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Good customers might not mind or find it much of hassle. Compared to sending hard currency to a an Argentinian, it might be far less hassle, especially for the

by gojomo 13y ago

Good customers might not mind or find it much of hassle. Compared to sending hard currency to a an Argentinian, it might be far less hassle, especially for the developer. And you can quite easily change your BTC price all the time: negotiate the rate in USD, but always settle in BTC, using the exchange rate at the moment of payment.

eksith 13y ago
Good customers tend to be a rare too though. It's less about the fluctuation and more about other services not accepting Bitcoin at the moment. If your utility providers accept Bitcoin that could grease the wheels a bit toward general acceptance. I don't even consider Bitcoin's privacy as a selling point; more than that, it's that real forgery is impossible like going back to the days of trading with gold* *Of course there were crafty forgers mixing in lead and the like to make fake coins and bullion, but crypto makes that harder.
- lukeschlather 13y ago
  Bitcoin offers pretty poor privacy. Bitcoin is basically like using a credit card that posts every purchase you make on the Internet. Now, unlike a credit card your name isn't necessarily tied to the a bitcoin wallet, but realistically you're unlikely to have more than a few bitcoin wallets, and even if you have multiple ones, any transfers you make between them will also be publicly broadcast, so someone with a bit of computing power can likely compute with very high probability what you're doing with your money if they can locate a single transaction they know you have made.
wslh 13y ago
It's easy to send USD to an Argentinian using a "cave". Try to ask a customer to pay you in bitcoins and please let me know your experience.
- gojomo 13y ago
  What do you mean by 'cave'? Of course, Bitcoin-paying customers are currently rare. But it solves some cross-border problems, and I've met a number of software developers who prefer Bitcoin-paying work, and know of a number of projects that pay in Bitcoin.
  - wslh 13y ago
    "Caves" are the informal name of the places in Argentina where you can change and receive dollars. Ask a customer in the Fortune 500 to pay you in bitcoins...
    - gojomo 13y ago
      Thanks for the explanation of the 'cave' lingo. Is it called 'cave' because it's illegal/underground? Does the Fortune 500 typically hire remote solo developers across borders, and using 'caves' for payment delivery? I don't think so: they have internal teams or use agencies, and avoid informal/underground mechanisms... at least in the US, in my experience. My problem was with the categorical statement, "If you are a developer bitcoins are not the best option". It depends; for some developers and some projects that I've spoken to, they prefer to send or receive it. If I were a startup in San Francisco and wanted to pay an Argentine developer several thousand USD each month for services, how would a 'cave' help me get USD to them, and what would be my costs? With Bitcoin, I could send the BTC from my laptop, at a cost of less than 10¢ per payment (if I already have the Bitcoin) or about 1% of the total (if I have to purchase Bitcoin). If the developer then wants USD or ARS, perhaps then they can go to their favorite 'cave'; they'll know more about spelunking than me.

by gojomo 13y ago

eksith 13y ago

Good customers tend to be a rare too though. It's less about the fluctuation and more about other services not accepting Bitcoin at the moment. If your utility providers accept Bitcoin that could grease the wheels a bit toward general acceptance. I don't even consider Bitcoin's privacy as a selling point; more than that, it's that real forgery is impossible like going back to the days of trading with gold* *Of course there were crafty forgers mixing in lead and the like to make fake coins and bullion, but crypto makes that harder.

lukeschlather 13y ago
Bitcoin offers pretty poor privacy. Bitcoin is basically like using a credit card that posts every purchase you make on the Internet. Now, unlike a credit card your name isn't necessarily tied to the a bitcoin wallet, but realistically you're unlikely to have more than a few bitcoin wallets, and even if you have multiple ones, any transfers you make between them will also be publicly broadcast, so someone with a bit of computing power can likely compute with very high probability what you're doing with your money if they can locate a single transaction they know you have made.

wslh 13y ago

It's easy to send USD to an Argentinian using a "cave". Try to ask a customer to pay you in bitcoins and please let me know your experience.

gojomo 13y ago
What do you mean by 'cave'? Of course, Bitcoin-paying customers are currently rare. But it solves some cross-border problems, and I've met a number of software developers who prefer Bitcoin-paying work, and know of a number of projects that pay in Bitcoin.
- wslh 13y ago
  "Caves" are the informal name of the places in Argentina where you can change and receive dollars. Ask a customer in the Fortune 500 to pay you in bitcoins...
  - gojomo 13y ago
    Thanks for the explanation of the 'cave' lingo. Is it called 'cave' because it's illegal/underground? Does the Fortune 500 typically hire remote solo developers across borders, and using 'caves' for payment delivery? I don't think so: they have internal teams or use agencies, and avoid informal/underground mechanisms... at least in the US, in my experience. My problem was with the categorical statement, "If you are a developer bitcoins are not the best option". It depends; for some developers and some projects that I've spoken to, they prefer to send or receive it. If I were a startup in San Francisco and wanted to pay an Argentine developer several thousand USD each month for services, how would a 'cave' help me get USD to them, and what would be my costs? With Bitcoin, I could send the BTC from my laptop, at a cost of less than 10¢ per payment (if I already have the Bitcoin) or about 1% of the total (if I have to purchase Bitcoin). If the developer then wants USD or ARS, perhaps then they can go to their favorite 'cave'; they'll know more about spelunking than me.