5 ms·

It's sad that we live in 2011 and still have to use something like PayPal to do "easy" payment processing. Unless you process a reasonable amount of transaction

It's sad that we live in 2011 and still have to use something like PayPal to do "easy" payment processing. Unless you process a reasonable amount of transactions, forget simple payments. Stripe, where art thou :(

Iv 15y ago
Considering this, I don't understand why bitcoin does not get more followers.
- rmc 15y ago
  Because people don't use it. There's no point asking your customers to pay you in something that they don't have, that they don't know how to get, and that they don't understand. And once the "no chargeback" thing stings a few mundane non-techies, they won't use it any more.
- almost 15y ago
  (tries to) Solves a different problem
  - Iv 15y ago
    Immediate and no-cost solution to transfer funds. how is that different ?
    - justincormack 15y ago
      Because most people don't regard bitcoin as funds. That perception could change of course, or work for a different non traditional currency. The traditional thing to do is to have guaranteed convertibility until it takes off - I remember a story about Hong Kong having a jet full of dollars in cash to guarantee convertibility when the Hong Kong dollar was fixed against the US dollar, though I cant find any evidence that this is true...
    - almost 15y ago
      How is that different from "let potential consumers of my service/app pay me"? Do you have to ask? Unless of course you have an app that can survive of the (relative) tiny amount of people who use Bitcoin. You might, but you'd have to admit that you're an outlier :)
- tomcreighton 15y ago
  Does the 'average person' even know Bitcoin exists? Could you explain it to them in a way that doesnt't make it sound super-dodgy? That's why.
  - Iv 15y ago
    To someone that want to understand it : "It's a currency that is entirely electronic and works thanks to crypto-magic that experts agree is solid. It has the advantage of not being controlled by any central bank and has a guaranteed scarcity." To someone that just wants to use it : "it charges transfers from and to dollars but unlike paypal charges zero for transactions."
    - tomcreighton 15y ago
      You're assuming that the phrase "crypto-magic" is reassuring instead of off-putting. 'The general public' and 'readers of HN' are basically non-overlapping sets. My mom has a credit card. Would she use Bitcoins? Not in a million years.
      - Iv 15y ago
        "military-grade encryption" works in the same way.
    - rmc 15y ago
      When you use terms like "experts agree is solid" and imply that its very safe with crypto, you, I and other techies will know about the cryptography behind it. However mundanes will think that third is a very reliable system, i.e. something that they can rely on. When they get stung by a scam on eBay, try to get their money back, and are told there are no chargebacks, that BitCoin is the same as putting some banknotes in an envelope, and that there's no way for the police to track down where the money went (paper envelopes aren't even that bad), that their money is gone with absolutely no recourse, when this happens, they will not think BitCoin is in anyway reliable.

Iv 15y ago

Considering this, I don't understand why bitcoin does not get more followers.

rmc 15y ago
Because people don't use it. There's no point asking your customers to pay you in something that they don't have, that they don't know how to get, and that they don't understand. And once the "no chargeback" thing stings a few mundane non-techies, they won't use it any more.
almost 15y ago
(tries to) Solves a different problem
- Iv 15y ago
  Immediate and no-cost solution to transfer funds. how is that different ?
  - justincormack 15y ago
    Because most people don't regard bitcoin as funds. That perception could change of course, or work for a different non traditional currency. The traditional thing to do is to have guaranteed convertibility until it takes off - I remember a story about Hong Kong having a jet full of dollars in cash to guarantee convertibility when the Hong Kong dollar was fixed against the US dollar, though I cant find any evidence that this is true...
  - almost 15y ago
    How is that different from "let potential consumers of my service/app pay me"? Do you have to ask? Unless of course you have an app that can survive of the (relative) tiny amount of people who use Bitcoin. You might, but you'd have to admit that you're an outlier :)
tomcreighton 15y ago
Does the 'average person' even know Bitcoin exists? Could you explain it to them in a way that doesnt't make it sound super-dodgy? That's why.
- Iv 15y ago
  To someone that want to understand it : "It's a currency that is entirely electronic and works thanks to crypto-magic that experts agree is solid. It has the advantage of not being controlled by any central bank and has a guaranteed scarcity." To someone that just wants to use it : "it charges transfers from and to dollars but unlike paypal charges zero for transactions."
  - tomcreighton 15y ago
    You're assuming that the phrase "crypto-magic" is reassuring instead of off-putting. 'The general public' and 'readers of HN' are basically non-overlapping sets. My mom has a credit card. Would she use Bitcoins? Not in a million years.
    - Iv 15y ago
      "military-grade encryption" works in the same way.
  - rmc 15y ago
    When you use terms like "experts agree is solid" and imply that its very safe with crypto, you, I and other techies will know about the cryptography behind it. However mundanes will think that third is a very reliable system, i.e. something that they can rely on. When they get stung by a scam on eBay, try to get their money back, and are told there are no chargebacks, that BitCoin is the same as putting some banknotes in an envelope, and that there's no way for the police to track down where the money went (paper envelopes aren't even that bad), that their money is gone with absolutely no recourse, when this happens, they will not think BitCoin is in anyway reliable.