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I guess that might be the majority of the situation, but for me personally it's been a lifesaver. Capital controls don't matter, I don't need a bank account, I
by kbody 9y ago
I guess that might be the majority of the situation, but for me personally it's been a lifesaver. Capital controls don't matter, I don't need a bank account, I pay whatever I can with bitcoin and if not possible I use my debit card which I load with bitcoins.
That's been my daily life for a couple years now and it's been liberating. Certainly there's a challenge so you don't loss net-worth with volatility when it drops, but I see it as a cost of freedom.
- and0 9y agoIt sounds like you're describing normal banking + massive volatility. How is that a lifesaver or particularly liberating? And what do you actually buy with Bitcoin? Also curious: is there a debit card that you can back with Bitcoins?
- kasey_junk 9y agoThe most obvious explanation is that they live somewhere where the money is also volatile and unusable.
- and0 9y agoI don't follow. Would you mind naming some examples of the types of places you're thinking of?
- kbody 9y agoI can spend any amount I want without being restricting by anyone, that's pretty basic, but in some countries you just can't do that. I personally have found ways and can manage Bitcoin's volatility just fine (relatively predictable income/expenses + fiat reserve + futures) (of course you could just sell for a fiat currency/USD), so I really don't have a single issue with Bitcoin, apart from not being accepted yet to more places.
- dimillian 9y agoI'm sorry what? Why would I trust my live saving account (which is already pretty volatile), into something much much more volatile? And I can spend whatever money I have on my bank account without anyone limiting or controlling it, and also without any hassles. I don't see the point for real. The only downside I can see for me is that I can't make 'quick' profit by playing with the trend/market.
- and0 9y agoI don't see how actively having to manage the volatility of your currency is "liberating" or a "lifesaver". I'm also not sure who or what would normally be restricting your spending, I live in the US and have only tripped up on fraud alerts (where my bank gives me a call before someone cashes my check, which I appreciate). Again, what are you buying regularly with Bitcoin? And what percentage of those massive expenditures are purely Bitcoin anyway? I also looked into these Bitcoin-backed debit cards and they have all the same issues as normal debit cards but worse: - 1% fee to load the card (this is nuts) - ATM fees like usual - Other misc fees, monthly or otherwise Every time someone talks about how great using Bitcoin is it sound like they just liked the idea of it and very deliberately modeled parts of their lives around it, rather than it offering any actual benefit.
- kbody 9y agoManaging volatility is interesting. Some eliminate it by going fiat and keeping funds on exchanges. Even if it's the easiest way of handling it, I go a different way because I also see it as an long-term investment, so I'm happy to hold real bitcoins on my own wallet, plus I like to optimize my positions in general. Like I said, restrictions apply to countries that have Capital controls, for starters you are only allowed to withdraw $300 per week and of course no purchases outside the country. Obviously I'm not in the US and I'm merely describing my case. My card's fee is a flat 0.5% on any amount loaded and ~$2 per withdrawal from an ATM, imo it's not that much plus the exchange rates are better than if I tried myself on my exchange. Also, I skip the fees from international remittances. I don't know the reality of daily life in the US, but even there it's not the same for everyone, I've read the stories of the unbanked. Just because it doesn't seem useful to your case, it doesn't prevent it from being for others.
- gomox 9y agoxapo.com will mail you a VISA debit card that you can load and keep balances on in either USD or BTC.