6 ms·

Venezuelans cannot accept USD without a bank account. You can use paypal but its hard to exchange from paypal USD to the venezuelan currency (Bolivares)

vkou 8y ago
How, and why is it easier to exchange BTC for Bolivars, then Paypal dollars for Bolivars?
- vivafrance 8y ago
  You don’t exchange them. You transact in bitcoin.
make3 8y ago
can't imagine it's easy to exchange bitcoins to bolivars, though I may be wrong if course
- orev 8y ago
  Why not exchange bitcoins for stuff, like an actual currency and not just a method of transfer?
  - tdb7893 8y ago
    Are the transaction fees still ridiculous and is it any faster? I thought it's generally too expensive or slow for most normal transactions
    - vivafrance 8y ago
      Lightning networkng has been a thing for over 6 months now. Transactions are instant.
    - 1996 8y ago
      No, at the moment the fees are quite low. Maybe you could trust the person asking for crypto instead of showing an anti-crypto bias?
      - ebikelaw 8y ago
        Coin Metrics says the transaction fee stands at $7.67 which is astronomical. ETH is a bit lower at $1.39 but that is still far far higher than most payment instruments.
        1996 8y ago
        Check western union.
        xur17 8y ago
        I'm not sure where you are getting those figures from, Coin Metrics shows fees under $1 for both for me [0]. The two sites I've used in the past that have been pretty accurate show ~$0.10 for both [1] [2]. [0] https://coinmetrics.io/charts/#assets=btc,eth_left=averageFeeUsd https://coinmetrics.io/charts/#assets=btc,eth_left=averageFe... [1] https://ethgasstation.info/index.php https://ethgasstation.info/index.php [2] https://bitcoinfees.info/ https://bitcoinfees.info/
        jMyles 8y ago
        I don't use BTC much these days, but if you're paying $1.39 for an ETH transaction you're most certainly paying too much. The StdCost right now is a dime. You can get away with less if you're willing to wait for confirmation (which is possible if you're transacting locally with neighbors). https://ethgasstation.info/ https://ethgasstation.info/
        micahriggan 8y ago
        https://ethgasstation.info/ https://ethgasstation.info/ shows $0.092 (3 minutes) for an eth transfer and https://bitcoinfees.info/ https://bitcoinfees.info/ shows $0.13 for a bitcoin transaction in the next block (10 minutes) I have a feeling what you're looking at is old data? Transfers are cheap right now
      - 8y ago
  - ebikelaw 8y ago
    That's what I am getting at. To pervert the old saying, you can't eat a Bitcoin. Presumably what this person wants is some instrument that can be exchanged for, say, 50 kilos of rice. Are Bitcoin and Ethereum really the best such instruments within Venezuela?
ekianjo 8y ago
I thought holding USD was outlawed in Venezuela now?

vkou 8y ago

How, and why is it easier to exchange BTC for Bolivars, then Paypal dollars for Bolivars?

vivafrance 8y ago
You don’t exchange them. You transact in bitcoin.

make3 8y ago

can't imagine it's easy to exchange bitcoins to bolivars, though I may be wrong if course

orev 8y ago
Why not exchange bitcoins for stuff, like an actual currency and not just a method of transfer?
- tdb7893 8y ago
  Are the transaction fees still ridiculous and is it any faster? I thought it's generally too expensive or slow for most normal transactions
  - vivafrance 8y ago
    Lightning networkng has been a thing for over 6 months now. Transactions are instant.
  - 1996 8y ago
    No, at the moment the fees are quite low. Maybe you could trust the person asking for crypto instead of showing an anti-crypto bias?
    - ebikelaw 8y ago
      Coin Metrics says the transaction fee stands at $7.67 which is astronomical. ETH is a bit lower at $1.39 but that is still far far higher than most payment instruments.
      - 1996 8y ago
        Check western union.
      - xur17 8y ago
        I'm not sure where you are getting those figures from, Coin Metrics shows fees under $1 for both for me [0]. The two sites I've used in the past that have been pretty accurate show ~$0.10 for both [1] [2]. [0] https://coinmetrics.io/charts/#assets=btc,eth_left=averageFeeUsd https://coinmetrics.io/charts/#assets=btc,eth_left=averageFe... [1] https://ethgasstation.info/index.php https://ethgasstation.info/index.php [2] https://bitcoinfees.info/ https://bitcoinfees.info/
      - jMyles 8y ago
        I don't use BTC much these days, but if you're paying $1.39 for an ETH transaction you're most certainly paying too much. The StdCost right now is a dime. You can get away with less if you're willing to wait for confirmation (which is possible if you're transacting locally with neighbors). https://ethgasstation.info/ https://ethgasstation.info/
      - micahriggan 8y ago
        https://ethgasstation.info/ https://ethgasstation.info/ shows $0.092 (3 minutes) for an eth transfer and https://bitcoinfees.info/ https://bitcoinfees.info/ shows $0.13 for a bitcoin transaction in the next block (10 minutes) I have a feeling what you're looking at is old data? Transfers are cheap right now
    - 8y ago
- ebikelaw 8y ago
  That's what I am getting at. To pervert the old saying, you can't eat a Bitcoin. Presumably what this person wants is some instrument that can be exchanged for, say, 50 kilos of rice. Are Bitcoin and Ethereum really the best such instruments within Venezuela?

ekianjo 8y ago

I thought holding USD was outlawed in Venezuela now?