4 ms·

You also need a valid ID verification to buy BTC from the main platforms now

hombre_fatal 6y ago
Yeah, Coinbase changed the other year, only for US citizens, where a passport is insufficient, you need to prove state residency (i.e. for most people, a driver's license). But one of my points here is that, while I'm sure some people here are chomping at the bit to nail me with a gleeful "see? ironic!", I simply don't have to use Coinbase. I can, for example, exchange Bitcoin locally the same way I can trade USD for pesos with my roommate. I was SOL at one point when I was simultaneously banned from Paypal while my bank at the time spontaneously rejected further access to my own account, the two institutions I was depending on to operate abroad. It's what made me turn to Bitcoin, and I began considering how ridiculous the state of our financial status quo where I have precarious access to my own money. I can appreciate that my outlier needs make it hard for people to relate to me the same way most people don't understand why an HNer cares about Linux when Windows works for them, but I think most people here are disappointingly eager to reject any possible upside of "digital cash". Even if its upsides are exceedingly niche for most people, that's not reason to dismiss them. To me it's like reading an HN thread where everyone dismisses Purism's smartphone because Android and iPhone do the job for 99.9999% of people, and who the hell could possibly care about separating the CPU from cellular baseband? Or maybe they're claiming that only criminals would care about that. Well, that very few people are in a position to appreciate it has no basis on whether we deserve the option. This is my last comment on this particular submission.
- uep 6y ago
  Are you primarily engaged in illegal actions for your source of income? Your other comments in this thread seem to imply that is the case. No judgement, but if so, I think this is a pertinent piece of information. It is not difficult for most citizens in first world nations to keep and maintain a bank account.
  - michaelmrose 6y ago
    22% of the US doesn't have a bank account. For myself when I lost my house I also ended up owing my bank money for an almost $500 overdraft used to pay the cost of moving bam no bank account and auto denial insofar as opening another account anywhere else.
- wpietri 6y ago
  Those analogies don't work for me. I already have "digital cash". The great bulk of the money I spend never takes physical form. And I use Linux because it's demonstrably superior for the tasks most important to me. Bitcoin, though, mainly seems to solve problems for speculators and people engaging in light financial crime. Is there a niche I'm missing?
  - _red 6y ago
    >Bitcoin, though, mainly seems to solve problems for speculators and people engaging in light financial crime. Is there a niche I'm missing? Do you have a source for that?
    - galvin 6y ago
      The comment you replied to is the source. What other type of source would you like for what something "seems" like to an individual? It seems to me that asking for sources is a common technique for discrediting opinions on HN. It looks like a legitimate question but obviously if they had a source it would be a fact rather than an opinion. If you are actually interested in how that opinion is formed ask a relevant question or point out what they are missing. Personally I find that opinion entirely reasonable given that there are no problems I have that Bitcoin would solve better than the alternatives unless I was inclined to buy something online anonymously or to speculate on Bitcoin itself.

Yeah, Coinbase changed the other year, only for US citizens, where a passport is insufficient, you need to prove state residency (i.e. for most people, a driver's license). But one of my points here is that, while I'm sure some people here are chomping at the bit to nail me with a gleeful "see? ironic!", I simply don't have to use Coinbase. I can, for example, exchange Bitcoin locally the same way I can trade USD for pesos with my roommate. I was SOL at one point when I was simultaneously banned from Paypal while my bank at the time spontaneously rejected further access to my own account, the two institutions I was depending on to operate abroad. It's what made me turn to Bitcoin, and I began considering how ridiculous the state of our financial status quo where I have precarious access to my own money. I can appreciate that my outlier needs make it hard for people to relate to me the same way most people don't understand why an HNer cares about Linux when Windows works for them, but I think most people here are disappointingly eager to reject any possible upside of "digital cash". Even if its upsides are exceedingly niche for most people, that's not reason to dismiss them. To me it's like reading an HN thread where everyone dismisses Purism's smartphone because Android and iPhone do the job for 99.9999% of people, and who the hell could possibly care about separating the CPU from cellular baseband? Or maybe they're claiming that only criminals would care about that. Well, that very few people are in a position to appreciate it has no basis on whether we deserve the option. This is my last comment on this particular submission.

uep 6y ago
Are you primarily engaged in illegal actions for your source of income? Your other comments in this thread seem to imply that is the case. No judgement, but if so, I think this is a pertinent piece of information. It is not difficult for most citizens in first world nations to keep and maintain a bank account.
- michaelmrose 6y ago
  22% of the US doesn't have a bank account. For myself when I lost my house I also ended up owing my bank money for an almost $500 overdraft used to pay the cost of moving bam no bank account and auto denial insofar as opening another account anywhere else.
wpietri 6y ago
Those analogies don't work for me. I already have "digital cash". The great bulk of the money I spend never takes physical form. And I use Linux because it's demonstrably superior for the tasks most important to me. Bitcoin, though, mainly seems to solve problems for speculators and people engaging in light financial crime. Is there a niche I'm missing?
- _red 6y ago
  >Bitcoin, though, mainly seems to solve problems for speculators and people engaging in light financial crime. Is there a niche I'm missing? Do you have a source for that?
  - galvin 6y ago
    The comment you replied to is the source. What other type of source would you like for what something "seems" like to an individual? It seems to me that asking for sources is a common technique for discrediting opinions on HN. It looks like a legitimate question but obviously if they had a source it would be a fact rather than an opinion. If you are actually interested in how that opinion is formed ask a relevant question or point out what they are missing. Personally I find that opinion entirely reasonable given that there are no problems I have that Bitcoin would solve better than the alternatives unless I was inclined to buy something online anonymously or to speculate on Bitcoin itself.