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According to Wikipedia, remittances were in excess of $560 billion last year, faciliated by 250 million migrant workers[1]. You and I are not the user demograp

According to Wikipedia, remittances were in excess of $560 billion last year, faciliated by 250 million migrant workers[1]. You and I are not the user demographic ;) 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remittance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remittance

jogjayr 9y ago
To be fair that demographic has been traditionally served by the hawala system[1]. It's not obvious to me right now that they'd switch to BTC so easily; of course I could be wrong. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala
0x006A 9y ago
That's his point though, the early internet had many useful applications that where appealing to the mainstream. International money transfers are not a mainstream activity.
- alexandersingh 9y ago
  250 million people isn't mainstream? These are people sending money to their families on a monthly basis, and where current transfer fees can take the equivalent of a half day of work. That strikes me as an appealing use case.
  - 0x006A 9y ago
    a highly regulated one too, crypto does not address the complexities of international monetary regulations. If the solution is to not abide by the existing regulations, it not going to be mainstream.
    - alexandersingh 9y ago
      As jogjayr pointed out, the Hawala system has existed before and after formal regulations. Crypto alone might not represent a viable mainstream alternative, but it does have potential as one piece of a composite solution.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- majani 9y ago
  Can people in this thread please take a minute to consider demographics outside your immediate circles?
patd 9y ago
I'm long Bitcoin but those numbers should be taken with a grain of salt before using them to make a case for remittance and Bitcoin. Some of the top receiving countries include France, Germany or Belgium (over $1000 per inhabitant) and the top sending countries include Luxembourg ($12B for a population of 575K). So the numbers probably include cross-border workers. People living in France/Germany/Belgium but working in Luxembourg. Transferring euros within the SEPA region (for free) for at least $50B out of the $560B mentioned.

jogjayr 9y ago

To be fair that demographic has been traditionally served by the hawala system[1]. It's not obvious to me right now that they'd switch to BTC so easily; of course I could be wrong. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala

0x006A 9y ago

That's his point though, the early internet had many useful applications that where appealing to the mainstream. International money transfers are not a mainstream activity.

alexandersingh 9y ago
250 million people isn't mainstream? These are people sending money to their families on a monthly basis, and where current transfer fees can take the equivalent of a half day of work. That strikes me as an appealing use case.
- 0x006A 9y ago
  a highly regulated one too, crypto does not address the complexities of international monetary regulations. If the solution is to not abide by the existing regulations, it not going to be mainstream.
  - alexandersingh 9y ago
    As jogjayr pointed out, the Hawala system has existed before and after formal regulations. Crypto alone might not represent a viable mainstream alternative, but it does have potential as one piece of a composite solution.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
majani 9y ago
Can people in this thread please take a minute to consider demographics outside your immediate circles?

patd 9y ago

I'm long Bitcoin but those numbers should be taken with a grain of salt before using them to make a case for remittance and Bitcoin. Some of the top receiving countries include France, Germany or Belgium (over $1000 per inhabitant) and the top sending countries include Luxembourg ($12B for a population of 575K). So the numbers probably include cross-border workers. People living in France/Germany/Belgium but working in Luxembourg. Transferring euros within the SEPA region (for free) for at least $50B out of the $560B mentioned.