<p>It's been estimated (with many assumptions) to be somewhere around 1-4% of the total trade volume. This seems bad until you learn that the speculation market for USD is $5 trillion a day.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-22T01:51:56.880Z
Hello Garrik, welcome to Bitcoin.SE. Could you please provide a source for your figures? You speak of many assumptions, so I think that a longer explanation would be useful to substantiate your answer.
Murch
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-15T19:34:08.497Z
2017-06-15T19:34:08.497Z
Garrik
<p>What percentage of Bitcoin transaction volume is due to people actually buying stuff ("goods") versus between traders, investors and speculators?</p>

<p>Of the "goods" volume, what percentage is for illicit purposes (drugs, etc.)?</p>

<p>Are these percentages relevant to the future success of Bitcoin?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-12T21:28:37.233Z
The pseudonymous nature of Bitcoin is such that this question is very difficult to answer. How would you attempt to answer it?
Greg Hewgill
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-13T14:45:31.443Z
I think this is a valid question, just hard to answer as I don't think it is possible to measure directly.
Murch
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-13T15:52:25.200Z
It's also hard to answer just because of the nature of money. I own BTC. I don't know whether I eventually use that to buy something, convert it back into my native fiat currency, convert it into a different crypto currency, or convert it into a different fiat. What would the transaction to buy those BTC be categorized as?
David Ogren
<trading><economic-theory><bitcoin-economy><investing>
How much Bitcoin volume is for purchasing stuff versus trading/speculation/investment?
noctonura
# How much Bitcoin volume is for purchasing stuff versus trading/speculation/investment?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-02-12)

What percentage of Bitcoin transaction volume is due to people actually buying stuff ("goods") versus between traders, investors and speculators?

Of the "goods" volume, what percentage is for illicit purposes (drugs, etc.)?

Are these percentages relevant to the future success of Bitcoin?

**Tags:** trading, economic-theory, bitcoin-economy, investing

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The pseudonymous nature of Bitcoin is such that this question is very difficult to answer. How would you attempt to answer it?  
> **username_2**: I think this is a valid question, just hard to answer as I don't think it is possible to measure directly.  
> **username_3**: It's also hard to answer just because of the nature of money. I own BTC. I don't know whether I eventually use that to buy something, convert it back into my native fiat currency, convert it into a different crypto currency, or convert it into a different fiat. What would the transaction to buy those BTC be categorized as?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-06-15. Score: 1

It's been estimated (with many assumptions) to be somewhere around 1-4% of the total trade volume. This seems bad until you learn that the speculation market for USD is $5 trillion a day.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Hello username_4, welcome to Bitcoin.SE. Could you please provide a source for your figures? You speak of many assumptions, so I think that a longer explanation would be useful to substantiate your answer.  

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