Bitcoin Forum

I remember when both Uber or Airbnb each came out. You could save money using them. Now you can't.

Isn't there any good Uber or Airbnb type products that run on bitcoin?

I was thinking about long distance phone calls. A long time ago you had to pay for that. Then it gradually became free.

I'm surprised that we haven't seen that happen with Ride Sharing or even BnB's. Because think about it, both of those are pretty much commodities in society. By now they should be extremely cheap. They should be just a fraction of what is charged by Uber or Airbnb.

Especially with a ride share product. The driver could just pull over. Pick someone up, and then earn some bitcoin for driving them, to or at least close to their drop off point. But mainly compete heavily on price to disrupt the whole Uber or Airbnb sectors.

Like one day in the same way we say "remember when you had to pay for long distance".... instead people will be saying "remember when you had to pay for a Cab, wasn't that crazy?" I want this to happen somehow soon.  :o

What do you think?

If a service only accepted bitcoin it would likely charge insane prices to stay afloat. (Supply and Demand)

Bitcoins features wouldn't be over the head exciting. Uber and Airbnb pay people out fairly and so there really isn't a need to cut them out....yet.



The hardest thing to do when you are in love with bitcoin and crypto in general like we all are, is to keep a sain head and really think to yourself "does crypto really need to be introduced to this section?".

The answer in my opinion is no.

If you can't save money using those services then don't. If at an specific place a taxi or hotel is cheaper, use them. VOTE with your wallet, ALWAYS. You may even manually find a place whose owner actually even accepts Bitcoin when talked to, who knows? Its easier than a franchise imposing conditions.

True, this is something most people forget nowadays because of how convenient virtually everything is. Sometimes the conventional ways aren't bad. Anyway, I did my researches and so far I don't see any app on the market that sells services in exchange for cryptocurrencies. Like what the other person said, if they were to run on bitcoin per se, they will charge more to compensate for bitcoin's high volatility.

I don't know any such thing, but I would be interested in that. I disagree that one cannot save money with Airbnb nowadays, though. I've just returned from a trip where I used Airbnb to find accommodation because it was way better and cheaper than a hotel room on Booking. As for the part about the calls being free now, it's not always the case (you still need the Internet connection which often costs money), and there's a free housing service which is usually called Couchsurfing.  Oh, and Blablacar is kind of like a cheap car travel service.

Good news if have any company want accepted with bitcoin as legal currency payment, not only for bitcoin take benefit but also both company will be easy for payment system where using bitcoin most easy than other fiat currency payment, for company get profit if bitcoin price up and could sell if worry bitcoin want to be lower price.

These services are still centralized, because despite not owning any property, they provide centralized matching and listing service, so they are subject to regulations. So, you can't just create Uber but with Bitcoin, because regulators would probably not approve it. For this to work, we'd need a 100% decentralized solution, but that would be quite hard if not impossible to develop.

Uber takes about 25% commission off each fare. Even if you removed them from the transaction entirely, that would only make rides 25% cheaper -- or drivers would earn 25% more, or some combination of both. And that assumes zero costs for the operation of this new ride share app, which is impossible.

It sounds like you're expecting drivers to accept lower pay just because riders are paying with bitcoins. I don't think that will pan out very well.

There is an emerging subscription-based rideshare model (https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrickcai/2019/08/22/nomad-rides-commission-free-ride-hailing/#21bf82ad6be3) that I think has a better chance of dethroning Uber.

I think there have been a couple of ICO designed for such business. The problem with them is that why bother with a currency specifically for say Airbnb, going through all the complications when if you were to pay with Crypto, you could with Eth or Bitcoin.

The problem is these types of payments need to be front loaded, and then you have issues with ID verification, security deposits and changing contracts which makes the whole thing rather messy.

From a completely practical standpoint, yes, BTC would work just fine. But in the messy world we live in with so many consumer conveniences, cash back and the rest, it's really hard to develop something for BTC. Let alone the fact that few people ever actually use BTC in the real world which is kind of annoying to me personally.

I think that way is better but still not possible, because every transaction is recorded in the main server of the service, it is impossible for the waiter to add another payment method unless he pays to have a customer in advance with his money.

Definitely these merchants are interested in bitcoin since there business is more like of an online process. They're clients are booking them online. It would be good if they use bitcoin as part of there payment system. Its a great opportunity for bitcoin holders to spend and pay their bitcoin upon booking with Uber and Airbnb.

The idea is somewhat same like digital currencies running on fiat. In my country, such e-wallets and cards that store digital fiat are usable in purchases for rides and for stores. Same could be applied on Bitcoin, with the help of QR codes and a wallet app. Though the main discouraging factor is the slow transaction times and the chance of a transaction to not make it through.

