Why use bitcoins instead of USD or another currency?

[the425]

to support cryptoanarchy

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[haroldtodd]

i noticed allot of people are setting up stores to use bitcoin... awesome way to get the name out. Just sux b/c some of them you can't trust. I would rather carry a usb than  a wallet.. less bulge lol

[Pteppic]

A lot of the problems with using bitcoin at the moment because of fees and awkward user experiences are either being solved or can be solved just as a result of increased usage and scale. If you only want to use bitcoin as a payments method, then sure, wait for a while until the infrastructure and services are in place.

But all the projects that are being developed in the community are part of creating the reality that people want to see instead of just waiting for it to turn up.

[khabaro]

just wait more years.  then you see bitcoin get more use.  then every one want more :-)

[bitcoinspace]

I think the only way for bitcoin to succeed in commerce among average consumers would be that buying with bitcoin would reduce the retail price.

[tral]

When anonymity and security are what you're after, bitcoin is the way to go.

[Brunic]

When you want to send a message to somebody, do you send a message to Fedex telling them to write a letter to Mr. X so they can post it through regular mail and give the fees to the one who receives it?

No, it would be stupid, and Internet invented email for that.

But when you pay online, you send a message to VISA/Mastercard/Paypal telling them to send money to Mr. X using their private transfer network and give the fees to the one who receive it. Add to this that this company possess and keeps all your private informations and transactions informations while keeping all the rights to give you or cancel your credit card as they wish.

We think that this method is pretty stupid, and Internet invented Bitcoin for that.

[caveden]

... why would I use it as a transaction currency?

Inflation protection. Currently Bitcoin inflates rapidly, but the rate will dramatically reduce in some years, since it follows an asymptotic curve. Government currencies inflate exponentially.
But yeah, that's more a "store of value" usage, not "means of transaction".
I understand that, as means of transaction, Bitcoin does not fit perfectly to every use cases, although it's great for some of them. And the reason it doesn't fit well to some use cases is mainly because conversion is still a hassle. Maybe one day it will be easier and cheaper to convert from and to legacy money. And with more business accepting bitcoins as payments, maybe one day it will be easier to earn your revenues in bitcoins as well, making conversions less necessary.

[Stephen Gornick]

When you want to send a message to somebody, do you send a message to Fedex telling them to write a letter to Mr. X so they can post it through regular mail and give the fees to the one who receives it?

No, it would be stupid, and Internet invented email for that.

But when you pay online, you send a message to VISA/Mastercard/Paypal telling them to send money to Mr. X using their private transfer network and give the fees to the one who receive it. Add to this that this company possess and keeps all your private informations and transactions informations while keeping all the rights to give you or cancel your credit card as they wish.

We think that this method is pretty stupid, and Internet invented Bitcoin for that.

That's a fantastic response!

Here's an infographic of just one type of transaction (online credit card) and only one side of it (the missing part is where the consumer pays the credit card company.



With bitcoin, it is person-to-person.

I couldn't find a good existing diagram to show the process for Bitcoin.  This is kind of close:

[HolyScott]

Because its so much fun.