Bitcoin Forum

Thought it was time we had a frank discussion about what Bitcoin and the altcoins, are good for!

If we want bitcoin to grow and find a mainstream use, it needs to be highlighted as being better for something than any other way of doing it.

For instance, if I want to buy something on line, I can use bitcoin, or paypal or even a credit card over email, but each method has its own strengths and weaknesses. What we need is a list of services that bitcoin can do, where its strengths outweigh the strengths of other methods in doing the same thing.

The problem so far is that the only thing that bitcoin is fantastic for is to buy and sell outside society! ;)

You can buy drugs and other illegal services and you are not going to get traced.

We need some other services in here where bitcoin not only shines, but the service is wholesome and a benefit to society!

The only thing I can think of is to fund an on-line business in Central Africa! ;)

What do you think?

Its much better than a credit card for buying online. Use a credit card and the company gets hacked and you are toast.
Its no about illegal purchase, its legal purchase where you don't risk identity theft.

It's a much easier way to receive donations. For example for a blog,  site, or software. No need to set up different payment providers for different countries, or to worry that Paypal will shut you down. No need to register anything, just create an address and put it up.

Conversely it's also easier to send donations. If you want, you can stay completely anonymous.

It allows the merchants to accept your payment, whether your bank/card issuer sucks or not.

This is painfully obvious for any Chinese who wants to make an oversea online purchase, right now essentially no adequate payment method exists for such demand, because the American/European merchants do not trust(with very good reasons) our banking/payment/legal system etc.

The breakthrough of Bitcoin is exactly the removal of "trust" from the equation.

The fee is lower than credit cards for customer and merchants.
Also you don't need to change currency anymore, because Bitcoin is a global currency.

This illegal drug stuff is nothing more than a sidenote.

Encryption anyone?

What you can do better with Bitcoin, is:

• be in control over your own money and pay to whoever the hell you want, such as wikileaks
• be independent of banks (with their ridiculous fees)
• be independent of governments (with their restrictive rules)
• pay instantly and worldwide without hassle
• backup your money
• protect your money against theft and fraud (remember all the credit card and ATM fraud that has been in the news lately?)
• not letting authorities effectively waste your money on bailing out corrupt bankers and politicians who messed up in other countries (like what is happening right now in the EU)

I love that feature - its ID theft proof! :)  Its nice and easy to understand and its a huge benefit!

I guess the other advantage is that there are no restrictions on on who can send money to whom.  Thinking wholesomely, its a great way for the poor of the world to get digital inclusion, without having to worry about credit worthiness and being approved by the bank.

A lot of the political advantages are based on opinion and could be seen to be just another form of tax avoidance!

Its really uplifting to read so much positivity in one place! ;)

mmm yummy warm fuzzy thread :)

Unlike fiat coinage, you can flip a bitcoin and ten times out of ten it'll come up heads.