You can find a list of 40 merchants that allow Bitcoin to pay for their product and service. Here is the link. (https://cointikka.com/who-accept-bitcoin/).

I do not think the list has service providers similar to uber but there are few travel and lodging companies.

It will probably happen soon. Bitcoin is consistently growing in terms of merchant acceptance. Uber and AirBnB are not yet on that track but I guess Uber is very much interested in cryptocurrency. One sign of that is when it signed up as a partner of Facebook in its Libra project. Sadly, it did not push through as planned, although it could still be launched in the future. I guess time is only the factor before these major companies and others will join the Bitcoin or crypto world. 

I disagree--both of those services aren't that old at all, and it took many, many years for long distance phone calls to become cheaper, and those aren't free by the way, just cheaper than they used to be.

I could see something like Airbnb working with bitcoin, but I'm not so sure about Uber unless you paid in advance with enough time for the payment to confirm on the blockchain.  I've never used Uber, so I'm not really sure how the payment system works, but I'm assuming it's just like any other cab service.

Well said, and I was thinking about most of what you wrote when I read the OP here.  The main issue I see is one of bitcoin adoption in general.  I have no doubt bitcoin could be integrated into services like Uber, Airbnb, or anything else but people just aren't clamoring for ways to spend their bitcoin if they even own any to begin with.

You have a good idea but there is no guarantee that in the real world it can be working or that the project will not morph into just another Uber or Airbnb. And just because the project is using Bitcoin is not guarantee that the services or products can be cheaper than those already in the market, heck it can even be more expensive and more hassle with the consumers at the end. However, I do understand your frustration all maybe because we are really expecting a lot from Bitcoin, cryptocurrency and the blockchain a lot. We are all dreamers here in this space, and I am hoping that one day we can see many platforms implementing the blockchain and Bitcoin in a way that we the consumers will really appreciate and love.

I remember a project that tries to do this. They develop their own blockchain and basically allows their users to pay on whatever currency they want, from crypto to fiat. Blockchain is used for the tx logging, id management etc. It is not yet launched so we still have to wait how it will work out in real life.

They already have their own ride-sharing company that is fully functional so it is not started from scratch. A good thing considering it will be really difficult to acquire new users if you're a new company.

I use Airbnb almost every time I need a place to stay. Unless it is a major center off peak from tourist season it is still generally a great deal on accommodations; that or I book late when they are eager to fill a spot. If not I find somewhere else, as I'm not about to just throw away cash.

Airbnb as opposed to Uber is a great opportunity to use BTC. Currently you need businesses where the transaction isn't a time sensitive interaction, so pre-booking anything is perfect. Really anything with travel, flights car rental you name it. If you have a few hours to days in advance it would be just fine, Uber is tougher as has been pointed out by needing to frontloaded and is generally a short time frame for the interaction. It's similar to how buying a cup of coffee just isn't practical.

Going back to services that are already suited to these transactions, I think mining hardware manufacturers have the right idea in regards to refunds. It can be a bit of a lottery especially when spread over months on a pre-order but the refund amount is equivalent to the USD(or whatever currency) value at the time of payment. BTC and crypto aren't mature or stable enough to tie things into strictly BTC refund amounts. Otherwise on a price increase you risk individuals cancelling services to squeek out a few dollars in profit, which would be unfare to a business accepting crypto.

Either way any company that implements crypto payment options needs to still offer FIAT strictly for their ability to appeal to a wide customer base. It doesn't have to be all or nothing, small steps in the right direction is still progress.

The issue is the confirmations. It takes an hour for six bitcoin confirmations (even though most retailers know bitcon is safe and needs only one confirmation, they still insist on six).

Litecoin and Doge have quicker confirmations - but counterintuitively most exchanges require about 10 to 20 confirmations for them, taking about half and hour to 45 minutes.

Someone booking an Airbnb might wait the hour to do the confirmations, but an Uber won't wait. And then of course was the famous mempool backlogs of 2017 which did more to destroy bitcoin's ecommerce credentials than anything else.

I really like bitcoin but I still need to say that bitcoin is not suitable for being a payment currency. Bitcoin is too slow and has a high cost, imagine you have to wait for hours to pay for a cup of coffee. Besides, the number of bitcoins is too small, 21 million bitcoins is not enough to become a currency.
Certainly in the future should have a currency fast and cheap enough to perform the payment function.

@coinanc first of all both are different sectors and there’s no comparing these two different sectors, secondly long distance call became free because of the growth in internet, so how do you propose to make cab riding free and rental free homes at minimum charges without an organisation being there to control it.

While I do like the idea of paying in bitcoin and at half the rates from current prices, but can you guarantee me that I’ll get the same kind of safety when these organisations are no longer providing these services.
 
