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MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

reuters.com

11–20 of 910 posts

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#11

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…

A friend of mine basically put it this way: bitcoin can't become medium of exchange before it becomes medium of value. You can read this as: if you are holding btc, it's in your best interest to hold more without selling.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#12

I don't want mastercard supporting crypto. I want the merchants and payment providers supporting crypto so I do not have to use mastercard and their "rules". If I want to pay for porn or send a donation to wikileaks I do not want mastercard/paypal or anyone else other than the government (if it's legal I should be allowed to pay for it) deciding if that is ok.

Bitcoin transaction fees are currently around $8.

My credit card pays me 2% to use it.

No one wants to use the Bitcoin blockchain for average transactions.

No one is buying Bitcoin as anything other than a speculative investment right now.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#13

I thought the whole idea of Bitcoin was to get out of the financial system that Mastercard is a central piece of.

Bitcoin transactions cost $8 each and that’s exactly what the Bitcoin miners want

The idea that Bitcoin was going to become a new currency was never true with the low transaction limit and Hugh transaction cost.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#14

The game Paypal currently plays with Crypto is the closest thing to printing money I have ever seen: Their users can "buy and sell Bitcoin" and pay "no fees". How does Paypal make money? "From the spread". The difference between bid and ask. And who sets the spread? Drumroll ... Paypal! Since you cannot transfer your bitcoins out, when you sell your bitcoins, Paypal pays you whatever they like. So far, Paypal only of…

Same with their forex rates. What's new.

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Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#15

I don't want mastercard supporting crypto. I want the merchants and payment providers supporting crypto so I do not have to use mastercard and their "rules". If I want to pay for porn or send a donation to wikileaks I do not want mastercard/paypal or anyone else other than the government (if it's legal I should be allowed to pay for it) deciding if that is ok.

Bitcoin transaction fees are currently around $8. My credit card pays me 2% to use it. No one wants to use the Bitcoin blockchain for average transactions. No one is buying Bitcoin as anything other than a speculative investment right now.

Bitcoin is only good for large transactions, but there are 1000000 cryptocurrencies that solve this problem such as BCH, USDT, and LTC. Use one of them.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#16

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…

Yeah, that is basically what all the exchanges do. The blockchain does not support that use case at all.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#17
post #11

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…

A friend of mine basically put it this way: bitcoin can't become medium of exchange before it becomes medium of value. You can read this as: if you are holding btc, it's in your best interest to hold more without selling.

If it’s in your best interest to buy and never sell, why would anyone want to use it for exchange?

Bitcoin’s deflationary nature discourages spending and selling, by definition. The high transaction costs discourage it even further.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#19
post #16

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…

Yeah, that is basically what all the exchanges do. The blockchain does not support that use case at all.

Some blockchains don't support that use case. Others do.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#20
Unclear what this actually means. Can I pay my credit card bill using crypto? That's a taxable event and a pain in the butt to track.

Can I buy stuff from merchants using crypto, and they receive crypto? Useful, but most merchants will want fiat currency, so someone on the chain will have to convert it to dollars, which again would be a taxable event.

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