I responded to the claim that fiats are independent of taxes...
I am responding to the claim: Taxes existed long before fiat currencies.
Yes, taxes did exist before fiat, but fiat doesn't exist without government. Government forces you to use fiat to pay tax. That's why they have innate utility, but not innate value. If you don't pay taxes in fiat, you just haven't paid your taxes. That would have negative consequences. So you will acquire that paper currency even though it might not be the best way to store value. Without government enforcement, the free market would absolutely choose something else with which to transact value.
You can check out the thread at: https://disqus.com/home/discussion/bitcoincom/federal_judge_sides_with_coinbase_customer_against_irs/?utm_source=reply&utm_medium=email&utm_content=read_more#comment-3429419452
I think taxes were invented long before there were money. That was probably next thing after humans learnt how to control fire...
Oh, yeah. I would never argue that. My point was that fiat is contingent on government requirement that taxes be paid in fiat. If they wanted it in chickens or other livestock, that would be hilarious, but they demand the coin of the realm and that is what makes fiat valuable.
I think it seems to be universally accepted to use fiat currency to pay government taxes with. Let's see if in the future if they will endorse the use of cryptocurrency as a means to pay for taxes and other things or if they will be stubborn and apprehensive, keeping bitcoin illegal or not accepting it into everyday life.
That seems unlikely, considering what the collapse of the current fiat system would mean to the current government. That is what would happen if a significant number of people shifted over to cryptocurrency. The current fiat system requires a growing stream of new debt slaves to continue to need their currency. We see the same thing happen in fiat economies where the population shrinks, followed by hyperinflation.