V. Žukauskas. Are bitcoins money?

Vytautas-Slider-2The commentary was published in the Veidas magazine.

Lithuania is witnessing heated debates on bitcoins, the electronic, cryptographic, decentralized currency. Will these attributes suffice to guarantee the longevity of bitcoins?

One of the most frequently cited disadvantages of bitcoins is that their price may fall to null. The reason for this is that the bitcoin is an electronic record, an information unit. The advantages of bitcoins are attributed to their maximum dose which is programmed in the architecture of the bitcoin and anonymity, which is conditional.

So are bitcoins money? No, at least not yet. Bitcoins do not possess one of the most important characteristics of a currency: they are not universally accepted and legitimized as a method of payment.