Euros have also swung around by 15-20% over the past 2-3 years.
In relation to the dollar. Which is totally irrelevant for day to day transactions inside the Euro zone. I still pay the same price for a coffee I did 2-3 years ago.
But at the moment Bitcoin volatility is still huge: It's currently not reasonable to offer coffee for a fixed number of Bitcoins, that, say, stay stable over a year.
Your analogy between debit cards and Bitcoins seems a bit flawed too: For the purposes of international transfers it might be apt, but for small day to day business like buying coffee, it may be better to compare it to cash. And then there's no bank stopping you from transacting in cash.
You pay the same price for coffee but you will certainly pay more for coffee beans, the market will only absorb the difference for a while.
I wasn't drawing an analogy between bitcoins and debit cards. I was taking about how a bank lets me access my money vs me having direct access to it. I cannot get cash in a foreign country without my bank cooperating unless I carry a world recognized currency (USD, Euro) in cash and try to exchange it somewhere.
The problem is that you read a comparison as an analogy. It's a comparison of our current dependency on the banking system vs bitcoins relative independence from the same.
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In relation to the dollar. Which is totally irrelevant for day to day transactions inside the Euro zone. I still pay the same price for a coffee I did 2-3 years ago.
But at the moment Bitcoin volatility is still huge: It's currently not reasonable to offer coffee for a fixed number of Bitcoins, that, say, stay stable over a year.
Your analogy between debit cards and Bitcoins seems a bit flawed too: For the purposes of international transfers it might be apt, but for small day to day business like buying coffee, it may be better to compare it to cash. And then there's no bank stopping you from transacting in cash.
You pay the same price for coffee but you will certainly pay more for coffee beans, the market will only absorb the difference for a while.
I wasn't drawing an analogy between bitcoins and debit cards. I was taking about how a bank lets me access my money vs me having direct access to it. I cannot get cash in a foreign country without my bank cooperating unless I carry a world recognized currency (USD, Euro) in cash and try to exchange it somewhere.
The problem is that you read a comparison as an analogy. It's a comparison of our current dependency on the banking system vs bitcoins relative independence from the same.