What will happen when you get scammed by those drivers who take your money and refuse to drive, or those owners who provide you rooms that didn’t match the description whom will you complain too?.

I hope you do understand my point that we’re not only paying for the luxury, but also for our peace of mind that we will not get scammed and that we will get what is advertised by Uber and Airbnb.

Sorry, but you could not sound more ignorant to they system in general. 21 million which currently gets broken down to 8 decimal places more than provides room for it to be used as currency well into the future. In regards to high costs, I don't see it. For what I have to pay for the privilege to have a bank account for 1 month not including additional fees, I can send roughly 50  payments using BTC depending on the value and my inputs. There can be times when the cost gets excessive, but it rarely lasts into problematic territory unless being manipulated through spam transactions by bad actVers.

Your point on time for coffee is valid, I posted above that I don't see that as a viable use case at the moment. There are other ways around it as I don't think we should strive for a 1 coin solution, that's a different story though.

How do you say that that you could save money on Uber ? Uber is always an expensive service if you compare it with you own car fuel. If you use your own car, it will be less expensive than using the services of Uber.

Secondly, Uber or Airbnb does not support bitcoins because not many people know about bitcoin yet.

You can just use crypto to buy airbnb gift cards

At least in my country the Uber and similar activities aren't that expensive and if they would have become cheaper I don't know if the time would be worth for the drivers.

In my view human transport would become cheaper only with the arrival of electronic cars and/or AI powered cars that would make the presence of the driver unjustified.

From my experience regarding this issue that the payment system would be the main barrier for confirming the payment, Hope to see some project on half of getting easier of this issue, but at first you have to establish an easy-going system of the cryptocurrency, day by day cryptocurrency is getting complicated because of having some unworthy and scam project of the cryptocurrency, but many people like me are hopeful that 2020 will bring to us a good news regarding cryptocurrency which could be helpful for every aspect of our life, to be very realistic, we have to go another long way in order to get such thing.

What you need to understand is that, it takes time for people to understand the true value of bitcoin and its purpose.  The adoption of bitcoin is gonna be a gradual process we just have to patience and wait till majority understand why bitcoin is needed...

The total supply of Bitcoin is not critical in becoming a means of payment. The total supply of bitcoin is 21 million bitcoins but it is very expensive for each bitcoin, so it is completely possible to use bitcoin to pay bills. The problem here is that bitcoin is unpopular in payment, which is the confirmation time is too long and the cost is too high. Imagine buying a $ 1 bill as your transaction fee would cost $ 2. It's too hard for it to be popular in the future

As online taxi service start getting popular, government also started imposing taxes on it. Same holds true for bitcoin also, as its getting popular governments all around are imposing strict regulations. Apart from that bitcoin own issues like price volatility and slowness are main problem that are acting as barrier in commercial use of bitcoin.

The decentralized network and slow transaction process of Bitcoin can be a major issue for Uber to not accept Bitcoin as a payment method and I think somewhere the company is worried about tex theft because most of the governments are confused about legalization of Bitcoin so I think these issues can be a barrier for Uber to not accepting Bitcoin as a payment method.

Depends on where you're at. I'm currently in the Philippines and have used ride-hailing services and Airbnb whenever I need to visit a province and stay there for a day or two. Oftentimes, an Airbnb stay is better than staying at a hotel wherein the accommodation is fancy but the room you have is, well, sub-par. Plus the amenities are limited too. Whereas on an Airbnb accommodation, I can do whatever the hell I want and use any amenities I want when I want them exclusively, and oh, at a cheaper rate as well. For ride-hailing services, they have Grab here and have ousted Uber due to non-compliance I believe. It's cheaper on short distances but not really good for long distance travels due to traffic and whatnot.


I believe you can use an app that helps you pay bitcoin for these type of services, though I don't exactly know what the fate of that app is.


Nope. You still have to pay for those. Internet connectivity isn't free, and if yours is then perhaps you're the only example for your statement.


The thing is the operators know that people will pick their service over traditional taxi cabs any day due to the comfort and security they offer. They might release discounted rides, a promo or two, or whatever and people will think that's the better deal when public transpo can also take them to where they wanted--on a much cheaper rate, sans the extra comfort, obviously. I'll blame human psychology for this, because the adverts instilled to the minds of the current generation that these services are the way to go and not public transpo, which is why operators like Uber can milk the hype as long as they like.


This will happen if competition becomes tough and I'm sure of it. With or without the involvement/integration of bitcoin to their payment systems, it's bound to happen in our future society.

Uber still saves me money, I just had a trip a few weeks ago where a Uber ride cost me less than 10% of a normal radio taxi ride. Not kidding. Shocked me. I still use all the Uber clones when I travel too (Grab, Bolt, Taxify, Yandex). Saves me at least 50% but normally much, much more than a regular taxi in most countries. Same as Airbnb, so I'm not sure what you're talking about.

