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Fiat vs. Bitcoin

fiatfate.com

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Re: Fiat vs. Bitcoin

#11

Post by nicky0 »

kovek wrote: post #9
vernon99 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which you can, for years now... lots of services provide debit cards tied to your bitcoin wallet. Instant purchases. Some examples: https://www.weusecoins.com/bitcoin-debit-cards/

We were just discussing this earlier with some friends. Don't bitcoin transactions take a large amount of time? A block takes 10 minutes to mine, and there is no guarantee your transaction will be picked up by the currently mined block (or the one after), because there is a limit on the number of transactions that can fit in a block. Are there solutions to this?

That is correct. One solution to this being worked on is Lightning Network (http://lightning.network)

Re: Fiat vs. Bitcoin

#13

Post by jondubois »

I think that currency volatility won't be a problem in the future. Everything will be online and prices of items will update in real time to reflect supply and demand relative to any digital currency of your choice.

It will be like in the old days when people used to haggle over the price of everything.

Re: Fiat vs. Bitcoin

#14

Post by nicky0 »

jerrre wrote: post #10
kovek wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We were just discussing this earlier with some friends. Don't bitcoin transactions take a large amount of time? A block takes 10 minutes to mine, and there is no guarantee your transaction will be picked up by the currently mined block (or the one after), because there is a limit on the number of transactions that can fit in a block. Are there solutions to this?

In the case of a debit card it can be pre-paid and/or the fees cover the costs just like with credit cards.

But then you are not really paying with Bitcoin. You are paying with Visa and funding your account with Bitcoin.

Re: Fiat vs. Bitcoin

#15

Post by diegocerdan »

kovek wrote: post #9
vernon99 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which you can, for years now... lots of services provide debit cards tied to your bitcoin wallet. Instant purchases. Some examples: https://www.weusecoins.com/bitcoin-debit-cards/

We were just discussing this earlier with some friends. Don't bitcoin transactions take a large amount of time? A block takes 10 minutes to mine, and there is no guarantee your transaction will be picked up by the currently mined block (or the one after), because there is a limit on the number of transactions that can fit in a block. Are there solutions to this?

Ethereum's blocktime is way shorter: 10 seconds. You usually want multiple blocks to be finalized, from 3 to 6 to be sure you are on the longer chain.

The proposed blockchain solution for this are state channels where payments are then instant. Using state channels you can build a multi-hop network solution called Raiden (Ethereum) and Lightning Network (Bitcoin).

Re: Fiat vs. Bitcoin

#16

Post by wodenokoto »

jondubois wrote: post #13

I think that currency volatility won't be a problem in the future. Everything will be online and prices of items will update in real time to reflect supply and demand relative to any digital currency of your choice. It will be like in the old days when people used to haggle over the price of everything.

> I think that currency volatility won't be a problem in the future .... It will be like in the old days when people used to haggle over the price of everything.

That does sound like a problem to me.

Re: Fiat vs. Bitcoin

#17

Post by Sir_Substance »

nicky0 wrote: post #14
jerrre wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the case of a debit card it can be pre-paid and/or the fees cover the costs just like with credit cards.

But then you are not really paying with Bitcoin. You are paying with Visa and funding your account with Bitcoin.

By that standard, when you use a bog standard Visa card you're not actually paying with dollars[1], you're paying with the artificial virtual currency your bank provides that is pegged to the dollar at 1:1, and merely funding your account with dollars.

[1] Substitute your local fiat currency here

Re: Fiat vs. Bitcoin

#18

Post by ForHackernews »

By any reasonable definition, Bitcoin is a fiat currency. Unlike commodities like gold or silver, it has no inherent value whatsoever, and no applications for industrial use or jewellery.

Bitcoin is a fiat currency because it only has value while some group of humans collectively agree to pretend that is has value. The same as dollars or yen.

Re: Fiat vs. Bitcoin

#20

Post by jpatokal »

ForHackernews wrote: post #18

By any reasonable definition, Bitcoin is a fiat currency. Unlike commodities like gold or silver, it has no inherent value whatsoever, and no applications for industrial use or jewellery. Bitcoin is a fiat currency because it only has value while some group of humans collectively agree to pretend that is has value. The same as dollars or yen.

The key difference, though, is that fiat currency is easily debased because whoever controls it can print more, while Bitcoin does not have a single owner and can only change if the majority of miners agree to do so.
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