I am not saying that I agree with the article, but I think his point is that consumers inherently trust all types of electronic transactions because there is a belief that these are reverseable. I, the consumer, am protected from fraud.
Examples:
If my credit card number is stolen I am only responsible for $50.
If I order something online and get ripped off I can initiate a chargeback.
We bitcoiners love to brag about the irreversibility of BTC, but it is this very attribute that scares the buyer. Now I fully understand that consumers are not protected nearly as much as they think, but they believe that they are. "buyer protection" protocols must be implemented before Average Joe will start using them.
Examples:
If my credit card number is stolen I am only responsible for $50.
If I order something online and get ripped off I can initiate a chargeback.
We bitcoiners love to brag about the irreversibility of BTC, but it is this very attribute that scares the buyer. Now I fully understand that consumers are not protected nearly as much as they think, but they believe that they are. "buyer protection" protocols must be implemented before Average Joe will start using them.
Yes, CCs are pretty awesome, but did you ever wondered why the CC companies agree to lose money to give you this protection? Oh, wait, you are paying for this protection... actually every CC card user is paying a premium for this protection which basically amounts to 'worst case scenario how much we'll lose to fraud divided by all suck^H^H^H^Hclients'
Bitcoins can certainly operate the same way. Hell, CC companies can pay and receive in bitcoins if they choose to do so, but having the option of doing your own due diligence and paying (almost) no fee or using the CC company and pay their ridiculous fees, which will you do? With fiat that's not an option, particularly not for online purchases.
All in all this is very much moot, because once bitcoins as a value storage medium gets accepted globally (and I'm assuming it does, obviously) you'll get all those icings on the cake done by 3rd parties. The caveat being right now you can't simply send money abroad instantly without a bunch of services in the middle for which you have no control and which charge fees in which you have no say and also require your name, address and underwear color of choice along the way (because the terrorists...). With bitcoins and other coins alike you can still use a 3rd party if you choose to, but you don't have to
