It is a currency. I've bought stuff with it. There's literally a BTC ATM in my local liquor store. There's a famous strip club(!) in Portland that accepts BTC. There many, many more examples: https://coinsutra.com/who-accepts-bitcoins/
>Currencies aren't useful simply because they _can_ be traded, they're useful because they _can_ be trusted.
If people trade them, it's because they already trust them.
That's why I said 'sole criterion'. Say you think fiat currencies, and the USD is a terrible and untrustworthy currency. The market doesn't care. It's viable because it's accepted. Acceptance in trade is all that matters.
Another example: Baby food is as good as cash to drug dealers. The implications of that are disquieting, but don't change the fact that it's true one bit.
When it comes to a currency, acceptance in trade trumps all. Nobody's feelings or long held beliefs matter in the slightest. The growing acceptance of crypto is why it's become seen as an investment, not the other way around.
>Currencies aren't useful simply because they _can_ be traded, they're useful because they _can_ be trusted.
If people trade them, it's because they already trust them.
That's why I said 'sole criterion'. Say you think fiat currencies, and the USD is a terrible and untrustworthy currency. The market doesn't care. It's viable because it's accepted. Acceptance in trade is all that matters.
Another example: Baby food is as good as cash to drug dealers. The implications of that are disquieting, but don't change the fact that it's true one bit.
When it comes to a currency, acceptance in trade trumps all. Nobody's feelings or long held beliefs matter in the slightest. The growing acceptance of crypto is why it's become seen as an investment, not the other way around.