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MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

reuters.com

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Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#521

Post by imtringued »

sizzle wrote: post #422
FalconSensei wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Awesome, go to the supermarket, pay with BTC and wait there for an hour for your transaction to complete. Or try to buy anything time/quantity limited, so you don't get it because the transaction took too long to complete. Meanwhile, in Canada, I just do a money transfer by email without any fees (if sending more than $10), and it's almost instant if the receiver have auto-deposit set up.

Why would you have to wait an hour? A credit card isn't instant? Isn't there some level of trust involved here?

You won't have to wait an hour because MasterCard will support Bitcoin. However, this completely goes against the idea of decentralization.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#522

Post by lui8906 »

systemvoltage wrote: post #84
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #2

These stories usually spur more enthusiasm for buying cryptocurrency, but ironically those buyers aren’t interested in spending cryptocurrency using their MasterCard. They’re hoping other people will buy cryptocurrency from these announcements, driving the price up. Or, more likely, they’re just hoping other people will buy cryptocurrency and not use it in these spending systems. Spending cryptocurrency would result…

What's the point of an unstable, volatile, frantically manipulated currency that is susceptible to social media pump and dump schemes (Elon + Doge)? Currency and its exchange rate needs to be relatively stable for the world to put trust into it. Saying that BTC is stable, but the rest of the world's fiat currency is fluctuating makes no sense. US dollar provides stability and security, I feel confident that a cappucc…

> Crypto's volatility deters me from using it, simply put.

There is stable coins which have held a consistent peg against the US dollar for a couple of years now. You get all the benefit of high APY yield (relative to a bank account) and none of the volatility of a Doge or a BTC.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#523

Post by crazydoggers »

There’s always lots of bluster and comments about cryptocurrency with things like this and not always much concrete information.

I think as a tech community here on HN we should try to focus on why these changes are occurring so quickly and what the repercussions are. Let’s talk constructively about the risks and opportunities more than we do about who’s buying, who’s selling, on and on.... is it a bubble.. does it have value, etc etc. Clearly it’s here to stay and clearly large chunks of our economy will soon be dealing with it.

So let’s instead talk about constructive ways to move regulation forward. Expand education and communication etc.

For instance I have a concern that we’ll leave a large percentage of people further behind as digital cryptocurrency becomes a larger part of the economic system.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#524

Post by arcticbull »

anm89 wrote: post #500
arcticbull wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Show me a currency that has the exact same inflation figures every month for a single year and I'll send you a bitcoin. That's strictly not a goal. The goal is a long-to-medium term target average. > Or alternately, just view a currency index like the DXY to see very closely that nothing comes close to this. DXY has little to do with domestic spending power, only the relative strength of one currency compared to a…

You still haven't provided any data of any country showing consistent inflation. Hell, do it over a 10 year period annually. You still can't. No bitcoin for you and the wetlands.

I have no idea what you're talking about. [1]

Average them out. 1.75%. Right on the button.

The ducks are going to love you!

Again, the goal is not to have the number exactly on every single year, it's to have it within a range. It's within a range. It's within a pretty tight range. Mission accomplished, even in light of the crazy pandemic years and everything else that's happened in the last 12 years.

[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/244983/projected-inflati...

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#525

Post by xur17 »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #289
maxkwallace wrote: post #75

To everyone saying "my credit card pays me 2% to use it", no, your credit card charges the merchant 2.3%+ to use it, that gets bundled into the price, and they give you 2% of that as a kickback.

> "my credit card pays me 2% to use it", no, your credit card charges the merchant 2.3%+ to use it, Consumers do not care about anything other than the net price they pay. Stores that take Bitcoin payments flip this around, passing the transaction cost to consumers. If I'm ordering a $50 thing online and the store takes Bitcoin, I have two options: 1) Pay with my credit card, for a net cost of $49 to me and a guarant…

Some merchants do pass the savings on to the user for using Bitcoin vs credit cards, and there are ways to pay with Bitcoin (lightning) that involve negligible fees.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#526

Post by throwawayForMe2 »

rawtxapp wrote: post #347
scotty79 wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When Visa and MasterCard will warm up to bitcoin they will have ideal product for all the bitcoin millionaires. When you are long on bitcoin you almost don't care about volatility. Because you can't predict the future the only good time to buy bitcoin is when you have too much dollars and the only good time when to sell bitcoins is when you have not enough dollars. Sure, now you have 10 mln dollars in BTC at all tine…

This is very similar to what I'm currently doing, just borrowing against my Bitcoin holdings using MakerDAO, I have good liquidity on a day to day basis and my Bitcoin is still appreciating.

The additional benefit here is with a loan there is no tax event, a major advantage over selling.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#527

Post by hoka-one-one »

I think this is a miss guided application and it's a sign that the cryptocurrency space is struggling to find a use case beyond as a store of value.

Please upvote my very original opinion that hasn't been rehashed on nearly every cryptocurrency thread on hacker news.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#528

Post by Thorentis »

tenaciousDaniel wrote: post #280
vbezhenar wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your view must be skewed by privilege of having stable currency. Currency of my country lost 250% of its value over last 7 years. It's not bitcoin-level volatile, but close to it. Thankfully I have an option to use USD to hoard money, but that option is not something that's given, in many countries you just can't exchange for fair price. I agree that for someone living in US or EU there's no much point using BTC.

It's sad that this aspect of the conversation so often gets replaced by everything else. This is (IMO) the most important point about digital currency - the promise of providing consumers in unstable economies the chance to convert to a more stable currency without government intrusion. We're still not there, but that should be the north star for crypto (again, in my opinion).

Why is encouraging people in such countries to use better than making the US Dollar more accessible to these people? If stability is the goal, I find it hard to accept that DogeCoin is the answer to the developing/third world's economic problems.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#529

Post by sfblah »

vbezhenar wrote: post #255
systemvoltage wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the point of an unstable, volatile, frantically manipulated currency that is susceptible to social media pump and dump schemes (Elon + Doge)? Currency and its exchange rate needs to be relatively stable for the world to put trust into it. Saying that BTC is stable, but the rest of the world's fiat currency is fluctuating makes no sense. US dollar provides stability and security, I feel confident that a cappucc…

Your view must be skewed by privilege of having stable currency. Currency of my country lost 250% of its value over last 7 years. It's not bitcoin-level volatile, but close to it. Thankfully I have an option to use USD to hoard money, but that option is not something that's given, in many countries you just can't exchange for fair price. I agree that for someone living in US or EU there's no much point using BTC.

I don't actually understand. Things can't lose any more than 100% of their value. What do you mean by 250%? Do you mean inflation was at a 250% rate?
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