4 ms·

Credit card companies do confirmation in seconds - the fact that the actual money isn't moved for a month isn't as important as the fact that it will show up, w

• waterlesscloud 14y ago
  I think there's some confusion here over what 'confirmation' means in this context. What Coinbase (and other bitcoin payment processors) offer is instant confirmation that the customer has the funds available and that the payment is allocated to you. This is all a credit card is 'confirming' for you in seconds as well. It's the same thing. "Payment is available and is coming your way". What's different is that Coinbase is saying that within an hour, the funds are 'confirmed' as yours. They are available to you in your wallet. You can do with them as you will. You literally have money in the bank. Now, converting those funds to USD and having them show up in your bank account takes a few days, but that's the legacy banking system that's at fault there. If you want to spend the Bitcoins at Bitcoins, however, you have only to wait an hour. The difference between waiting a month for your money and waiting an hour is absolutely tremendous. The fact that our business ecosystem has evolved to work with the delay doesn't mean that removing the delay is not desirable. Removing that economic friction is revolutionary. It can facilitate new business models and accelerate the pace of commerce. That's the real importance of Bitcoin, or of whatever cryptocurrencies follow on after it. They reduce friction and increase economic velocity.