I am 100% okay with getting flamed and being called names and told that this is all a big scam.
It has ZERO value, etc. etc. etc.

But please hear me out. In fact, I don't completely disagree with you, I started where you stand!

We need some form of money. Which must be a store of value (unlike the dollar).
And I ASK you to ignore BOTH the current instability of BTC pricing, and the difficulties in using it. [for now].

What were used, in the past, for money? (Glass beads, shells, various coins, etc. etc. etc.)
And what happens over time (People shave the coins (hence the ridges), people counterfeit the paper,
the English even came to an island with a bunch of glass beads. Bankers use inflation, and debt is used
to enslave us).

I am VERY confident that everyone here is a solid believer that GOLD/SILVER would work just fine.
(Even better if it wasn't so dang heavy... But I've seen plastic bills with pressed gold foil inside)...

The point is. WE NEED a money and a CURRENCY (something we actually spend) that we can TRUST.
We cannot Trust: CBDCs, the Dollar, etc. etc. etc.

But MANY people here REFUSE to consider trusting BTC, because it's "software".
The reality is. It is an IMPOSSIBLE to counterfeit currency. It's #1 drawback is that you can lose access to it because of some failure to keep the password. The #2 is the ability to have someone strong-arm your password from you... And I agree...

But in all honesty. I think if the Gulch [Which digital currencies allow to be geographically disconnected], used crypto as part of their "going on strike" from the rigged system... They would realize it solves a few problems.
Far more than it creates.

Yes, it requires Electricity, Internet, and Devices to transact. (Just like Credit Cards do).
And MAYBE we need some level of Coinage. I agree this is a weakness.

But here are the Strengths:
1) It's impossible to counterfeit! EVEN by Governments and by COURTS.
2) Once it's EVERYWHERE, it makes more sense to use it, then to try to go around it. [Chicken/Egg, I know]
3) It's trust is the SIMPLE fact that if you had MILLIONS in it, and you felt the network was at risk. You, too, could setup a few miners, to help keep the network DECENTRALIZED.

FWIW, I am not sold on PoS (Proof of Stake). This is where you put up money and you RISK that money to authenticate transactions... In such a way that if you try to approve (back door) a fraudulent transaction, your are penalized by having the money you Staked taken from you. [Reality: Some players have enough $$$ that they can afford to lose that money in order to "break" the system].

In PoW (Proof of Work), you solve tough math problems, and the first ones done get the reward (more coins).
This is why it is called Mining. You don't get an outsized amount of coins. In fact the difficult and price can be tracked. Miners are EFFECTIVELY Converting Electricity to Coins via a dollar cost averaging function. And this is a TOTAL DEMOCRATIC Approach. You join other miners, and you mine. You make some money for mining. But there are literally TOO MANY Miners for someone to sneak in and start trying to get "Bogus" transactions to be validated. Every ONE of these miners has EVERY TRANSACTION on them. The SECURITY is that the system is spread out. And that a bunch of RANDOM miners will have to validate your transaction.

Even China could not corner the market on mining in such a way as to corrupt it.

Yes. It is ONLY WORTH what the market says it is. BUT it is also back-stopped by what it costs to MINE new BTCs. Because if you are mining it, and it costs you $35,000 to mine 1 BTC. You have ZERO incentive to sell that at a loss. Much less a huge loss.

And I guess that's the final piece. It will be REALLY hard to manipulate when it is fully adopted.
Full adoption means the price fluctuations are gone.

Gold, Silver, Stocks, Bonds. These are all heavily manipulated.

And the final feature. Imagine the government tries to claim they lost 100,000 BTC last year,
and have no idea where it went.

Um, lets trace those transactions... AND Along the way, lets make sure that taxes were paid/collected.
Lets see. You gave a ton to XYZ Corp, what did they deliver? Where's the contract? (Oh, they were overpaid by 10x and didn't notice... LOL).

TBH... That final piece is why we should FORCE our government to use BTC.
And it's what I HATE about ME USING BTC... I don't want my transactions traceable like that.
But I would still want a Credit Card I use for transactions. And then Settle monthly for BTC.
The ONLY thing that would be public is I paid XXX Visa.

I think that's fine. But it still has a choke point. And that's the CC company.
BTC cannot be reversed. You spend it, it is gone. Escrow type services will be huge again.

Anyways. I throw these thoughts at this group.
Here are my questions:
1) If it were WELL ESTABLISHED and STABLE in it's value [changes would reflect the OTHER currencies inflation] and it proved to be a storehouse WOULD you use it then? (Why/Why Not)
2) If it guaranteed we could see where the government money was going, would you want the GOVT to be forced to use it?
3) What is a realistic Alternative? (That can't be counterfeited, and could you leave the country if all of your wealth was converted to that? Safely?)

Thanks in advance. I think this discussion is worth having.
And I have my concerns. But they are not with the safety/security of the asset.