Why not BTC? You're right, but only because today, Lightning Network is fast approaching the maturity we'd need for something like that to work properly: near-instant transactions, near-zero transaction fees.

You already get that with debit-card run Uber etc: instant, no fees. Bitcoin is a thousand times more secure probably, but users don't care. Users will probably also care that if card txs can be refunded if something goes wrong. BTC can't.

Responses above already tell you why on-chain txs will never, ever be able to take hold.

But oh, a taxi rickshaw company has done it in Scotland (https://cryptonews.net/en/news/other/145405/)! With Lightning;)

Online taxi become most effective way for traveler where going to other country without have recharge to local money and available using bitcoin only, most effective way how to make many people interested with Uber and Airbnb become online taxi for traveler. But will available for many country around the world with both company taxi online accepted bitcoin as payment transaction?

I'll remind everyone that none of the rideshare companies globally (Uber,Lyft,etc.,etc.) have managed
to make a profit. It is easy to sell things at a discounted price. Maybe not that easy:
https://www.fastcompany.com/90418766/report-not-even-airbnb-can-turn-a-profit (https://www.fastcompany.com/90418766/report-not-even-airbnb-can-turn-a-profit)

Bitcoin is another form of payment, the advantages offered by blockchain technology is the
game changer. Contrary to popular rumors, the taxi industry didn't disappear. Last time I
checked the 120 year old American taxi industry and the 370 year old London taxi trade have
somehow survived. I can't remember a time taxi drivers didn't complain about not making
enough money.

Bitcoin is great, and most people I meet have heard of it. None of them actually own any Bitcoin
or have ever used it. People can pay for a taxi or airbnb with a credit card or paypal probably,
so what's the advantage of putting those transactions on the blockchain?

The blockchain can be used for communications, logistics, artificial intelligence, and many things
besides just being a ledger used to record transactions. Rapes and house party killings are indeed
innovative yet somehow taxicabs and hotels have survived. Just wait until the airline industry
discovers the blockchain. It's more than just paying for something with Bitcoin.

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Cash almost always works..... but it can't do all of the things cryptocurrency can do.

I'm not sure what type of "run on Bitcoin" you are talking about. Let's say we are utilizing a car, the rideshare kind.

• Is it running on Bitcoin or let's say any other cryptocurrency meaning that when you use the car, you earn cryptocurrencies?
• You just accept the mode of payment in Bitcoin?

I'm good with either of the two or any type of company that is trying to support the cryptocurrency world. Above all else, I think when comparing the importance of one thing to the other, the Internet is the most important one because it made all of this possible.

There have been altcoin projects for Uber like services and I am sure some shitcoin has been made for Airbnb wannabe too. Fact is that paying for such services using bitcoin would be something everyone would like to see in future. But currently you can buy gift cards from sites like Bitrefill for paying these providers, again I am not sure if their cards are available.

I do not agree with your "remember when you had to pay for cab" comment, because with bitcoin you are still paying the person. Using fiat or bitcoin is irrelevant there. You are paying no matter what service you take.

Again if someone creates such a service you also have to give it time to grow. These companies did not just come out of the blue, they took their time to grow and now they are popular. Considering the bad reputation of crypto in the general public this is a tough thing to achieve.

21 million is fine because it can be broken down in smaller pieces. Plus the fact that there are millions that are probably not in circulation makes it very nice.


However, my concern with it being a currency is that people using fiat are trying to make fiat. You can't sit there and say your a bitcoin enthusaist and want it to succeed if you are trading it in return for more fiat that your supposed to be against.

Online taxi like uber and Airbnb could promote bitcoin as legal currency payment with country their online taxi working, maybe when many advertising of bitcoin banned on their car of online taxi could give way how to motivate with other know with bitcoin and invest in crypto, we know ho the power or advertising where could make many people interested wit bitcoin and altcoin.

Tbh I don't think that crypto is ready to be mainstream. Not yet at least.

If you really think about the logic of why these previously cheap platforms are now not so cheap, you can usually work out some ways to save money.

For example, Uber didn't offer its drivers as many of the privileges that it does now. Overall, by being forced to comply with regulations and maintain standards, costs were driven up, which were passed on to the consumer.

Therefore, in order to cut these costs, you need to cut out the middleman, since this will inevitably be driven up by increased operating costs.

So if you want an AirBnb cheaper, reach out to the host directly and settle a deal off-platform. Decentralized systems will likely be faced with the same challenges in the long-run.

I think i've come across some airbnbs that accept not just bitcoin, but ether and ripple as well. Though you'd find it in the description not on the thumbnails. I guess we see this because airbnbs are a bit more personal than ubers. I think little by little we'll start seeing crypto being used. Though if ever it'll be the main mode of payment, i think it's not in this generation.

