I was trying to think of a good answer but you're right.
The key advantages are decentralization and anonymity and to the average person who just wants a simple secure payment solution a credit card has all the advantages.
Bitcoin is not anonymous and not meant to be. It never will be and shouldn't be to gain widespread adoption.
For the average person, I can list a few reasons:
- near immediate transfer of money across international borders
- close to zero fees or greatly reduced fees when transferring money internationally
- safe and secure store of value (for the unbanked)
Then there are the future killer apps that will be created
- tipping on the internet (changeTip / Coinbase)
- programatic money
- smart contracts
- pure play digital banking
- ??
It's hard to see how bitcoin could apply to the general public sitting at your computer in a first world country.
But keep in mind there are nearly 5 billion unbanked or unserved people in the world where bitcoin (or similar) will change their life.
Fast transfer, agreed. Cost per transaction is currently between 10 and 20 dollars and has been close to 100 dollars. I don't know what a wire transfer costs but I don't think the advantage is huge if you are only transferring a couple hundred or a few thousand dollars. Safe and secure store - taking malware, hacked exchanges, price fluctuations and the like into account, I am not sure it looks really bright. Future killer apps - let's talk again, when they are real. And tipping, for example, does not look like it could work - transactions are way to expensive to be used to tip a dollar. And when it comes to unbanked people I am not sure that it would be better or easier for them to adopt Bitcoin instead of a traditional banking system.
Comments
I was trying to think of a good answer but you're right.
The key advantages are decentralization and anonymity and to the average person who just wants a simple secure payment solution a credit card has all the advantages.
Bitcoin is not anonymous and not meant to be. It never will be and shouldn't be to gain widespread adoption.
For the average person, I can list a few reasons: - near immediate transfer of money across international borders - close to zero fees or greatly reduced fees when transferring money internationally - safe and secure store of value (for the unbanked)
Then there are the future killer apps that will be created - tipping on the internet (changeTip / Coinbase) - programatic money - smart contracts - pure play digital banking - ??
It's hard to see how bitcoin could apply to the general public sitting at your computer in a first world country. But keep in mind there are nearly 5 billion unbanked or unserved people in the world where bitcoin (or similar) will change their life.
Fast transfer, agreed. Cost per transaction is currently between 10 and 20 dollars and has been close to 100 dollars. I don't know what a wire transfer costs but I don't think the advantage is huge if you are only transferring a couple hundred or a few thousand dollars. Safe and secure store - taking malware, hacked exchanges, price fluctuations and the like into account, I am not sure it looks really bright. Future killer apps - let's talk again, when they are real. And tipping, for example, does not look like it could work - transactions are way to expensive to be used to tip a dollar. And when it comes to unbanked people I am not sure that it would be better or easier for them to adopt Bitcoin instead of a traditional banking system.