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Are cryptocurrencies about to go mainstream?

theguardian.com

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Re: Are cryptocurrencies about to go mainstream?

#61

Post by tyingq »

notahacker wrote: post #52
tyingq wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bitcoin confirmations take 10+ minutes, and there's no notion of a chargeback. I could see crypto currency replacing Western Union, for sending money to family far away. Replacing credit cards has some gaps on both the consumer and merchant sides.

The advantage of Western Union is that the person receiving the money be unbanked, living in a cash economy, and not even necessarily be literate, never mind technologically literate. To enable these people to receive and spend cryptocurrency there's a serious "last mile" problem that needs solving, and for everyone else there's usually already a better money transfer solution than Western Union, at least for legal t…

I was thinking more of something like an entrepreneur bankrolling a BTC to Mpesa gateway.

The main point, though, was that crypto currency isn't a 1:1 replacement for credit cards.

Re: Are cryptocurrencies about to go mainstream?

#62

Post by bitxbitxbitcoin »

toufka wrote: post #11
hackermailman wrote: post #7

This article can be summed up by the bottom page quote “Prices right now aren’t being driven by network usage, they’re being driven by speculation that tokens are going to appreciate. It’s a gold-rush mentality.” Also everytime I see yet another Ethereum story I think of http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html

Apparently GPU prices are being distorted by this gold rush. Gamer forums are learning what Etherium is these days.

And then Ethereum is going to go POS and there won't be mining anymore. They'll move on to other GPU-mineable coins and the ecosystem will continue to grow :).

BTW: Asus is making mining specific graphic cards to try and relieve the pressure on gaming cards - 10k minimum order.

Re: Are cryptocurrencies about to go mainstream?

#63

Post by bitxbitxbitcoin »

celticninja wrote: post #8
twothamendment wrote: post #4

Yes, and 2017 is the year of the Linux Desktop. We can barely get stores to use EMV/chip card readers, so I'd have to say no.

In the UK and Europe Chip and NFC are prevalent.

In the US... Not so much.

Re: Are cryptocurrencies about to go mainstream?

#64

Post by wickawic »

diogenescynic wrote: post #42
CM30 wrote: post #10

Not until they can really explain to the average Joe why cryptocurrencies are such a good thing. Because at the end of the day, privacy is nowhere near as important to many people are it arguably should be, and trying to market cryptocurrencies as 'independent from government control' is likely a losing proposition. Same with most of the reasons involved I've seen invoked for why to use Bitcoin or the likes online. T…

Cash is still more anonymous than cryptocurrencies.

The anonymity is overrated anyway. At some point you want to turn your currency into tangible benefit like food or a car or drugs or whatever. At that point it isn't hard to connect the anonymous wallet with the guy who bought the new Ferrari out of thin air.

Re: Are cryptocurrencies about to go mainstream?

#66

Post by clarkmoody »

RayVR wrote: post #49

The extremely simple answer is: No. Cryptocurrencies require significantly more power to verify a single transaction[1]. The ability to scale to a meaningful size does not exist now. They need to improve efficiency by 3-4 orders of magnitude to be competitive. [1] http://digiconomist.net/bitcoin-energy-consumption

The article is misleading, as it compares Bitcoin power consumption to VISA, which is a payment processor.

Bitcoin is a sound money system, so the proper comparison is all the people, buildings, vehicles, weapons, etc used in the creation and protection of the global fiat currency system.

I don't know for sure, but I bet fiat costs dwarf the $640M or so that Bitcoin costs.

Re: Are cryptocurrencies about to go mainstream?

#68

Post by thesmallestcat »

wickawic wrote: post #64
diogenescynic wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cash is still more anonymous than cryptocurrencies.

The anonymity is overrated anyway. At some point you want to turn your currency into tangible benefit like food or a car or drugs or whatever. At that point it isn't hard to connect the anonymous wallet with the guy who bought the new Ferrari out of thin air.

If you spent it all on drugs it would be anonymous.

Re: Are cryptocurrencies about to go mainstream?

#69

Post by deepvibrations »

clarkmoody wrote: post #66
RayVR wrote: post #49

The extremely simple answer is: No. Cryptocurrencies require significantly more power to verify a single transaction[1]. The ability to scale to a meaningful size does not exist now. They need to improve efficiency by 3-4 orders of magnitude to be competitive. [1] http://digiconomist.net/bitcoin-energy-consumption

The article is misleading, as it compares Bitcoin power consumption to VISA, which is a payment processor. Bitcoin is a sound money system, so the proper comparison is all the people, buildings, vehicles, weapons, etc used in the creation and protection of the global fiat currency system. I don't know for sure, but I bet fiat costs dwarf the $640M or so that Bitcoin costs.

Also worth mentioning that other crypto-currencies do not require mining (proof-of-work). They instead use "proof of stake" or "Proof of burn" systems which would use less power. Things are still evolving very fast in this space, so you never know what's around the corner!

Re: Are cryptocurrencies about to go mainstream?

#70

Post by notahacker »

tyingq wrote: post #61
notahacker wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The advantage of Western Union is that the person receiving the money be unbanked, living in a cash economy, and not even necessarily be literate, never mind technologically literate. To enable these people to receive and spend cryptocurrency there's a serious "last mile" problem that needs solving, and for everyone else there's usually already a better money transfer solution than Western Union, at least for legal t…

I was thinking more of something like an entrepreneur bankrolling a BTC to Mpesa gateway. The main point, though, was that crypto currency isn't a 1:1 replacement for credit cards.

Agree with your main point, but I think the remittance problem is just as tricky if not more: the BTC MPesa gateway exists (https://www.bitpesa.co/), but so do plenty of reliable low commission ways of converting dollars in the US to MPesa overseas that don't involve exposure to Bitcoin and Bitcoin exchanges
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