Quote: (03-05-2016 02:56 PM)DVY Wrote:
I just don't see the utility for an average US resident (for now).
Most people want to send $ home. WU accomplishes this cash-to-cash transaction in less than 24 hrs w/basically zero headache up to 2k cash. Thats 99% of the needs for most underbanked. Most people want a quick fix for their problems. Pay the fee and be done w/it. Just trying to hash out WHY you think this is superior....
Unless you are talking about drugs, porn, or shady stuff.
There's a lot of ways to respond to this @DVY, but my first a most important reason why I think Bitcoin is superior is INSTANT SETTLEMENT. Bitcoin acts like cash, in that the transaction is settled at the moment the Bitcoin is sent from one actor to the other.
ALL OTHER FORMS OF DIGITAL CURRENCY TRANSFER ARE REVERSIBLE.
Then of course we have the loss of value, the exchange rates, the fees etc. Bitcoin is direct peer-to-peer.
How about spending the Western Union/Moneygram money online again? Sure another person can receive it at an authorized location, but what good does that do them if they want to buy something that isn't physically at their location. Well now they're back to the same issues they had before they decided to go to WU. Bitcoin can be spent instantly the moment they get control of the money.
You also said WU had "basically zero headache". Have you ever seen what happens if the sender doesn't put the exact name as the receiver has on their identification? The money can get lost in limbo for days. It's really not that easy. Have you ever read one of the WU forms? Good luck if you're illiterate.
Our bitcoin machines in NY have 3 buttons, and I know for a fact a large piece of the customer base is illiterate and still figures out how to use it.
Let me put it to you like this. If WU/Moneygram was as easy as you claim, then my business would be out of business. There's thousands of reasons why we are profitable, and I only mentioned a few, and this is DESPITE the draconian regulations that force the sale of bitcoins in NY to be at least 10x harder to buy legally than the traditional money transmission services we are talking about.
As for your "drugs, porn or shady stuff"...well it's not drugs because in the ghetto all you have to do is go to the corner, not lose 10% of your value. Porn? Well $10mm a day worth of porn in NY alone? Why are sales going up when all the customer does is spend what they have? I think that's nonsensical. Shady stuff? Again, why would customers be doing shady stuff with a trackable currency? It's a lot easier to do it with dollars that no one can track. Because of course when you're doing shady stuff, trust a is a huge part of the operation, and Bitcoin doesn't help you look at the other party in the eye.
No, the reality is that bitcoin is being used to MAKE ILLIQUID MARKETS LIQUID because of it's low transaction fee, convenience, and lower loss factor AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, INSTANT SETTLEMENT. Instant settlement eliminates the giant amounts of fraud that occur every day through the traditional VISA and Mastercard networks where people pay for items with stolen credit cards, and then the merchant is eventually liable when the money gets reversed.