I just wrote a post at lunch about this. Right now for most people Bitcoin is the only way to leave your wallet at home and pay for things with your mobile phone.
What's the use for Bitcoin?
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Re: What's the use for Bitcoin?
#12There really is no use for it. Banks have made transactions dirt simple and convenient (especially those outside the US), as well as safe. The only real use for Bitcoin is for anonymous, difficult to trace transactions (ie. black markets), and speculation. With my regular bank account and credit card, I can buy products from China to NA to Europe and just about anywhere, can change my funds into a myriad of currencie…
> The problems Bitcoin claims to be trying to solve were already solved by the banks a while back. Bitcoin (according to its website) claims to provide instant P2P transactions and very low processing fees. International bank transactions take days or weeks and have very high fees. But even more importantly, bitcoins do not require a bank account. All it requires is internet or text messaging access. This is very imp…
> International bank transactions take days or weeks and have very high fees.
Not really. I mean, I'm sure they can if you're moving millions, but small transactions are pretty much instant, even internationally, at least between modern banks in 2 countries. And the fees (if there even are any) are negligible.
Anyhow, that's my experience with my bank. I do know that American banks can be behind the times a bit...
Re: What's the use for Bitcoin?
#13I would tend to agree with the author here. I can't see Bitcoin ever emerging as something legal and useful to the average person. >Bitcoin enthusiasts disagree, claiming illicit activity is practically non-existent. Instead, they preach decentralization, trustlessness and smart contracts - none of which are benefits but merely features. Bitcoin enthusiasts preach an awful lot of things, particularly preaching about…
If every Satoshi could be tracked along the blockchain for tax purposes I suspect the technology would become the de facto standard currency in the US and especially France. ;-)
Re: What's the use for Bitcoin?
#14I derided Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general until I seriously looked into it, and then I could hardly sleep for days because of the huge implications of it. Bitcoin allows people who are unbanked, especially in developing countries, to hold and transmit money across the world at practically zero cost. Since bitcoin is decentralized, there are no middlemen like banks to take a cut or freeze your account. Besides…
Bitcoin is for Criminals, Cowards, and Crazies.
Criminals, who find it useful as a mechanism for transferring and storing income from illegal activities.
Cowards, who want to hide behind a cryptocurrency to protect themselves from social and government problems that can only be solved through education and democracy.
And crazies who think that Obama is a secret atheist muslim who is fighting a secret war of confiscation and redistribution against America.
> new allegations that it was the US Feds that stole the money from Mt. GOX users
Which category do you most identify with?
Re: What's the use for Bitcoin?
#15There really is no use for it. Banks have made transactions dirt simple and convenient (especially those outside the US), as well as safe. The only real use for Bitcoin is for anonymous, difficult to trace transactions (ie. black markets), and speculation. With my regular bank account and credit card, I can buy products from China to NA to Europe and just about anywhere, can change my funds into a myriad of currencie…
> The problems Bitcoin claims to be trying to solve were already solved by the banks a while back. Bitcoin (according to its website) claims to provide instant P2P transactions and very low processing fees. International bank transactions take days or weeks and have very high fees. But even more importantly, bitcoins do not require a bank account. All it requires is internet or text messaging access. This is very imp…
It still requires a bank account, just a difference sense of the word. If someone only has a phone, they need to store their bitcoin somewhere, and its unlikely to be their phone. So whoever is holding their bitcoin is acting as their bank.
Re: What's the use for Bitcoin?
#16According to this half the world's population is unable to get a bank account: http://mckinseyonsociety.com/half-the-world-is-unbanked/
Bitcoin allows for anyone with internet or even text-messaging access to hold, receive and send money. To me, this seems revolutionary. I don't know how the author can ignore this.
Re: What's the use for Bitcoin?
#17Bitcoin has many benefits for the average man, provided it is in wide use. Currently it isn't, so the advantages are not yet substantive.
For one thing, the government doesn't control the inflation of bitcoin like it does with dollars. The fed aims for ~2.5-3% "inflation" every year, however this is inflation beyond the massive deflation that occurs year over year due to technology and efficiency increases... The supercomputer that cost millions in 1970 dollars cost you a couple hundred (and fits in your pocket to boot.) The inflated 1970's million USD is gigantic in today's dollars, but only because of the inflation created by the fed because they believe it is the only way to keep the fiat money system working. If people realized the deflationary power by simply not spending, the consumer driven economy would crash and burn quickly.
What bitcoin offers is an escape from that inflationary cycle. If it's use spreads, it will allow people to protect their money in banks (although, they will be more like safety deposit boxes.) Banks can still offer loans, but it will be at a real rate in the market place. Fractional reserve banking will be a thing of the past. Federal (debt-backed) subsidies will no longer apply.
The inflationary spiral that keeps reducing wealth for anyone who wants to save without participating in the inflated stock market will end.
I see bitcoin as the cure to the woes of today. We have a real problem with the environment, and I believe much of it would be better if the money supply were not manipulated to support the consumer-driven economy. We would still have smart phones, but we probably wouldn't have throw away cases that we changed out with every outfit..
Re: What's the use for Bitcoin?
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The problems Bitcoin claims to be trying to solve were already solved by the banks a while back. Bitcoin (according to its website) claims to provide instant P2P transactions and very low processing fees. International bank transactions take days or weeks and have very high fees. But even more importantly, bitcoins do not require a bank account. All it requires is internet or text messaging access. This is very imp…
It still requires a bank account, just a difference sense of the word. If someone only has a phone, they need to store their bitcoin somewhere, and its unlikely to be their phone. So whoever is holding their bitcoin is acting as their bank.
I don't think that's true.
> If someone only has a phone, they need to store their bitcoin somewhere, and its unlikely to be their phone.
Why? Bitcoins do not exist somewhere, bitcoin transactions do, and they are stored in the blockchain. Bitcoins that you own are essentially unspent transactions to your address which is only a few bytes long.
A bitcoin wallet/address is not a bank account by any sense of the world.
Re: What's the use for Bitcoin?
#19According to this half the world's population is unable to get a bank account: http://mckinseyonsociety.com/half-the-world-is-unbanked/ Bitcoin allows for anyone with internet or even text-messaging access to hold, receive and send money. To me, this seems revolutionary. I don't know how the author can ignore this.
I suspect that the half of the word's population that is unable to get a bank account has a sizable overlap with the fraction that doesn't have internet or even text-messaging access.
Re: What's the use for Bitcoin?
#20According to this half the world's population is unable to get a bank account: http://mckinseyonsociety.com/half-the-world-is-unbanked/ Bitcoin allows for anyone with internet or even text-messaging access to hold, receive and send money. To me, this seems revolutionary. I don't know how the author can ignore this.
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