7 ms·

> How can you know that someone hasn't transferred the bitcoin out of the wallet before they give it to you? How can you know someone hasn't transferred the m

> How can you know that someone hasn't transferred the bitcoin out of the wallet before they give it to you? How can you know someone hasn't transferred the money out of their bank account when they hand you a check?

UncleMeat 4y ago
A very large number of organizations won't accept checks from random people precisely because of this problem.
- Vladimof 4y ago
  Do you have any examples? I don't really use check nowadays...
  - cortesoft 4y ago
    At this point it would be a better question to ask who DOES accept checks. In the US, most grocery stores still accept them, but I don't know of any other stores that do.
  - _fizz_buzz_ 4y ago
    In Germany I have a hard time of thinking of a place that does accept checks as payment. I did get a check a couple years ago from an insurance company that reimbursed me. But besides that I haven't ever used a check in Germany.
- jacobsenscott 4y ago
  Can't you instantly run the check electronically since the routing/account numbers are right there. I suppose you would need to pay for a POS terminal that does that, which might not be worth it.
zerocrates 4y ago
"As bad as checks" is possibly the lowest of low bars.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
mbesto 4y ago
You don't, but thats why we have: 1) Credit cards with transaction fees (which crypto people hate) that protect against this and have replaced the needs for checks 2) You take checks from people you trust 3) You have banks that compete with each other for storing your dollars and provide services to protect against fraud.
- jrockway 4y ago
  Credit cards are pretty meh for people that accept them. A % of your money disappears. The customer can say, for 60 days, "nah I didn't want that" and the money is taken away from you, no questions asked. There was this big push in retail a few years ago to get customers to stop using credit cards. I knew it was going to fail, but merchants are looking for alternatives here.
  - cortesoft 4y ago
    That seems contrary to the trend I have seen here, which is more and more stores going 'cashless', and only accepting credit cards. The cost to handle cash is more expensive than the percentage that the credit cards take.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - jrockway 4y ago
      I'm talking about this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Customer_Exchange https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Customer_Exchange Obviously, this was the best of both worlds; a payment network with no fees to the merchants, and no cash to handle. As for things like SaaS, the alternative to credit cards is a signed contract and ACH.
      - cortesoft 4y ago
        I think the fact that it never got off the ground shows that the ask is pretty impossible... it is really hard and expensive to securely run a payment system like that. If you aren't charging merchants fees, how do you sustain it?
cortesoft 4y ago
The title of the post is that this is in `Cash Form`, not `Check Form`. Checks are a form of credit, which is why checks aren't called cash.
- Vladimof 4y ago
  Then you could ask how many people can easily detect fake bills? But either way, checks aren't credit even if you say it is...
  - cortesoft 4y ago
    > Then you could ask how many people can easily detect fake bills? Most people can, unless the fake is high quality. There are a ton of easily checked security features that don't require any tool or network access. These bills do not have any of those. > But either way, checks aren't credit even if you say it is... It is a form of credit if you think about it. It is a piece of paper that promises the payment of money from one person to another person... the technical term is "Negotiable Instrument" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negotiable_instrument https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negotiable_instrument). If you are accepting the check, you are extending short term credit to the person who gives you the check... they are promising to pay the amount at a later date, even if that later date is only the few days that it takes for a cashed check to be settled. That is credit.

UncleMeat 4y ago

A very large number of organizations won't accept checks from random people precisely because of this problem.

Vladimof 4y ago
Do you have any examples? I don't really use check nowadays...
- cortesoft 4y ago
  At this point it would be a better question to ask who DOES accept checks. In the US, most grocery stores still accept them, but I don't know of any other stores that do.
- _fizz_buzz_ 4y ago
  In Germany I have a hard time of thinking of a place that does accept checks as payment. I did get a check a couple years ago from an insurance company that reimbursed me. But besides that I haven't ever used a check in Germany.
jacobsenscott 4y ago
Can't you instantly run the check electronically since the routing/account numbers are right there. I suppose you would need to pay for a POS terminal that does that, which might not be worth it.

zerocrates 4y ago

"As bad as checks" is possibly the lowest of low bars.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

mbesto 4y ago

You don't, but thats why we have: 1) Credit cards with transaction fees (which crypto people hate) that protect against this and have replaced the needs for checks 2) You take checks from people you trust 3) You have banks that compete with each other for storing your dollars and provide services to protect against fraud.

jrockway 4y ago
Credit cards are pretty meh for people that accept them. A % of your money disappears. The customer can say, for 60 days, "nah I didn't want that" and the money is taken away from you, no questions asked. There was this big push in retail a few years ago to get customers to stop using credit cards. I knew it was going to fail, but merchants are looking for alternatives here.
- cortesoft 4y ago
  That seems contrary to the trend I have seen here, which is more and more stores going 'cashless', and only accepting credit cards. The cost to handle cash is more expensive than the percentage that the credit cards take.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - jrockway 4y ago
    I'm talking about this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Customer_Exchange https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Customer_Exchange Obviously, this was the best of both worlds; a payment network with no fees to the merchants, and no cash to handle. As for things like SaaS, the alternative to credit cards is a signed contract and ACH.
    - cortesoft 4y ago
      I think the fact that it never got off the ground shows that the ask is pretty impossible... it is really hard and expensive to securely run a payment system like that. If you aren't charging merchants fees, how do you sustain it?

cortesoft 4y ago

The title of the post is that this is in `Cash Form`, not `Check Form`. Checks are a form of credit, which is why checks aren't called cash.

Vladimof 4y ago
Then you could ask how many people can easily detect fake bills? But either way, checks aren't credit even if you say it is...
- cortesoft 4y ago
  > Then you could ask how many people can easily detect fake bills? Most people can, unless the fake is high quality. There are a ton of easily checked security features that don't require any tool or network access. These bills do not have any of those. > But either way, checks aren't credit even if you say it is... It is a form of credit if you think about it. It is a piece of paper that promises the payment of money from one person to another person... the technical term is "Negotiable Instrument" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negotiable_instrument https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negotiable_instrument). If you are accepting the check, you are extending short term credit to the person who gives you the check... they are promising to pay the amount at a later date, even if that later date is only the few days that it takes for a cashed check to be settled. That is credit.