you accept Bitcoin. You're supposed to go in and suggest to them to accept Bitcoin, and provide any needed help. – Meni Rosenfeld Jul 25 '14 at 14:59
  • @MeniRosenfeld So, it's more of a theoretical rather than practical possibility? I don't think I or the average user is "supposed" to do anything. Economics takes over if there's value, and the fact that some mom & pops that I saw try to accept them only to quickly turn around and not says something, aside from "we're not taking this anymore". Relative to the way other online technologies quickly take over, one could infer that there's a problem. –  Jul 25 '14 at 15:03
  • @Cincinnatus: 1. I wish all aspects of my life had "a problem" of the same sort Bitcoin adoption has. It's progressing at a very rapid pace. 2. Bitcoin is a financial revolution, not a mere "online technology". 3. Technological revolutions these days usually take ~10 years to be pervasive. 4. Being a commenter on bitcoin.stackexchange puts you far above the average user. And, if you lament on the lack of adoption, it only makes sense that you'll do something about it. – Meni Rosenfeld Jul 25 '14 at 15:32

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Well I guess there are three reasons I personally trade for.

  1. Make a profit by buying BTC/fiat low and selling fiat/BTC high.
  2. Potentially increasing the profitability of Bitcoin by increasing the coin volatility via trading.
  3. Being a stakeholder in the currency of the 21st century.

Does this give you an idea of some of the motivations?

stay_frosty
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As the industry matures the general consumer will find it easier to use the underlying technology, Bitcoin. It might be as simple as swiping a card in the near future.

You can buy for speculative purposes or because you believe it will be useful in the future.

Bill
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Well you might not be able to buy everything you want with it yet, but every day new merchants announce they accept bitcoin. Overstock and Expedia are just two of the biggest names I can recall right now. If the trend goes on like this, it won't take long for a lot of other big names to jump in. Once adoption grows larger the value is obviously going to go up. So you might want to do it as a long term investment too.

Bilthon
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