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Who actually uses bitcoins and what for? Last time I checked, I couldn't buy bitcoins with my Paypal account or credit card. The only way I see it being useful

by jotm 13y ago

Who actually uses bitcoins and what for? Last time I checked, I couldn't buy bitcoins with my Paypal account or credit card. The only way I see it being useful is if I get paid for some hacking job or botnet (then spend the money on Namecheap domain and hosting :-)... What am I missing?

wmf 13y ago
If you're a serious speculator then you can figure out how to buy BTC with an ACH or wire transfer. Also, I suspect a lot of miners are looking for ways to spend their BTC.
- jotm 13y ago
  I just see that more and more people adopt bitcoin, that it's anonymous, distributed and secure, and it's been described as the next best thing since banknotes - I just can't see the usefulness...
  - Amadou 13y ago
    Do you use cash in real life to avoid telling companies what you spend, where you spent and what you spent it on? If your answer is no, then you probably won't find much value in doing the same online with bitcoins.
    - jotm 13y ago
      Nope... but I also never deposited the cash I earned under the table :-)
  - yen223 13y ago
    While most people want Bitcoin to replace the US dollar, I think that as a secure, decentralized payment method, it's more useful as an alternative to Paypal. Like everything else, it's usefulness is tied to the number of people who adopt it.
drcode 13y ago
Well, you can go to my bookstore cointagion.com and buy lots of ebooks :-) But yes, for the most part bitcoin is still a solution looking for a problem. The three best candidates for large-scale future use are, in my opinion (1) sending money overseas for employees/family (2) store of value in countries with high inflation (3) some kind of business model, as yet undiscovered, involving "reverse micropayments" (by which I mean micropayments involving few buyers, many sellers)
- obi-nine 13y ago
  The main reason I use bitcoins whenever I can is that I hate giving my purchase history information to credit card companies or Paypal. Why should I have to supply my name and address to register a domain?
rbreve 13y ago
you can buy bitcoins using coinbase.com or localbitcoins.com
sirsar 13y ago
> I couldn't buy bitcoins with my Paypal account or credit card I'm very interested in any irreversible asset you can buy anonymously with a reversible payment method. Seriously.
- llamataboot 13y ago
  You used to be able to buy lindens via credit card and pay bitcoin via lindens, but I'm not sure if that has gotten harder to do

by jotm 13y ago

wmf 13y ago

If you're a serious speculator then you can figure out how to buy BTC with an ACH or wire transfer. Also, I suspect a lot of miners are looking for ways to spend their BTC.

jotm 13y ago
I just see that more and more people adopt bitcoin, that it's anonymous, distributed and secure, and it's been described as the next best thing since banknotes - I just can't see the usefulness...
- Amadou 13y ago
  Do you use cash in real life to avoid telling companies what you spend, where you spent and what you spent it on? If your answer is no, then you probably won't find much value in doing the same online with bitcoins.
  - jotm 13y ago
    Nope... but I also never deposited the cash I earned under the table :-)
- yen223 13y ago
  While most people want Bitcoin to replace the US dollar, I think that as a secure, decentralized payment method, it's more useful as an alternative to Paypal. Like everything else, it's usefulness is tied to the number of people who adopt it.

drcode 13y ago

Well, you can go to my bookstore cointagion.com and buy lots of ebooks :-) But yes, for the most part bitcoin is still a solution looking for a problem. The three best candidates for large-scale future use are, in my opinion (1) sending money overseas for employees/family (2) store of value in countries with high inflation (3) some kind of business model, as yet undiscovered, involving "reverse micropayments" (by which I mean micropayments involving few buyers, many sellers)

obi-nine 13y ago
The main reason I use bitcoins whenever I can is that I hate giving my purchase history information to credit card companies or Paypal. Why should I have to supply my name and address to register a domain?

rbreve 13y ago

you can buy bitcoins using coinbase.com or localbitcoins.com

sirsar 13y ago

> I couldn't buy bitcoins with my Paypal account or credit card I'm very interested in any irreversible asset you can buy anonymously with a reversible payment method. Seriously.

llamataboot 13y ago
You used to be able to buy lindens via credit card and pay bitcoin via lindens, but I'm not sure if that has gotten harder to do