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0 pointsjarek11y ago0 comments

> How do you know? It's currently small because it's currently impossible.

I think the reason for my belief about iPhones-in-Nigeria being a small market is self-evident. As for other examples: people tend to buy things locally because local businesses are generally good at recognizing local demand, organizing import if necessary, and reaping the benefits of scale (shipping a container of phones). That this arrangement allows for localization of the product which further increases local demand is just icing on the cake.

> I disagree, most non-US residents in the world don't even have bank accounts.

Yes, but they are getting bank or quasibank accounts faster than they are getting Bitcoin wallets.

> Would you really say no to saving $100 when buying a new MacBook?

No - but as a price-sensitive customer I would buy a couple-months-old, gently-used Macbook and save $200 or more. As a price-sensitive business I would buy a Dell.

> A fringe here and a fringe there and pretty soon you have a whole robe.

Sure. But a robe still much smaller than a mainstream provider like Visa.

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aianus11y ago

> No - but as a price-sensitive customer I would buy a couple-months-old, gently-used Macbook and save $200 or more. As a price-sensitive business I would buy a Dell.

Given the number of successful 1-2% cash-back credit cards, it would seem that even regular consumers care about saving tiny fractions on their spending.

jarekOP11y ago

Yes but putting $1000+ on a 1% cashback card every month adds up a lot faster than 5% on a once-every-two-years $2000 purchase.

jarekOP11y ago

To add: it's also a lot easier to just tap the 1% card as you would normally. There's no change to what people do normally except you get free money (not strictly, but close enough for most people).

It requires a lot more commitment to decide if the transaction is big enough to warrant a no-chargeback discount and if you trust the retailer. Some people would definitely do it if given the chance but it in no way compares to using a cashback Mastercard to buy your lunch.

drcross11y ago

Fiat currency is printed on the whim of governments, effectively defrauding the citizens of every country in the world through value dilution. Bitcoin is a technological innovation which allows for a constant and known rate of currency generation. I'd prefer to intrust my pension to maths than to a civil servant with an economics degree. This aspect shouldn't be overlooked or taken lighty because it disrupts the power, ergo the control that governments can wield over their citizens.

jarekOP11y ago

> Fiat currency is printed on the whim of governments, effectively defrauding the citizens of every country in the world through value dilution. Bitcoin is a technological innovation which allows for a constant and known rate of currency generation. I'd prefer to intrust my pension to maths than to a civil servant with an economics degree. This aspect shouldn't be overlooked or taken lighty because it disrupts the power, ergo the control that governments can wield over their citizens.

Yawn. If people as a whole cared about 1% of what you just said there'd be revolutions in every country yesterday.

Money is inherently a social thing. You provide goods or services today to earn a social credit and be able to acquire goods and services after you retire. Your pension is useless without an economy made up of ordinary people who don't care about maths and cryptography but feel they owe you something. They only care about power governments can wield over citizens when things go really wrong. And when things go really wrong you can't buy potatoes with a hard drive.

aianus11y ago

There are numerous examples in history (and today!) of governments wiping out their citizens' savings through hyperinflation, restricting their access to foreign currencies, etc. This is not just an ideological libertarian conspiracy theory.

It is a virtue of Bitcoin that it helps subvert the power of those corrupt governments over the economy in much the same way TOR and proxies help to subvert their power over free speech.

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0 pointsjarek11y ago0 comments

> How do you know? It's currently small because it's currently impossible.

> I disagree, most non-US residents in the world don't even have bank accounts.

Yes, but they are getting bank or quasibank accounts faster than they are getting Bitcoin wallets.

> Would you really say no to saving $100 when buying a new MacBook?

No - but as a price-sensitive customer I would buy a couple-months-old, gently-used Macbook and save $200 or more. As a price-sensitive business I would buy a Dell.

> A fringe here and a fringe there and pretty soon you have a whole robe.

Sure. But a robe still much smaller than a mainstream provider like Visa.

0 comments

aianus11y ago

> No - but as a price-sensitive customer I would buy a couple-months-old, gently-used Macbook and save $200 or more. As a price-sensitive business I would buy a Dell.

Given the number of successful 1-2% cash-back credit cards, it would seem that even regular consumers care about saving tiny fractions on their spending.

jarekOP11y ago

Yes but putting $1000+ on a 1% cashback card every month adds up a lot faster than 5% on a once-every-two-years $2000 purchase.

jarekOP11y ago

To add: it's also a lot easier to just tap the 1% card as you would normally. There's no change to what people do normally except you get free money (not strictly, but close enough for most people).

drcross11y ago

jarekOP11y ago

Yawn. If people as a whole cared about 1% of what you just said there'd be revolutions in every country yesterday.

aianus11y ago

It is a virtue of Bitcoin that it helps subvert the power of those corrupt governments over the economy in much the same way TOR and proxies help to subvert their power over free speech.

2 more replies

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse