> The service is the first of its kind in Japan, where Bitcoin is still a novelty in daily consumer life. Where is Bitcoin not a novelty in daily consumer life?
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Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin
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Re: Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
Definitely not a novelty. Lots of people use it to pay for ransomware.
If my stuff got held for bitcoin ransom, I would definitely consider that to be a novel experience.
It's a fairly inelastic demmand for many of these people. Which, I think is the opposite of novel.
Re: Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin
#93Re: Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin
#94Re: Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin
#95A friend of mine who lives in Tokyo told me that in Japan it's near impossible to transfer money from one bank to another. He told me the way Japanese people transfer money between banks was to draw the cash out in one and pay it in to another. I'm prepared to be corrected if this tale isn't true. However, with this in mind, it seems like quite a leap from a non-electronic intra-bank system to Bitcoin. On the other h…
A friend of mine who lives in Tokyo told me that in Japan it's near impossible to transfer money from one bank to another Go to any of your bank's ATMs with your ATM card and/or passbook. Select 振込. Input amount. You will be asked the bank, bank branch, and 7 digit account number of the person you are sending it to. You will then be (typically) shown a screen which shows you the fee (100 to about 500 yen depending on…
> Japan is a major Western country
Um...
Re: Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin
#96A side note is I find it a little odd that bitcoin often gets "hate" from inside some tech circles. From a technology standpoint I was amazed because I was able to set up a wallet, set up a twitter account and get people to send me bitcoin in legal and ethical ways in a very short amount of time. People can actually tweet you "money" very easily with no hassle of setting up bank account or waiting etc. I was able to spend it on things as well. Sure its not the most convenient thing to buy most things with yet but its still very new. I am not some bitcoin advocate or anything but just the ability to do something like that I thought was very useful.
Re: Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin
#97A side note is I find it a little odd that bitcoin often gets "hate" from inside some tech circles. From a technology standpoint I was amazed because I was able to set up a wallet, set up a twitter account and get people to send me bitcoin in legal and ethical ways in a very short amount of time. People can actually tweet you "money" very easily with no hassle of setting up bank account or waiting etc. I was able to…
But how often do people tweet you money anyway?
Re: Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
It would be convenient if you have an income or savings in Bitcoin. Some people are attracted to using Bitcoin as a day to day currency and payments system, to reduce their dependence on mainstream banking. The "be your own bank" philosophy. Admittedly right now Bitcoin seems like a novelty, but it will never reach wider use without small "pointless" steps like this.
It would be convenient if you have an income [...] in Bitcoin. Miners, drug dealers, and who else exactly?
Just because journalists don't spend a lot of time writing articles about ordinary working people with an income in Bitcoin doesn't mean they don't exist. The news media does not portray a balanced, holistic view of reality. All in all, I think an article about someone just having an income in Bitcoin would be too boring for any editor to accept.
Re: Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin
#99A side note is I find it a little odd that bitcoin often gets "hate" from inside some tech circles. From a technology standpoint I was amazed because I was able to set up a wallet, set up a twitter account and get people to send me bitcoin in legal and ethical ways in a very short amount of time. People can actually tweet you "money" very easily with no hassle of setting up bank account or waiting etc. I was able to…
Hate? No, not from me. But I am wary of bitcoin advocates' desire for it to become widespread because it is an anti-democratic currency. Like all currencies, it's got assumptions baked into it (fixed supply leads to deflation, etc) that influence its spenders' lives, but unlike government-sponsored currencies, there's no way for its users to have a meaningful say in those decisions.
With dollars, I get to vote regularly for people, and those people appoint someone to call the shots on "how dollars work". So does everyone else (well, registered voters, but you get my drift). They don't need to be versed in printing or ACH or whatever to have their voice heard.
With bitcoin, if I'm not happy, where do I go to have my voice heard? Saying "code up your changes and get 51% of the network on board" isn't the same, not even same ballpark, or neighborhood, as "here's your ballot, citizen".
So that's my beef with bitcoin.
Re: Japanese Can Soon Pay Their Utility Bills with Bitcoin
#100A side note is I find it a little odd that bitcoin often gets "hate" from inside some tech circles. From a technology standpoint I was amazed because I was able to set up a wallet, set up a twitter account and get people to send me bitcoin in legal and ethical ways in a very short amount of time. People can actually tweet you "money" very easily with no hassle of setting up bank account or waiting etc. I was able to…
But how often do people tweet you money anyway?
Depends on how creative you are and how much effort you put into it. I have over $1000 in bitcoin just through using twitter and never sinking 1 penny in. I also consider what I did just playing and testing it out. I have some more serious ideas for later when I have time because I just love the concept.