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The most important (legal) use case is probably as an alternative to international wire transfers or services like Western Union. There are a few startups in th

by jcfrei 9y ago

The most important (legal) use case is probably as an alternative to international wire transfers or services like Western Union. There are a few startups in this space, like luno or localbitcoins.

wpietri 9y ago
Apparently I'm not being clear here. I understand the theory. I am looking for proof of actual daily use among specific groups of real-world users. And by real-world, I mean people who are not in it for the tech, but just regular people who are doing it because it's the best solution for their needs. That startups exist doesn't prove anything about use. What I'm looking for is traction.
- jcfrei 9y ago
  I found a good article that you might be interested in: https://www.saveonsend.com/blog/bitcoin-money-transfer/ https://www.saveonsend.com/blog/bitcoin-money-transfer/ (make sure to read the comments as well for some actual use cases!) Growth in usage for international remittances indeed seems to be minimal. An important takeway from the article is that changes to people's behaviours take much much longer than we usually expect. In the countries mentioned, people still rely on cash agents rather than using the available (and cheaper) online banking tools. A similar story can be observed in e-commerce. 25 years after the invention of the WWW e-commerce has only reached 10% of all sales. A similar development can be expected when consumers are changing their banking behaviours. These things take a lot of time. Now, regarding actual demand for blockchain assets (outside of speculation): Previous price rallies in 2016 were most likely caused by the Chinese as a method for capital flight ( http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-02/bitcoin-surges-above-1000-china-unveils-new-capital-controls http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-02/bitcoin-surges-abov... ). Another recent surge in ethereum prices was caused by more and more ICOs, which use ethereum as way to crowdfund their project. So those two I believe are currently the most important sources of demand: Tax evasion / capital flight and funds raising.

by jcfrei 9y ago

The most important (legal) use case is probably as an alternative to international wire transfers or services like Western Union. There are a few startups in this space, like luno or localbitcoins.

wpietri 9y ago

Apparently I'm not being clear here. I understand the theory. I am looking for proof of actual daily use among specific groups of real-world users. And by real-world, I mean people who are not in it for the tech, but just regular people who are doing it because it's the best solution for their needs. That startups exist doesn't prove anything about use. What I'm looking for is traction.

jcfrei 9y ago
I found a good article that you might be interested in: https://www.saveonsend.com/blog/bitcoin-money-transfer/ https://www.saveonsend.com/blog/bitcoin-money-transfer/ (make sure to read the comments as well for some actual use cases!) Growth in usage for international remittances indeed seems to be minimal. An important takeway from the article is that changes to people's behaviours take much much longer than we usually expect. In the countries mentioned, people still rely on cash agents rather than using the available (and cheaper) online banking tools. A similar story can be observed in e-commerce. 25 years after the invention of the WWW e-commerce has only reached 10% of all sales. A similar development can be expected when consumers are changing their banking behaviours. These things take a lot of time. Now, regarding actual demand for blockchain assets (outside of speculation): Previous price rallies in 2016 were most likely caused by the Chinese as a method for capital flight ( http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-02/bitcoin-surges-above-1000-china-unveils-new-capital-controls http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-02/bitcoin-surges-abov... ). Another recent surge in ethereum prices was caused by more and more ICOs, which use ethereum as way to crowdfund their project. So those two I believe are currently the most important sources of demand: Tax evasion / capital flight and funds raising.