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Fascinating use of technology, but I was concerned that it would not go well (governments cracking down on it among other issues) Additionally, I never understood its challenge to credit card companies (and yes, still long CC companies and financial tech companies.)
Dear Scott: Aren't you "Beating A Dead Horse" ? Lets move on. I have a felling that the Treasury Dept. is watching the Bitcoin players very closely. If it should ever occur the Treasury can just declare Bitcoin illegal, citing that only the Fed. Government can coin money Regards, Ted
Bitcoin as a technology reminds me of Napster. Great for users but not for the business models of those who need to participate in the financial side (as in content side for Napster). The problem with Bitcoin is that its legitimacy needed to have put forth a use case stronger than illegal deals just as Napster needed to have a strong use case other than illegal music sharing.
But even an end of Bitcoin isn't the death of digital currency. Just as the music business evolved into legitimate Pandoras and Spotifys, digital currency will evolve to much more useful and less anarchist system to arbitrage the ridiculous fee system in the current financial infrastructure and commerce dependent on credit instruments for safety. CC companies make a lot of money in international transactions (most have a triple dip, the percentage from the merchant, the currency exchange spread and the foreign transaction fee), currency exchanges dip into it every time money is sent across borders. All these are ripe for disruption.
There are some heavily backed startups coming up in this area. The successful ones may just do a vertical like low or zero fee international money transfers that have a valid business case even without requiring anonymity.
The financial industry in this area has the same risks as the music industry in digital distribution. The current price structure is unsustainable.
I'm wondering how much the recent bit coin malware had effect on these circumstances? In any case I never understood the whole idea. Money has evolved somewhat during my lifetime. During my childhood there were still silver coins. Quarters and half dollars for sure. I still have a bunch of Kennedy half dollars 1964 and older. Remember Silver Certificates and the red stamped Union Notes? Nowadays money is just a number in someone's bank account as we use debit and online transactions. I think Bitcoins were ahead of their time.
Reply to @cman: Don't remind me about those international transactions. Before I fired Chase, they were charging me just over $7.00 per ATM transaction overseas. I was limited to $250 per transaction and $500 a day. Now I use Charles Schwab bank and they refund all charges back into my account each month. Nothing I can do about the forex rate gap though.
Comments
I have a felling that the Treasury Dept. is watching the Bitcoin players very closely. If it should ever occur the Treasury can just declare Bitcoin illegal, citing that only the Fed. Government can coin money
Regards,
Ted
Beating A Dead Horse
But even an end of Bitcoin isn't the death of digital currency. Just as the music business evolved into legitimate Pandoras and Spotifys, digital currency will evolve to much more useful and less anarchist system to arbitrage the ridiculous fee system in the current financial infrastructure and commerce dependent on credit instruments for safety. CC companies make a lot of money in international transactions (most have a triple dip, the percentage from the merchant, the currency exchange spread and the foreign transaction fee), currency exchanges dip into it every time money is sent across borders. All these are ripe for disruption.
There are some heavily backed startups coming up in this area. The successful ones may just do a vertical like low or zero fee international money transfers that have a valid business case even without requiring anonymity.
The financial industry in this area has the same risks as the music industry in digital distribution. The current price structure is unsustainable.