4 ms·

I'll get downvoted for this, but Bitcoin transfers are immediate. There are so many things wrong with the current financial system that the best solution is a

by gasull 15y ago

I'll get downvoted for this, but Bitcoin transfers are immediate. There are so many things wrong with the current financial system that the best solution is a new system altogether.

dkokelley 15y ago
They're not immediate. They need to be validated by the network, and that takes time.
- gasull 15y ago
  Compared to ACH, they are pretty fast (hours in the worst case). If you pay a small fee, like 0.01BTC, they are pretty much immediate.
  - dkokelley 15y ago
    Comparatively sure, but can that scale? The transactions can happen quickly know, but if the volume was comparable to ACH volume, could it keep up?
    - gasull 15y ago
      It depends on how many transactions are there compared to how many people mining. The people who mine are the ones who spread the transactions across the network. The mining computing power is increasing way faster than the people using bitcoins.
  - jarin 15y ago
    Paying 20 cents for a faster transaction (assuming a value of around $20/BTC) isn't really a small fee, that's in the ballpark of what credit card gateways charge.
smiler 15y ago
Or a case of iteration and improvement. As mentioned in a previous comment - most UK banks participate in a scheme which allows instant transfer between accounts. Here's the other thing about UK banking for consumers. It is free - and most ATMs are part of a 'Link' scheme which means that you can use any ATM from any bank with any bank card and get out cash without being charged a fee. Oh, and of course I forgot the other great thing about UK and Europe - Chip & Pin. Instead of signing for every transaction in a restaurant etc - the server brings a device to your table where you then have to enter your pin number - it drastically cuts down on fraud - your card never leaves your sight and you need a PIN rather than a signature which no one ever checks or cares about. Not so much a new system, just a better one - which many places already have

by gasull 15y ago

I'll get downvoted for this, but Bitcoin transfers are immediate. There are so many things wrong with the current financial system that the best solution is a new system altogether.

dkokelley 15y ago

They're not immediate. They need to be validated by the network, and that takes time.

gasull 15y ago
Compared to ACH, they are pretty fast (hours in the worst case). If you pay a small fee, like 0.01BTC, they are pretty much immediate.
- dkokelley 15y ago
  Comparatively sure, but can that scale? The transactions can happen quickly know, but if the volume was comparable to ACH volume, could it keep up?
  - gasull 15y ago
    It depends on how many transactions are there compared to how many people mining. The people who mine are the ones who spread the transactions across the network. The mining computing power is increasing way faster than the people using bitcoins.
- jarin 15y ago
  Paying 20 cents for a faster transaction (assuming a value of around $20/BTC) isn't really a small fee, that's in the ballpark of what credit card gateways charge.

smiler 15y ago

Or a case of iteration and improvement. As mentioned in a previous comment - most UK banks participate in a scheme which allows instant transfer between accounts. Here's the other thing about UK banking for consumers. It is free - and most ATMs are part of a 'Link' scheme which means that you can use any ATM from any bank with any bank card and get out cash without being charged a fee. Oh, and of course I forgot the other great thing about UK and Europe - Chip & Pin. Instead of signing for every transaction in a restaurant etc - the server brings a device to your table where you then have to enter your pin number - it drastically cuts down on fraud - your card never leaves your sight and you need a PIN rather than a signature which no one ever checks or cares about. Not so much a new system, just a better one - which many places already have