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Bitcoin does not only do transactions. It has a smart contract language which allows more and more types of smart contracts all the time. (Yes, Bitcoin is not s

Bitcoin does not only do transactions. It has a smart contract language which allows more and more types of smart contracts all the time. (Yes, Bitcoin is not static as many people think). The old system is not at all efficient for transactions. Vendors hate credit cards for a reason. Visa alone made 20 Billion Dollars in revenue last year for a reason. Bitcoin can scale infinitely via the Lightning Network.

mdoms 5y ago
Visa is "inefficient" because they supply many many more services than simply transacting. Dispute resolution, fraud detection, customer service, card issuing, and on and on. You know, all of this stuff we'll have to build from scratch for Bitcoin to become even remotely viable as a currency. There's no reason to believe that Bitcoin can make these services any more efficient.
- JonathanBeuys 5y ago
  Dispute resolution: This "service" has pros and cons. It is one reason why vendors hate credit cards. You never know when you can be sure that the payment really was done. Or if it will suddenly disappear again. Fraud detection: One reason why fraud detection is needed is that the whole system of "whoever has the number can pull money" is insane. Customer service: What do you mean? Card issuing: Who wants cards? Those will go away anyhow.
- easrng 5y ago
  Dispute resolution is trivial with a 2-of-3 multisig. The customer locks up funds until service has been provided and then in the ideal case the customer and merchant agree and pay the merchant. If there's a dispute, the dispute resolver can forcibly send funds with the cooperation of either party.
  - CJefferson 5y ago
    The bit of dispute resolution where the money is sent isn't the hard bit -- it's actually doing the resolution. Bitcoin doesn't help with that at all.
freemint 5y ago
> Bitcoin can scale infinitely via the Lightning Network No it can't . It barely scales to the orbit of Pluto (~5.7 light hours from the sun). You can not use it to send Bitcoin from one random point in the Oort cloud to another.

mdoms 5y ago

Visa is "inefficient" because they supply many many more services than simply transacting. Dispute resolution, fraud detection, customer service, card issuing, and on and on. You know, all of this stuff we'll have to build from scratch for Bitcoin to become even remotely viable as a currency. There's no reason to believe that Bitcoin can make these services any more efficient.

JonathanBeuys 5y ago
Dispute resolution: This "service" has pros and cons. It is one reason why vendors hate credit cards. You never know when you can be sure that the payment really was done. Or if it will suddenly disappear again. Fraud detection: One reason why fraud detection is needed is that the whole system of "whoever has the number can pull money" is insane. Customer service: What do you mean? Card issuing: Who wants cards? Those will go away anyhow.
easrng 5y ago
Dispute resolution is trivial with a 2-of-3 multisig. The customer locks up funds until service has been provided and then in the ideal case the customer and merchant agree and pay the merchant. If there's a dispute, the dispute resolver can forcibly send funds with the cooperation of either party.
- CJefferson 5y ago
  The bit of dispute resolution where the money is sent isn't the hard bit -- it's actually doing the resolution. Bitcoin doesn't help with that at all.

freemint 5y ago

> Bitcoin can scale infinitely via the Lightning Network No it can't . It barely scales to the orbit of Pluto (~5.7 light hours from the sun). You can not use it to send Bitcoin from one random point in the Oort cloud to another.