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> Banks are regulated by law and have the funds insured by FDIC. i.e even if the bank goes belly up, the FDIC will make sure the depositors get the money. With
by Astrohacker 15y ago
> Banks are regulated by law and have the funds insured by FDIC. i.e even if the bank goes belly up, the FDIC will make sure the depositors get the money. With BitCoin, how do you trust a bank?
There were banks before the FDIC and people trusted them. The threat of insolvency can (but doesn't always) keep them honest.
- recoiledsnake 15y agoTrue, but atleast the banks were real physical places with real people at the helm. It is really hard to trust anything over the internet these days,except if one of the big financial players like Citibank or someone like Amazon starts a bitcoin bank. AFAIK any of the online banks could be running out of a hole in the wall in Ukraine or Nigeria. Even paying online sites with credit cards is risky these days with the rampant fraud etc, I wouldn't trust anything online only enough to entrust my money unless backed by a big player.
- glenra 15y ago> except if one of the big financial players like Citibank or someone like Amazon starts a bitcoin bank. That's part of how the market solves this sort of problem, traditionally. When trustworthiness is especially valuable, brands develop that have it. One way to bootstrap the process is to start with an existing brand that has it, like American Express. Companies that want to be seen as trustworthy can also do things like offering money-back guarantees and putting money aside in an escrow account held by a third party.