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0 pointsMelting_Harps6y ago0 comments

> Bitcoin is fundamentally not a cash alternative

Funny, I built a fintech startup on helping the cannabis Industry from their supposed 'cash' problem(s): predominately having too much of it and not having banking, or having thier cash taken indefinitely by the bank/paypal upon closure of their account(s). While also doing B2B transactions where banks/CC companies failed to lend them services, despite having Local/State laws permitting so. None of which Cash seemed to prove as useful as you think it is.

I think you're looking at this the wrong way: rather than looking at it as a paradigm shift in what programmable money can do, you are measuring Bitcoin by how it fails to function (or dysfunction) as your local Fiat currency does.

That's a very poor measure/metric, as for being able to use it day-to-day, provided you're willing to operate within a KYC/AML system, you can have Visa Credit Cards that draw from your source of BTC in real time/previously loaded, depending on what service you use.

Merchants who accept Bitcoin is a constraint, mainly a tech related one, but just like how many restaurants now take UberEats/Doordash/GrubHub that amount to a growing/large(r) percent of their revenue (moreso when States are limiting restaurant hours or outright operation to online orders only [1]) you will see new use cases appear which Bitcoin's layer 1/2 can utilize natively as a private p2p system.

I think its very telling that despite guy's like Jack Dorsey backing Bitcoin, who I think understands the fintech landscape, and has been orientating Square to be integrated and compatible with it many of you still refuse to see the shift has already happened.

Price drops happen in Bitcoin, I've been in this long enough that it doesn't phase me anymore; and is the only real antidote to the supposed 'what about the early adopter whales' issue people bring up, personally I'm using some of my discretionary budget to buy more.

I'm not here to convince you to use Bitcoin, or why it would work for you/your business: I'm just pointing out why what you said is skewed and not framed correctly. Otherwise you'll have to do what IBM did: offer a good salary for consultant fees to do so. :)

[1]: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/15/corona...

0 comments

Nursie6y ago

I tend to measure bitcoin by how its proponents sell it. It has failed at all of these things -

  Being a fast/cheap payments network
  Being a decentralised cash equivalent
  Being a store of value

The shift hasn't already happened - large businesses that have accepted bitcoin in the past have almost all stepped back from it citing a variety of problems, but mainly boiling down to it not being worth the effort, and nobody using it.

And why would they? It's inflationary in theory and speculative in actuality, anyone that actually thinks BTC is the way of the future would be a fool to part with it.

Melting_HarpsOP6y ago

> ...anyone that actually thinks BTC is the way of the future would be a fool to part with it.

Namely these mainly Silicon Valley based Billionaires: Jack Dorsey, Peter Theil, Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz, Tim Draper. Add Mark Cuban in there, too if you want, but he's not SV based.

Seriously, if you want to put your money where your mouth is I can essentially prove your 1st/2nd points right now. The 3rd will take longer as a store of value is relative to the period you bought, so by default needs time to accrue value.

I'm game if you are, here is my address if you want to make it happen:

3FeN7m31dksxmGhXTMRM9ggxbEcPnfUDHy

Nursie6y ago

I have no bitcoin and would never give one red cent to the shabby, frequently fraudulent outfits that call themselves exchanges in order to obtain any.

You have fun now with all that name dropping. The track record of cryptocurrencies so far has quite thoroughly shown me and most of the world AFAICT that those points are a bust. It's worse than the systems we already have, in pretty much every way.

I note you don't actually address the points made either.

2 more replies

dhosek6y ago

Because Bitcoin is inherently deflationary and there is incentive to not spend it, that pushes its purchasing power into socially/legally marginal areas of the economy. This is why it's the transactional unit of choice for online illegal drug purchases, prostitution, extortion/ransom demands, etc.

All of this of course, makes Bitcoin even more socially marginal. But yes, this is an area where Bitcoin excels for purchases.

(and to clarify, this is not to say that I personally think that drug purchases should be illegal although I have no problem with extortion demands being illegal, just pointing out the place of such transactions in the social milieu as it exists)

wmf6y ago

Illegal transactions use Bitcoin because it's irrevocable, not because of deflation. You can see that people don't shop with stablecoins either.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsMelting_Harps6y ago0 comments

> Bitcoin is fundamentally not a cash alternative

[1]: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/15/corona...

0 comments

Nursie6y ago

I tend to measure bitcoin by how its proponents sell it. It has failed at all of these things -

  Being a fast/cheap payments network
  Being a decentralised cash equivalent
  Being a store of value

And why would they? It's inflationary in theory and speculative in actuality, anyone that actually thinks BTC is the way of the future would be a fool to part with it.

Melting_HarpsOP6y ago

> ...anyone that actually thinks BTC is the way of the future would be a fool to part with it.

Namely these mainly Silicon Valley based Billionaires: Jack Dorsey, Peter Theil, Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz, Tim Draper. Add Mark Cuban in there, too if you want, but he's not SV based.

I'm game if you are, here is my address if you want to make it happen:

3FeN7m31dksxmGhXTMRM9ggxbEcPnfUDHy

Nursie6y ago

I have no bitcoin and would never give one red cent to the shabby, frequently fraudulent outfits that call themselves exchanges in order to obtain any.

I note you don't actually address the points made either.

2 more replies

dhosek6y ago

All of this of course, makes Bitcoin even more socially marginal. But yes, this is an area where Bitcoin excels for purchases.

wmf6y ago

Illegal transactions use Bitcoin because it's irrevocable, not because of deflation. You can see that people don't shop with stablecoins either.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse