There's nothing stopping you from using it without paying, you just
don't move it through a broker or exchange.
If you send me Bitcoin direct wallet to wallet, it's free. If I pay
someone for services in BTC, it's free. If I mine BTC, I don't have to
pay anyone. There's only a cost if I want to exchange it from or to
another currency, which is pretty standard.
As far as your statements about it not making sense, you are completely
right - if those are your primary requirements (insurance, fraud
handling, etc) Bitcoin is not a good replacement for your VISA card.
On 11/17/2017 2:43 PM, Travis Johnson wrote:
Hi,
I agree with most of what you said here... however, the original
premise for BTC was that everyone was tired of the "banks" controlling
the money... and charging fees to do so. I just really don't see how
that has changed much... I currently have 4 or 5 bank accounts, all at
different banks... and I control all of them from my computer. I can
send/receive/wire/transfer money in and out of any of them at my own
will.
Also, how is sending BTC from wallet to wallet not free? I have sent
BTC to other people without being charged a fee... I was doing it from
my own wallet on a computer, not using a service.
For me it just doesn't make sense... I can have a totally free bank
account with an ATM/VISA card that I can use anywhere and not have to
worry about getting hit with fees or the value of my "money" changing
every 5 seconds... and it's insured and if there is an issue (fraud,
etc) the bank covers it. I get none of those features with BTC, and I
have to pay a much higher "fee" to use it.
The current state of BTC is not how it was envisioned when it was
first created. It has become commercialized and everyone is after
their 1.5% fee. :(
Travis
On 11/17/2017 12:28 PM, Chris Wright wrote:
Many of the negative things you say here about BTC are questions I
had when I was still learning. Let me clear some things up.
Coinbase charges for when you want to buy BTC with fiat (USD). They
have a business to run. Everyone here knows that processing debit/ACH
payments is NOT free. Onboarding your US dollars to crypto currency
will require a gateway, and every gate requires a gatekeeper, and
every gatekeeper has mouths to feed.
Sending BTC from wallet to wallet is not free. Current transaction
fees on Bitcoin are ~$10 USD at the time I'm writing this. Other
crypto currencies like Ethereum are more robust in this area (~$0.30
currently). Every transaction needs to be written to the blockchain,
which requires mining time, electricity, and processing.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are doing what the banks have been
doing for years... it's an electronic ledger. What's a bank statement
worth? It's only a piece of printed paper or numbers on a screen that
show how much currency to which one is entitled. It has no value in
and of itself. A US dollar bill is simply paper; its value is
whatever we all agree it is. The *big* thing cryptocurrencies bring
to the table is that your "bank account" is no longer controlled by
one central building. Your account, or "digital wallet" is controlled
by thousands of computers, each checking themselves against the other.
The only way someone can hijack the blockchain would be if they
controlled more than 50% of the compute power in the mining world.
Think about how many vectors of attack from which our traditional
banks are vulnerable.
This video answered even more questions I didn't even think to ask...
I highly recommend giving it your time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBC-nXj3Ng4
Chris Wright
Network Administrator
-----Original Message-----
From: Af [mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com] On Behalf Of Travis Johnson
Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2017 1:42 PM
To: af@afmug.com
Subject: [AFMUG] BTC
Hi,
The entire idea and goal of bitcoin was to take away the financial
institutions from having "control" and charging fees to handle money.
In exchange for no fees (sending or receiving BTC is free), you also
have no security. Once it's sent, it's gone.
However, now the banks have just been replaced with places like
Coinbase... bitcoin "exchanges" that charge roughly 1.5% for every
buy/sell transaction... and they take 7-10 business days to convert
btc to cash or visa versa.
I don't see how this is a long term thing? Once all the "mining" is
being done by huge datacenters (for another 3-4 years is all), then I
don't see it becoming the new money standard like everyone thinks.
You will still have to pay fees, and someone else is still in control
of your money. :(
Travis
--
Simon Westlake
Email: simon@sonar.software
Phone: (702) 447-1247 US / (780) 900-1180 CA
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