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I hope Bitcoin perseveres. I missed the boat on buying it when it was valued at ~$200 USD. I am more into the decentralization of currency. I don't buy the fear

by eggy 9y ago

I hope Bitcoin perseveres. I missed the boat on buying it when it was valued at ~$200 USD. I am more into the decentralization of currency. I don't buy the fear-mongering. And today, I am even more resolved. Bank of America rejected my father trying to deposit $250 USD cash into my account at a local branch while I was out of town. They made him go home to get his checkbook to write a check (money order was an option). They no longer take cash deposits since December 2017 from non-account holders. Any talk of preventing money laundering and the customer's best interest is just a lame excuse to rid staff at branches. The banks know it too, since they are rushing to develop cryptocurrency instruments to ensure they insert themselves into the payment chain to collect percentages. I remember being at the first HOPE NYC in August 1994 [1], and listening to a talk about crypto and currencies. I can't remmber the guys name, but he had a cowboy hat on, long hair and beard. Jeez, I wish I were more visionary then. It woke a spark of potential, and then I went on with other things. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackers_on_Planet_Earth

simias 9y ago
I see many people complaining about the banking system (often for a good reason) and mention cryptocurrencies as an alternative but I'm not sure I see it. Take your anecdote for instance, what would be the equivalent in the crypto world? If you actually need to deposit fiat you'll have to use an exchange and it's basically the same problem (good luck getting an exchange to accept $250 in cash). Of course the whole thing is that if everything switches to some cryptocurrency then everybody will be able to manage their own money directly without needing an institution. Well, in theory at least, in practice it seems as likely as expecting everybody to host their own email servers instead of relying on gmail & friends. In practice people won't want to risk losing their funds because they made a mistake, lost their hardware token or got a virus on their computer. In practice people will still want loans and insurance. So I think crypto or no crypto banks won't go away.
- kbutler 9y ago
  There are already more than 2000 bitcoin ATMs https://coinatmradar.com/ https://coinatmradar.com/
  - simias 9y ago
    Right but as far as I can tell there's nothing "crypto" about that, it's still a privately owned ATM which offers financial services, like every ATM does. You still need some private entity to provide the service, like the parent wants his bank to provide a service to transfer cash to his account. One big difference with crypto is that if you actually own your coins on an address you control then you could have several third party services competing instead of having your money "stuck" in a bank, but again I don't expect most people to do that.
  - pandler 9y ago
    For what it’s worth, I’ve come across maybe 5 bitcoin atms and they’ve all been out of service or completely unplugged. I’ve never actually seen one on and operational.
- odonnellryan 9y ago
  There are plenty of local services for you to exchange cash for BTC. Yes, very big exchange rate, but you can find these easily enough.
  - eggy 9y ago
    I get charged in the US for using a non-BoA ATM by both banks for a total charge of $5 to $6. I would consider that a big fee if you are taking out $100 USD. BoA charges me a fee to send my landlord money even if it is a 3 business day period of $10. I lived overseas for 8 years, and you could move money between banks, send a friend lunch money right after lunch with no fee, pay your gas or electric bill at a 24/7 convenience store, buy telephone credit anywhere. I lived in the rice fields of Java for a year, and could get phone and internet credit from a small shack down the road. The US had more friction for any of these tasks, and it costs more. I agree it is more blockchain I am rooting for than one singular currency like Bitcoin.
    - creeble 9y ago
      If it isn't a single blockchain, then you'll probably have the same problem.
    - mathgeek 9y ago
      You should look into a bank other than BofA.
- QML 9y ago
  I think the notion of banking won't go away, but today's concept of a bank will: no more physical locations, ATMs, wire-transfers that cost $30, etc. Maybe opening an account will be as easy as getting an email address (at least for the user anyways).
  - simias 9y ago
    That I can see happening but the trend started independently of cryptocurrencies. You can already find many "fiat" banks who operate purely on the net, without any public-facing physical locations. Cryptocurrencies might speed this up a bit but it already happening regardless.

by eggy 9y ago

simias 9y ago

I see many people complaining about the banking system (often for a good reason) and mention cryptocurrencies as an alternative but I'm not sure I see it. Take your anecdote for instance, what would be the equivalent in the crypto world? If you actually need to deposit fiat you'll have to use an exchange and it's basically the same problem (good luck getting an exchange to accept $250 in cash). Of course the whole thing is that if everything switches to some cryptocurrency then everybody will be able to manage their own money directly without needing an institution. Well, in theory at least, in practice it seems as likely as expecting everybody to host their own email servers instead of relying on gmail & friends. In practice people won't want to risk losing their funds because they made a mistake, lost their hardware token or got a virus on their computer. In practice people will still want loans and insurance. So I think crypto or no crypto banks won't go away.

kbutler 9y ago
There are already more than 2000 bitcoin ATMs https://coinatmradar.com/ https://coinatmradar.com/
- simias 9y ago
  Right but as far as I can tell there's nothing "crypto" about that, it's still a privately owned ATM which offers financial services, like every ATM does. You still need some private entity to provide the service, like the parent wants his bank to provide a service to transfer cash to his account. One big difference with crypto is that if you actually own your coins on an address you control then you could have several third party services competing instead of having your money "stuck" in a bank, but again I don't expect most people to do that.
- pandler 9y ago
  For what it’s worth, I’ve come across maybe 5 bitcoin atms and they’ve all been out of service or completely unplugged. I’ve never actually seen one on and operational.
odonnellryan 9y ago
There are plenty of local services for you to exchange cash for BTC. Yes, very big exchange rate, but you can find these easily enough.
- eggy 9y ago
  I get charged in the US for using a non-BoA ATM by both banks for a total charge of $5 to $6. I would consider that a big fee if you are taking out $100 USD. BoA charges me a fee to send my landlord money even if it is a 3 business day period of $10. I lived overseas for 8 years, and you could move money between banks, send a friend lunch money right after lunch with no fee, pay your gas or electric bill at a 24/7 convenience store, buy telephone credit anywhere. I lived in the rice fields of Java for a year, and could get phone and internet credit from a small shack down the road. The US had more friction for any of these tasks, and it costs more. I agree it is more blockchain I am rooting for than one singular currency like Bitcoin.
  - creeble 9y ago
    If it isn't a single blockchain, then you'll probably have the same problem.
  - mathgeek 9y ago
    You should look into a bank other than BofA.
QML 9y ago
I think the notion of banking won't go away, but today's concept of a bank will: no more physical locations, ATMs, wire-transfers that cost $30, etc. Maybe opening an account will be as easy as getting an email address (at least for the user anyways).
- simias 9y ago
  That I can see happening but the trend started independently of cryptocurrencies. You can already find many "fiat" banks who operate purely on the net, without any public-facing physical locations. Cryptocurrencies might speed this up a bit but it already happening regardless.