4 ms·

Both work.

LMYahooTFY 9y ago
Well more efficient than legacy banking in the sense that there are a LOT of third parties to get things done, and transfers start at 3-5 business days unless you're transferring to another account at the same bank (no third party), and if it's across a national border than a whole new host of risk assessment starts. Cryptocurrency value transfer involves none of that, and is confirmed in 30-45 minutes at most AFAIK.
- sanswork 9y ago
  I can transfer from my paypal to another immediately. In Canada I can do interac transfers which take minutes between banks and in Europe you can transfer between banks instantly and free. I can do a wire transfer today from my Australian account and have it in my Canadian account tomorrow. Same for US->Canada, US->Australia and Canada->Australia. So it definitely isn't always 3-5 business days. I'm going to assume you're american? America has basically the worst banking system in the first world and a lot of americans don't actually realize how far behind their banking system is. Cryptocurrency value transfer involves none of that if you already own cryptocurrency. But you almost certainly have gone through the traditional system to buy your cryptocurrency so you aren't really removing that inefficiency. Adding to that the inefficiency in interbank transfers is artificial. Should crypto start to take off I'm pretty sure you'd quickly find that the traditional banking system finds a way to do instant international payments. >and is confirmed in 30-45 minutes at most AFAIK. My last bitcoin payment was unfortunately just as someone started to spam the network a month or so ago and actually took just under a week as my fee ended up being too low even though it was an acceptable amount when I initiated the transfer.
  - LMYahooTFY 9y ago
    >I'm going to assume you're american? America has basically the worst banking system in the first world and a lot of americans don't actually realize how far behind their banking system is. Yes, that's really something. I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised. >Cryptocurrency value transfer involves none of that if you already own cryptocurrency. Yes I should have been more clear, but I was considering Crypto within the context, since switching between any currency would usually come with a cost at exchange rate and purchasing power, or remttiance in many cases. The benefits of Crypto that I have heard are only applicable if both parties in a transaction are using Crypto. I would agree that banks may start innovating once Crypto reaches a critical mass, some have already invested into researching how it would be done. As a side note, my (and I speculate many others as well) inclination toward decentralized currency is simply for the political possibilities, as I think (referring to the US) the banking system is perhaps the strongest pillar of oligarchy here. I also don't think that monetary controls can be apolitical by nature, so a method of decentralization that enables democratic influence over it is very appealing to me. Your last statement touches on issues that make me worry whether Bitcoin can be one of those options, but I'm open to the possibility. I think at this point were Bitcoin to fork and not fully recover, others would be filling a void. The future seems more likely to have a myriad of different currencies and I wonder if we'll look back on this as the "currency boom". There are of course still very real geopolitical ramifications for these things and I await much stronger reactions from more powerful nation states. As another aside, I think it's likely that the less developed nations will flock to cryptocurrency. Possibly extreme examples could be philanthropists developing solid currencies for such cointries, or foreign governments deploying them as a method of control.

Both work.

Well more efficient than legacy banking in the sense that there are a LOT of third parties to get things done, and transfers start at 3-5 business days unless you're transferring to another account at the same bank (no third party), and if it's across a national border than a whole new host of risk assessment starts. Cryptocurrency value transfer involves none of that, and is confirmed in 30-45 minutes at most AFAIK.

sanswork 9y ago
I can transfer from my paypal to another immediately. In Canada I can do interac transfers which take minutes between banks and in Europe you can transfer between banks instantly and free. I can do a wire transfer today from my Australian account and have it in my Canadian account tomorrow. Same for US->Canada, US->Australia and Canada->Australia. So it definitely isn't always 3-5 business days. I'm going to assume you're american? America has basically the worst banking system in the first world and a lot of americans don't actually realize how far behind their banking system is. Cryptocurrency value transfer involves none of that if you already own cryptocurrency. But you almost certainly have gone through the traditional system to buy your cryptocurrency so you aren't really removing that inefficiency. Adding to that the inefficiency in interbank transfers is artificial. Should crypto start to take off I'm pretty sure you'd quickly find that the traditional banking system finds a way to do instant international payments. >and is confirmed in 30-45 minutes at most AFAIK. My last bitcoin payment was unfortunately just as someone started to spam the network a month or so ago and actually took just under a week as my fee ended up being too low even though it was an acceptable amount when I initiated the transfer.
- LMYahooTFY 9y ago
  >I'm going to assume you're american? America has basically the worst banking system in the first world and a lot of americans don't actually realize how far behind their banking system is. Yes, that's really something. I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised. >Cryptocurrency value transfer involves none of that if you already own cryptocurrency. Yes I should have been more clear, but I was considering Crypto within the context, since switching between any currency would usually come with a cost at exchange rate and purchasing power, or remttiance in many cases. The benefits of Crypto that I have heard are only applicable if both parties in a transaction are using Crypto. I would agree that banks may start innovating once Crypto reaches a critical mass, some have already invested into researching how it would be done. As a side note, my (and I speculate many others as well) inclination toward decentralized currency is simply for the political possibilities, as I think (referring to the US) the banking system is perhaps the strongest pillar of oligarchy here. I also don't think that monetary controls can be apolitical by nature, so a method of decentralization that enables democratic influence over it is very appealing to me. Your last statement touches on issues that make me worry whether Bitcoin can be one of those options, but I'm open to the possibility. I think at this point were Bitcoin to fork and not fully recover, others would be filling a void. The future seems more likely to have a myriad of different currencies and I wonder if we'll look back on this as the "currency boom". There are of course still very real geopolitical ramifications for these things and I await much stronger reactions from more powerful nation states. As another aside, I think it's likely that the less developed nations will flock to cryptocurrency. Possibly extreme examples could be philanthropists developing solid currencies for such cointries, or foreign governments deploying them as a method of control.