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The only real compelling reason anyone has these days to buy a bitcoin seems to be for use on darknet markets, mostly to buy drugs. The merits of those markets

by mabbo 11y ago

The only real compelling reason anyone has these days to buy a bitcoin seems to be for use on darknet markets, mostly to buy drugs. The merits of those markets are wonderful to discuss, but as I don't really have a use for drugs in my life right now, I have no need for bitcoins.

StavrosK 11y ago
I don't know, have you tried to buy plane tickets with a credit card? It takes me a solid half hour every time, between the "verified by Visa" crap, the merchant not accepting the card and some failure on their system. With Bitcoin, you tap the link and press "confirm". It's miles ahead of any other payment system I know, including cash (because you don't have to be in proximity of the recipient).
- bduerst 11y ago
  >have you tried to buy plane tickets with a credit card? It takes me a solid half hour every time Who exactly are you buying plane tickets from? The last time I bought tickets, it took less than a minute to pay with a credit card. I spent more time searching for a flight with wifi.
  - such_a_casual 11y ago
    Maybe his country has different rules about this sort of thing? Or maybe airlines/credit card companies have different rules for his country?
    - bduerst 11y ago
      Or maybe it's pure hyperbole to support a narrative that Bitcoins are easier than credit cards. Bitcoin transactions can take up to 10-15 minutes just to complete.
- datapat 11y ago
  >I don't know, have you tried to buy plane tickets with a credit card? It takes me a solid half hour every time Funny, because the times I have used Bitcoin it has taken a solid hour, or more, for the payment to 'complete' due to the confirmations required. This for pathetic, tiny payments (like $10 or so), When using a card for airline tickets, for thousands, it takes seconds.
orionblastar 11y ago
That is why there was a Silk Road but they got busted by the FBI. Would sell drugs and ship them in a CD holder, claiming it was a CD-ROM for Bitcoins. There are other sites that sell things for Bitcoins that are not drugs. But there aren't that many of them. You have to get the banks to support Bitcoin so you can exchange from Bitcoin and back and that hasn't happened on a large scale yet. When I went to buy Bitcoin I saw a lot of Russian based sites, and not sure I could trust my bank account info with them as they might be run by the Russian mafia for money laundering.
- mabbo 11y ago
  Silk Road was just the first darknet market though. There's plenty of others now, but anytime one gets a bit large, it tends to steal all it's users money and vanish, and if it gets REALLY large, it tends to be shut down by a government eventually. But there's always another market. And there always will be.

by mabbo 11y ago

StavrosK 11y ago

I don't know, have you tried to buy plane tickets with a credit card? It takes me a solid half hour every time, between the "verified by Visa" crap, the merchant not accepting the card and some failure on their system. With Bitcoin, you tap the link and press "confirm". It's miles ahead of any other payment system I know, including cash (because you don't have to be in proximity of the recipient).

bduerst 11y ago
>have you tried to buy plane tickets with a credit card? It takes me a solid half hour every time Who exactly are you buying plane tickets from? The last time I bought tickets, it took less than a minute to pay with a credit card. I spent more time searching for a flight with wifi.
- such_a_casual 11y ago
  Maybe his country has different rules about this sort of thing? Or maybe airlines/credit card companies have different rules for his country?
  - bduerst 11y ago
    Or maybe it's pure hyperbole to support a narrative that Bitcoins are easier than credit cards. Bitcoin transactions can take up to 10-15 minutes just to complete.
datapat 11y ago
>I don't know, have you tried to buy plane tickets with a credit card? It takes me a solid half hour every time Funny, because the times I have used Bitcoin it has taken a solid hour, or more, for the payment to 'complete' due to the confirmations required. This for pathetic, tiny payments (like $10 or so), When using a card for airline tickets, for thousands, it takes seconds.

orionblastar 11y ago

That is why there was a Silk Road but they got busted by the FBI. Would sell drugs and ship them in a CD holder, claiming it was a CD-ROM for Bitcoins. There are other sites that sell things for Bitcoins that are not drugs. But there aren't that many of them. You have to get the banks to support Bitcoin so you can exchange from Bitcoin and back and that hasn't happened on a large scale yet. When I went to buy Bitcoin I saw a lot of Russian based sites, and not sure I could trust my bank account info with them as they might be run by the Russian mafia for money laundering.

mabbo 11y ago
Silk Road was just the first darknet market though. There's plenty of others now, but anytime one gets a bit large, it tends to steal all it's users money and vanish, and if it gets REALLY large, it tends to be shut down by a government eventually. But there's always another market. And there always will be.