I've always had mixed feelings with this. I personally couldn't still have a solid decision if I agree with it or not. It makes sense though, because why would you spend something that could be worth a lot more in the future; but at the same time, it defeats the peer-to-peer cash use-case.

I believe it can be both though. But it just depends on the person I guess? In the end, it's their money so they can freely choose to either hold or spend.

bitcoin's monetary properties definitely discourages spending. this is natural due to gresham's law---why spend bitcoin when you could spend your quickly inflating fiat money instead? bad money drives good money out of circulation.

fortunately, there is strong and growing demand for bitcoin's trustless, borderless, censorship-resistant payments in spite of the temptation to hoard it. transaction volume continues to rise: https://www.blockchain.com/en/charts/n-transactions-per-block?timespan=all

I spend Bitcoin in a sense that I sell it and spend obtained fiat, but the last time I actually used Bitcoin as a currency was in 2017 when Steam accepted Bitcoin. I just don't know what to do with Bitcoin - I'm not interested in gambling, sex services, darknet goods - the things that you usually can buy with BTC.


Those things are important in certain narrow scenarios, and they do make Bitcoin very valuable, but those things don't apply to our everyday transactions like buying groceries, and in this situations it can be hard for Bitcoin to compete, because it comes with burdens like managing your own keys, while payment companies are giving people bonuses like cashback for using them.

It is a common mindset everywhere in the world! No one actually uses bitcoin, instead they are just adding to their hoardings! But if you think that it is only their mindset, then it's wrong as well! Unless and until you are living in Japan or Germany, you won't find a single place to spend your bitcoins! In my country, I can find zero places where I can actually spend my bitcoins against any product or services. So it is not only mindset, rather it is the scarcity of the merchants who accepts bitcoin as well!

HODL approach is definitely hurting us, but we are also helpless in this case because we can't find any single place to spend that bitcoins! 

Go out and change that then!

No vendor is going to go to the effort of starting to accept bitcoin unless they know there is a demand for it. Ask places if they accept bitcoin. Get your friends to do the same. Sure, this isn't going to work with big national corporations (although I have emailed a couple of companies which I frequent asking them to consider bitcoin - no luck yet), but it can often work with small independent retailers - anything from food trucks and stands through to a gym or personal trainer.

Personally I spend several hundred dollars worth of bitcoin every month, both in personal and online, while also adding to my longer term holding stack. Best of both worlds.

There are rational thoughts in your words, and I think every thinking person has thought about this more than once. With sadness, it must be stated that all these years Bitcoin has been an asset for investment, but not by any means of payment. To pay for something, it is used in the best case of 3-5% of all investors. Bitkion is now used as high-yield and high-risk bonds. I hope that in the future everything will change. But this requires a stable bitcoin rate.

Why would the HODL approach hurt us though, I mean you can just buy forget about and that is. And that is why bitcoin to others is more of an investment or store of value, but on the opposite of the spectrum those who wanted to used it as a sound money.

Personally though, I used my coins to pay my monthly bills, and then I store some. And then I buy when I had a chance. I think we can't blame those who wanted to hodl for so long and those who wanted to used it as money.

I think it's evitable where people start thinking BTC purely as stored value, and the reality might just be it, you don't trade gold by pieces but through papers, so does BTC soon on exhanges one day. An asset with constant price growth deter almost all economically transactions and im think that's it for now. You can't stop it until it falls yet people still gulp it and store it for another pump. Along with increasing popular leasing for interest businesses, most of the BTCs would be cold stored forever

You're completely wrong, many people use bitcoin as a means of payment, and Japan or Germany are no exceptions on the map of the world. I live in EU (not Germany), and I can buy any electronic equipmentdevice (TV, PC, mobile phone...), gold, even bakery products or I can do a haircut and pay direct with bitcoin. I use bitcoin on a weekly basis, not some big amounts, but still it is currency for me - In addition I think it is a very good way to store value.

If you search with basic keywords there is so many sites that will give you good info where to spend bitcoins.

https://cryptomaniaks.com/latest-cryptocurrency-news/where-can-i-spend-bitcoin
https://coinmap.org/#/world/43.32517768/48.51562500/2
https://99bitcoins.com/bitcoin/who-accepts/

Everyone bagging for maximum profit i love the patience and hope people are having in the Crypto Market !