10 years have gone by since bitcoin was introduced and yet it is not in a position to become mainstream currency. Why is it so ?  Either bitcoin has not much potential to become a mainstream currency or there is too much opposing power of fiat and local governments who try every tactics to discourage the use of bitcoin as a currency.

Maybe ten years old for bitcoin enough become legal currency payment in many countries with almost company have accepted bitcoin as legal payment transaction, will bitcoin take ten years later to be legal payment currency or only legal as investment assets without have new way to be legal payment currency with many countries at the future.

Though it hasn't gained mainstream acceptance, with time more and more services have begun to add bitcoin to the payment gateway. In most cases, big brands accept and Stops the same when they don't get the targeted usage from its consumers. In ten years of time though it hasn't reached the mainstream usage the growth tends to make big change in the economic system of the future.

But mainstream projects like Uber and Airbnb as this topic discusses are not interested in them. It would be a huge bullish news if such was to happen and besides the fact that some altcoin projects started on similar businesses there has not been much of a traction in this sector with crypto payments.
Sure but you can ask your bitcoin seller/buyer to exchange bitcoin to fiat and use that to pay for Uber but it thus becomes a two-step process and that is what is not the proper design. Still it is the closest we can get if we want to use bitcoin only for all transactions which is itself a challenge.

Maybe in future we will see more ride-sharing apps that develop their own blockchain and then you can pay that crypto to hail a cab.

The taxi fare could be priced in both Bitcoin and national stablecoins or fiat currencies. Customers could either use a deflationary currency or stable currencies in a wallet. I don't see why this can't be so. Some will definitely prefer having Bitcoin or stable currency, or both in the taxi app..
A good Crypto-based decentralized or non-custodial taxi app should have all options available to customers

uber on btcs would become for regular users even more suspicious as they have no idea how it all operates

The problem about making such platform is the users that usually prefer to use the already existing platform like uber or airbnb instead of trying out some new platform that like these Uber or airbnb. I'm sure there are paltform about renting like that in the past but got ignored by people.

that will be a good future but considering how hostile these governments agianst anything decentralized I really doubtfull they are gonna legalize the use of crypto for payment or even legal currency.

The idea that new things only incite fear is a wrong approach. With that approach one can never improve.

If they are to profit from using bitcoin as a mode of payment then they would take an initiative to make people more knowledgeable to the public and incentivize its use among their service. Although this is logshot but it is a bullish move for the market even if some mainstream companies like FB, Paypal would talk against it.

But the bigger problem is that would a company like Uber, Airbnb want to face the backlash they would get from such mainstream companies? It may drive them bankrupt and at loss of partnerships.

It's pretty different, the 2 you are comparing right now. Overseas phone calls were expensive because the companies were essentially being dicks and charging dollars for something that basically cost close to nothing for them to make. Then came along the internet, and there was no way that they could keep charging ridiculous prices so it ended up become cheaper and cheaper, and is now free.

Now we live in a day and age where the uber to the airport possibly costs more then the plane trip itself. Well, at least in my city. It's due to that there are no cheaper options, even with minimum wage and the shit pay that uber gives to drivers, the current cost of ubers and everything is the lowest price, considering uber also needs to make money.

You'll not be able to find any ride-share services that utilise bitcoin at a cheaper price. Because, it simply doesn't exist. Also, AirBNB seems to be decent pricing (at least compared to hotels around my area), and I know you can buy gift cards for that service for bitcoin.

Even if a company starts accepting Bitcoin, they wouldn’t just charge you a particular amount in BTC and stick to that – for example – charging 1000 Satoshis, rather they would charge in dollars and if you want to pay with Bitcoin they will calculate the amount using current exchange rate to convert it to bitcoin. They would need money to keep their company running, and the world runs in fiat and not cryptocurrency, so when you pay the money they are definitely converting it to fiat to save themselves from any plunge in price.

It’s also a normal thing for any start-up to begin with a lower rate, seriously if they begin to charge the same rate with companies that are already well established they would be messing around. They will be able to attract customers with low rate and as time goes on and they become well established they will start charging high rate as well.

It will be nice to see such project running on blockchain but let think of it, for it to be successful, it must be under a regulation which is not in tandem with the spirit of decentralization. Outside that, if you need an emergency booking, delay in Bitcoin confirmation might be an issue.

Especially if you are in rush, bitcoin confirmation will take a lot of time for you to came out of the cab, thus, it will incur doubt if the payment really went successfully through. I rather consider other altcoin to be suitable instead of bitcoin for transportation but up until now, there isn't any platforms that utilizes this system so far, and I think the reason is because of the lack in proper law concerning the tolerance of using cryptocurrency as an alternative to fiat digital payments.

