Re: Wall Observer BTC/USD - Bitcoin price movement tracking & discussion
Gotta say, that article seems incredibly misguided to me.
I think BTC might have issues with confirmation time right now that prevent a ton of in-store user adoption, but the long-term important advantage that BTC has, in my view, is transaction cost. Apple isn't going to reduce transaction cost one iota for anybody in the chain, from what I can tell, but somebody pleae correct me if I am wrong.
For ordering online for next-day ship, fo airline tickets, for anything that doesn't require immediate change-of-possession, there is a 4%+ advantage to using BTC.
I just wish somebody would integrate a BTC wallet with gasoline pumps and come up with a way for me to put gas in my car while saving that 4%+, then split that savings with the merchant.
Apple just provides a slicker interface for using the same system of usury.
If anything Apple has proven historically that people are willing to pay a considerably high premium for ease of use (or even perceived ease of use).
Absolutely, you are correct. They will. But I don't see that as a threat to a blockchain-oriented solution. Consumers may very well be happy to pay, but ultimately, what goes on behind the scenes will migrate towards lower cost solutions, IMO.
In other words, Apple Pay could end up being the gateway to something more efficient.
There may be ways in which bitcoin innovations will be able to learn from what Apple does, and also, Apple's diving into this territory may allow for greater acceptance and adoption of bitcoin.
Personally, I believe that bitcoin is NOT going to win in the short-term merely on it's payment system and low costs (though in the long run, bitcoin will provide a lot of competition regarding costs), and more savvy persons (like you and me and several other bullish-oriented posters in this thread) are going to realize that bitcoin holds much more value (than centralized systems, such as apple pay) because of its decentrailzation, flexibility and its store of value and we are NOT (hopefully) going to get distracted by mere ease of use framings... even though many of us alsolikely wished that BTC were easier to use in a variety of ways (yet we understand that ease of use will likely improve with time).