4 ms·

When will this false narrative finally die? Bitcoin is practically useless for remittance; I know this from first-hand experience. Bitcoin has to be converted i

When will this false narrative finally die? Bitcoin is practically useless for remittance; I know this from first-hand experience. Bitcoin has to be converted into useable money by the recipient and that process is very inconvenient, slow, expensive and possibly dangerous if you follow the advice of bitcoin enthusiasts and meet up with random sellers in the street. All of this also presumes the recipient is technically literate enough to use and secure bitcoin without the sender being around to hand-hold them through the process and we must assume that they have reliable access to a phone/computer and internet. I'm sure there is some legitimate remittance activity through bitcoin but it is very uncommon.

0x445442 9y ago
This! When a company comes along that can pull off a 1/1 mapping of an electronic token to a given currency and build out the trust less blockchain like infrastructure that allows for transactions at little to no cost that company will have value. I'm really intrigued by things like Ripple but to me the value there isn't XRP but is Ripple Labs. But AFAIK I can't buy stock in Ripple Labs.
- njarboe 9y ago
  Why the US government is not the "company" that has done this already is a real shame and a bit baffling (except for the standard, "It's the government. What do you expect." argument). Fee free online transactions would be great for US competitiveness and give the dollar a leg up in staying the world currency. If not the US, some other country with a convertible currency should do this. They could have the defacto online currency very quickly, I think. How about it Iceland?
koonsolo 9y ago
From the article at the bottom: About a third of the customers queuing at La Maison du Bitcoin’s teller windows in Paris aren’t speculating on the value of the cryptocurrency. They’re sending digital money home to Africa. “In many countries in Africa, there are far more cellphones than bank accounts,” said Manuel Valente, co-founder of La Maison. “For bitcoin, all you need is a phone.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-17/bitcoin-emerges-as-crisis-currency-in-hotspots-such-as-zimbabwe https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-17/bitcoin-e...
- coldtea 9y ago
  Is it true though? Or journalistic exaggeration of some insignificant (in quantity) activity?
  - aiCeivi9 9y ago
    It is true, check for example http://mgafrica.com/article/2015-03-03-mobile-come-first-in-africa-before-electricity-water-toilets-or-even-food http://mgafrica.com/article/2015-03-03-mobile-come-first-in-... . Paying by phone is popular and has much lower bandwidth/storage requirements than bitcoin will ever have: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/21/africa/mpesa-10th-anniversary/index.html http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/21/africa/mpesa-10th-annivers...
mancerayder 9y ago
Western Union takes up to 10%! Of people's wages, often cash wages of low income people. You're assuming I think incorrectly that the value add won't cause people to find another way to circumvent. Either learn how to transfer BTC yourself, use a system someone else wrote that your friend told you about, or even use a different crypotocurrency. Secure isn't a problem if you don't assume every exchange is a Mt Gox waiting to happen.

0x445442 9y ago

This! When a company comes along that can pull off a 1/1 mapping of an electronic token to a given currency and build out the trust less blockchain like infrastructure that allows for transactions at little to no cost that company will have value. I'm really intrigued by things like Ripple but to me the value there isn't XRP but is Ripple Labs. But AFAIK I can't buy stock in Ripple Labs.

njarboe 9y ago
Why the US government is not the "company" that has done this already is a real shame and a bit baffling (except for the standard, "It's the government. What do you expect." argument). Fee free online transactions would be great for US competitiveness and give the dollar a leg up in staying the world currency. If not the US, some other country with a convertible currency should do this. They could have the defacto online currency very quickly, I think. How about it Iceland?

koonsolo 9y ago

From the article at the bottom: About a third of the customers queuing at La Maison du Bitcoin’s teller windows in Paris aren’t speculating on the value of the cryptocurrency. They’re sending digital money home to Africa. “In many countries in Africa, there are far more cellphones than bank accounts,” said Manuel Valente, co-founder of La Maison. “For bitcoin, all you need is a phone.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-17/bitcoin-emerges-as-crisis-currency-in-hotspots-such-as-zimbabwe https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-17/bitcoin-e...

coldtea 9y ago
Is it true though? Or journalistic exaggeration of some insignificant (in quantity) activity?
- aiCeivi9 9y ago
  It is true, check for example http://mgafrica.com/article/2015-03-03-mobile-come-first-in-africa-before-electricity-water-toilets-or-even-food http://mgafrica.com/article/2015-03-03-mobile-come-first-in-... . Paying by phone is popular and has much lower bandwidth/storage requirements than bitcoin will ever have: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/21/africa/mpesa-10th-anniversary/index.html http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/21/africa/mpesa-10th-annivers...

mancerayder 9y ago

Western Union takes up to 10%! Of people's wages, often cash wages of low income people. You're assuming I think incorrectly that the value add won't cause people to find another way to circumvent. Either learn how to transfer BTC yourself, use a system someone else wrote that your friend told you about, or even use a different crypotocurrency. Secure isn't a problem if you don't assume every exchange is a Mt Gox waiting to happen.