Would be natural they sort out for Origianl & Scalable Bitcoin as BSV works

It's about economics and purpose - BTC happily kicked out all business with uasf and PoSM

 ;D

Accepting bitcoin as mode of payment is well and good but i don't think Uber and Airbnb will accept as mode of payment because the delay in confirmation of transaction takes lot of time and as it is known for its volatility. Bitcoin is a decentralized crypto currencies so it is difficult to accept bitcoin in Uber and Airbnb.

Bitcoin can be accepted as mode of payment in all online shopping this works well but for transportation it doesn't work out.

Lightening networks have made bitcoin transactions way lot faster than they usually were. You could send bitcoins just in few clicks and even those would immediately get confirmed as soon as you send those so you can use those systems of payment in uber of airbnb if ever they were the companies which entirely run over the cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin payments are no longer a issue but just there needs to be services try to imply these payments.

It would really be quite beneficial if we could use bitcoins to pay the uber drivers for any distance covered. We could actually even earn some amount of bitcoins by trading or anything else sitting in the cab until our destination arrives and paying the driver with the amount we earned so far. This would be something like riding for free though.

Now i can pay for a ride in Uber using bitcoin? If so, in which country?

seeing from the development of hotel needs, Airbnb is perfect for accepting payments via Bitcoin.

making payments with Bitcoin for a company is still relatively difficult.  As you said, the company will profit if the price of Bitcoin goes up, but if the price of Bitcoin goes down, they will be greatly disadvantaged. stable coins are very suitable to be made as a means of payment (such as USDT, USDC, and others).

I think the charges need to cut down but not freed completely, because the driver spends time and energy as well as the cost for picking you up from your place to dropping you to your desired location and so, they deserve something in return. The reason why charges have spiked is because of the mind game these companies play where they'd first build up their customer base and once they see there are enough people on the table to be looted, they move out their "expense" gun on our pockets.

Uber and Airbnb would need some funds to operate their vehicles. The gas for the vehicles, maintenance, etc would never be free for such vehicles so how could to minimize the charges for these services? And imagine, if ever these services are made free than how vast traffic they would get. Would they even manage to serve each of their customer in this case? I think, NO. That is what makes them remain on the premium line so that they could serve us with extreme benefits.

Some major revolution can make this happen for free but a lot of resources would be needed in order to imply something like this. Also the vehicles should be made maintenance free running on non-renewable sources to cut the costs and make it affordable or free.

No you cant. This topic is a discussion about what if they would start accepting bitcoin. ;)

Well come on now, you think the yellow taxi services did not do anything like that previously? They run a racket and now they are unhappy that someone else came up with a better idea and are now the dying breed. Still I prefer to have the AC cab for a medium to longer haul than getting burnt in a metal box with a driver who smells like a pack of low cost cigarettes.

Still you have to know that this is the future. Although whether they would move to bitcoin is still a big question. Back on topic I dont think they will due to the possible dislike from other companies.

I remember when I had to even pay when sending text messages, and now you can do it for free using diffent messaging platform. However, in terms of rising a cab, I doubt if it will ever be free. Uber became a good solution since you can share a ride with other people instead of shouldering the fare solely. It would be great of fares such as taxi fare can be paid through crypto, but there are taxi services that accepts online payment using different online payment platform which I think is a good step.

Why would bitcoin be able to save you money here? It's just another payment medium, but there's really not enough demand right now to use a specific bitcoin-based service, but if you think there's a gap in the market why don't you create one as you could be the next Uber or Air B & B making billions. Things like travel/transportation and property are not cheap though and cost a lot to both purchase and then keep running hence high prices, but Uber and Air B and B are often cheaper than taxis/hotels. Phone calls are a different matter though because once you have the network up and running the calls are practically free. Unless bitcoin becomes very mainstream - as much as cash or cards - then I don't think we'll see these services and I definitely don't see how doing so would make them cheaper than the rest. The best you could hope for is for more and more businesses to start accepting bitcoin but they probably don't see the demand for it right now as bitcoin is still a very niche thing payment-wise.

Generally few companies try to see what innovations could kill them (and therefore appropriate them before others do, to survive). And that's why Uber and AirB&B could be eaten by some very innovative startup.

Agree here. Anyone who thinks something is a good idea and really believes in it should just go ahead and do it, or find someone who can do it and tell them how it should be designed.

I think people still need to understand that BTC is just another form of money. And just because it's great doesn't make it suitable for all businesses, especially it's not really easy at the moment for travellers to go around with a bitcoin wallet and risk losing it. To me anyway. It would have to be easy like cards to work.

