Quote from: Yakamoto on December 21, 2015, 03:32:14 AM

Speaking based solely on my point of view, we use Bitcoin as it has value, and stable value, as opposed to every other coin which fluctuates to all hell.

I am also curious as to what articles make you think Bitcoin isn't all the private or anonymous. And as to why you say we are wasting our time.

It's fine by me if you want to watch your savings depreciate over time and, when you're 60 years old, you find out that your life savings are worth 30% of what they where when you earned them. But I on the other hand am interested in appreciating assets.

I'm not talking about using it instead of altcoins, I'm talking about credit/debit cards, so let's not compare that. Although there are coins with much more stable value, I don't recall which it was though, but it was one of the actually private/anonymous/secure coins.

I don't save articles so I can't link you, but I remember how my route of research went the first day, so maybe that'll help. I was reading about privacy, then went to crypto forums, which lead me to a few articles about government ceasing assets and bitcoins from people, including the guy who ran silkroad. Then I googled around for more ceasings and tracebacks as to who was using bitcoins and found more info. That's probably where you would stop reading. Afterwards, I googled private coins and read tons of articles on comparisons and individual assesments as to how particular coins (mainly bitcoin at first) work.

We're also not talking about savings here either, we're talking about using bitcoins to buy stuff online instead of using credit/debit cards. Please read the post again, I think I made it clear.

Quote from: saturn643 on December 21, 2015, 03:47:53 AM

Bitcoin is secure, much more so than credit/debit cards. You are much more likely to get your credit card information stolen than you are to get Bitcoin stolen. With Bitcoin, there is no need to reveal your name or address. You don't reveal a credit card number so thieves can't steal your credit card and make your credit score tank. Credit card fraud is a huge problem and Bitcoin completely removes that.

Another thing, Bitcoin does provide a layer of anonymity. It is pseudonymous, so while yes people can trace your transactions, they don't actually know who you are. They don't have an identity associated with the address unless you choose to reveal it. There is no name or physical address to steal. Along with that, you can't get your identity stolen like you can with credit/debit cards.

Bitcoin is also a lot more convenient than credit cards or debit cards, especially to those who can't get those cards. If you have bad credit then you can't get a credit card. Bitcoin gets around that, it is like a debit card, but it doesn't have the problem that debit cards have, theft. Debit card numbers are easy to steal, and that can drain your entire bank account. Bitcoin doesn't have that problem.

Payments made through credit and debit cards are not instant. They do not instantly become reversible. Those transactions are reversible up to 180 days. With Bitcoin, it becomes irreversible after 10 minutes. Even if it takes longer, those transactions are still confirmed in less than 180 days. This is better for merchants than consumers.

If you don't reveal your name or address, how are you going to get your shipment? I was actually looking into that, but from my - so far very short - research, there is no way to do that, especially in the US (i'm from europe though).

As for revealing credit card numbers and all that, read up on bitcoin fraud, there's plenty of articles on that, most of which I even skipped as my main concern is privacy, and because I trust myself to not use my credit/debit card at places that say "buy 1 Geforce 980ti, get one free!"

You have to reveal it if you want your shipment, so that's a moot point, so I'll just refer to the two paragraphs above.

First off, stop repeating yourself with the theft, it's getting annoying to read the same over and over again. And now to the point: How is BitCoin more convenient? I outlined specific points as to why debit/credit cards are a hell of a lot more convenient than bitcoins. Your workplace won't pay you bitcoins, it'll put cash into your bank account which, which means debit/credit card. As for a bad credit, that's only relevant to a) big purchases, b) credit cards. And bitcoins work like a debit card, which you can get whether you have low credit or not.

I don't see why it's better for payments to be irreversable - if you want a refund (or issue one, though we're talking purely about the customer's perspective here as outlined in the first post) it's a hell of a lot easier. And whenever I payed for anything, the payment was always instant. Always. No exceptions except for one (out of literally 100+ times) when I transfered money to a friend's bank account around new year.