Distant phone calls got cheaper by the day because the maintenance to do such deed must've decreased exponentially by the day. In essence, it was probably about an oligopoly controlling a quasi-free technology and charging almost 100% profit for using it. Uber and BNB, in the other hand, actually require serving: pumping gas, driving around, paying tolls, cleaning the room, offering sanitary houses... so it will obviously never be free. For as long as there are costs for driving a cab - the driver's wage and the vehicle's fuel - you'll pay for that. Unless it is subsidized.

The problem with doing this is the legal status of bitcoin on each country, maybe it could work in the places who see bitcoin as money, but in Mexico, you can't make payments of a product or a service with bitcoin because is not money, is called a 'Virtual Active'. So, to have those services and more, first, we need to fix the legal status of bitcoin around the world.

Which is obviously going to take a huge time. But once the US starts making bitcoin as legal the other countries will follow suit because they have to stay put with US. Anyway lets not go into the politics of the situation because currently the economic slowdown affected every country and bitcoin legality issues is the least important to them.

There is also the problem with acceptance of bitcoin and its usage for common people, suspicion of being a ponzi which are false. But I guess if it is ever made a legal mode of payment then this barrier might get lifted from the people's mindset and then we might see Cab-hailing services taking bitcoin as payment.

But honestly speaking. I prefer to walk if the place is close or use the public transport, it saves money (almost 10times) and it is good for health.

Actually there are many companies and merchants who want to provide payment methods with bitcoin. Because they know the potential
of bitcoin as a currency is very good if realized. Especially with the corona pandemic crisis like this is very appropriate for the company
adopt bitcoin. Only the problem lies with the government, which until now is still selfish and does not want to legalize bitcoin as payment.
Because companies must get permission from the government in order to receive payments with bitcoin. Hopefully the government will
soon realize his mistake.

In my opinion, in this situation it is much easier to pay in cash or by credit card, because. The commission for the transfer of Bitcoins will be quite high, and if this is a trip that is very short distance, then this commission may be even more than the amount itself.

I think this is kind of good of market strategy that they are using the bitcoin in uber because most of the users today are using this kind of method of payment but the bitcoin before is not too much popular, unlike this time it is just recently that there is a new number of users making included into the world of bitcoin. But today I know they already remove this kind of method of payment because it is not more effective today because most of the people are using the fiat currency, even the online method of payment also they use the debit or the credit card to make payment to their uber which is more convenient today, but still, as a user of the bitcoin, it is good if they are trying to bring back this kind of method if the bitcoin becomes more popular and gained a reputation to their users.


Also today the bitcoin is one of the good payment methods because of the pandemic outbreak we all know that the cash or the physical money is came from the different people and it came from different hands which the money may contain dirt or virus already and it is not good because it is only helps the virus widely spreading and one of the beet good to do is adopt the use of online payment and the bitcoin which is more effective.

Services integrating cryptocurrency payment is a good move for many businesses that are trying to rise above their competitors. But the problem with these is not that people are charging high prices for the services offered but with the current status of cryptocurrency market, with an unstable fluctuations that are always looming over the market is making the fee for services hanging in balance, we can all understand that businesses are in need of revenue and integrating another system of payment is all part of their strategy and so that means that both ends of the spectrum are in need of addressing with their respected problems.

Uber, Airbnb and Careem do offer different offers to attracted customers but they do not use bitcoins yet. There is a lot of competition between Uber and Careem services and if anyone of these two started using bitcoins and introduced bitcoin in their payment method, this could seriously boost their sales and customers.

That's why I doubt the use of bitcoin as payment method, it sounds so futuristic and elegant but the question is, does it save you from anything? from fees and time? Peer to peer transaction will just take a seconds but how about the data connectivity you got on your phone? And for the count, people only use as bitcoin as form of investment or just for making profit through trading and holding, if you see people spending bitcoin then consider him in tight situation or just ignorant enough to waste it.

For a short distance, use your common sense, would you not prefer to use the public transport, leaving out this lockdown crisis that is if things were normal? It both easier on the pocket and better for your health.

For a medium to long distance travel you would want to have a nice seat with AC and amenities and thus a cab or a privately booked car would be good, thats where the biggest payment is there. For those who use ride hailing every day, it is mostly medium range travel distances. There the hypothetical "fee" would be good enough. But again that is way beyond the current line of thought since first bitcoin needs to be made a tradable and transcatable asset for users which is already a big hurdle.

Like any mode of payment. Additional payment system to their companies will do good in terms of convenience. Yes clients are not yet using bitcoin or some of them doesnt have an idea about bitcoin, but time will tell that most people can adopt it sooner or later they will. Remember before, we dont have smartphones and just using the model of ever famous phones of nokia modelled 3310, 5110 and so on. But now we are availing those smart phones which are more hard to use than nokia phones before, at first these people will probably have confusion on bitcoin but later they will tell you, "I thought its hard to use its simple and easier than brushing my teeth"

Sort of a misleading title but let me share the experience of Uber in my place, where it competes with 2 other similar ridehailing services (and is the worst of them all).

- most expensive
- rudest drivers
- before the app allowed card payment, you can say cash or card. But going into the car, they tell you only cash. Happened so many times.

I never paid, it was always company use when we missed our public bus, but I always thought, how do people use BTC when even simple card payments are hard?

cryptocribs.com is what you are looking for. not sure if they are still functioning.

Sorry to hear about your bad Uber experience, I am lucky enough to have polite and accomdating drivers till date but I know many people have faced similar issues. But I wont comment more on that because I believe every problem can be solved in a diplomatic manner without the need for rudeness.

Anyway bitcoin use in Uber/airbnb can only be if the provider is going to accept it. It might be nice to ask the driver if they are accepting bitcoin or not when starting the ride, in case they fumble just give them cash or kind.

But still bitcoin transaction will take time and often we are in a hurry to pay and leave and linger by the cab. So it does not seem feasible unless the lightning network in brought in place. ;D

The ida of running on bitcoin isn't actuall ideal as i see challenges arising from that, considering the fact that bitcoin is highly volatile, loads of challenges will be faced with the fluctuations that goes with it. imagine having $100 bitcoin in you wallet and you set out on Uber adn midway the journey, bitcoin crashes leaving you will a value way below what your bills have already acumulated. it then becomes na embarrasement. i will not advise both firms to run on bitcoin

If paying for services is your only point of being "useful" then yes it is useless. Let aside all the ideological stuff of being different from the traditional banking system and giving the finanacial power back to the people. With governments not allowing the use because they are wary that bitcoin decreases the level of corruption that can be possible with fiat money. Sure enough it is "useless" ::)

Depends on the merchant and the government's approach to the coin. I dont see any ride sharing company till date accepting bitcoin so less chance of it getting into any of them but maybe in future we might see better or a project that allows bitcoin to be quickly paid to the driver in terms of their mode of payment.

If this happens then in many cases everyone will benefit. In this case, the hassle of carrying cash will go away. As people's confidence in the online currency increases, On the other hand, the pressure on the banking system will also decrease. Currently almost all countries are aware of Bitcoin. Bitcoin can be used in different payment systems. However, the first thing to do in that case is to be the government of the country that has approved the use of Bitcoin. Otherwise it can never be implemented.

True, the government is the first thing to approved such system without the go signal crypto / bitcoin
would not be implemented, we know that there are
already many businesses who show interest to this payment process, some already using it and some
are in the process of adopting bitcoin and other crypto coins.
If this will be accepted by the government first then expect that there would be more and more company
that will start embracing the system.

I bet now that OP has mentioned this, some unscrupulous developers and their teams will create a sham coin for this and scam unsuspecting public as they know the hunger and expectations for this is high. I sincerely hope those of us here will be discerning enough to fish this out if it comes to that.

If bitcoin transfer fees become cheaper and transfers become faster, they can be used by taxi drivers.
All cryptocurrencies are open source, you can create a currency like Uber, but you need money it successful.
there is no such currency because these companies do not support it.
UBER will end and bitcoin will figher.

That would be a great idea with this current situation, where there are some public vehicles that are now allowed to drive, it would make the driver and the passenger to have contact to each other because the passenger can pay through his or her device using the bitcoin. This kind of payment to the Uner would be a great advantage even if there is no virus already because it makes the payment fast, in any transaction I always prefer to use the bitcoin or other cryptocurrency when paying because it is more convenient, I don't need to bring cash anymore because I have my device to use.

I know it sounds great to hear but be realistic here fellow member, we wont see big companies accepting bitcoin anytime soon. It will take time and maybe by then Uber wont be there anymore or a new ride sharing system based on cryptocurrency payments may have started giving competition to the mainstream ones.

Currently everyone is obsessed with the pandemic situation and thus thinking in these terms, but we have to understand that this is not a permanent thing, so it should not be the theme here.

Also many drivers come from low income families. It is tough for them to keep their money secure because crypto does need a little to a lot of technical know-how at least in the beginning on how to keep money secure. It would be heartbreaking to see a poor but hardworking driver losing money because of a sophisticated crypto scam.

It will be good for them to have a payment processor in between them and a customer as then the payment processor will give them a constant amount after taking their fees/cut in between. I guess this will totally remove the price variation problem and also the companies would still be getting the constant payment after the ride and no price fluctuations.


The inverse also holds true in this situation also, because you will also be having more than $100 after the end of the ride if the price increases exponentially. So there are always merits and demerits of using a volatile currency, it is on to you to seek the merit or the demerit in the currency.