Why have Bitcoin instead of cash?

[rik3]

I recently paid for some local tacos using Bitcoin. My friend who was unfamilar with Bitcoin thought it was strange, like I technically didn't pay for them or something. We got into discussing Bitcoin and one of the questions he asked me was:
"Why would you want Bitcoins instead of cash?". For a second I didn't know what to say; then I thought about it and here is what I came up with. Feel free to contribute to this.

1) More security (especially if you are careful).

2) Bitcoins are a potential investment, cash is not. Paper currency only really goes down in value, Bitcoins have a lot of potential to be worth more as time goes on.

3) Fast, worldwide transactions at your fingertips.

4) Similar to #3, but it's a universal currency. It's legal in most countries of the world and you don't need any kind of currency conversion to send money to people in a different country than your own.

Yes Bro I Agree With You Bitcoin Has More Potential to Grow And Also We Can Send Money Through Bitcoins anywhere in the World and Also We cab Do Many things with Bitcoins Like We Can Invest it On Some Projects and Also We Cab Spend It Online For Some Goods Or in Local Stores.....

[danherbias07]

If you look at it thoroughly there is really a big difference in its usage. You cannot compare it with fiat due to the lack of where to receive bitcoin for now. Fiat have been in the world for a number of years and it is widely used as a means of trade.
But if people will turn their heads on the side of bitcoin I am sure there will be good changes.

[Noctis Connor]

I love having bitcoin and I think that using bitcoin is better than cash, its safer and you can also not lose it easily like cash.
Due to that I think its better to have bitcoin.

Every one love having bitcoin in there bitcoin wallets specially when they are receiving big amounts of bitcoin , cash in cash we use it for physical needs like buying foods whenever we wants buying something that we need specially the cloths and many more for me it better if we use two

In my country, I used to be able to buy the aeroplane ticket with bitcoin, but not any more. bitcoin is not so popular.

That's nice what is your country and what is the name of the airport so i will make some time to visit and if we had the same country im going to travel into another country make some good memories and i will find some store that accept bitcoins as a payment.

[eternalgloom]

I do not understand why some people pay for everyday purchases Bitcoins. For me it's the same as if I buy a bar of gold, and in any cafe will saw off pieces of gold instead of dollars. Bitcoin is an investment for me.

The main reason is because of anonymity, when you purchase something online with Bitcoin, you don't have to reveal your identity to anyone. For example people buying porn content might prefer to remain anonymous, if you pay with a credit card, your purchase is associated with your name and will show up in your statement.

Yes...for some people, in some situations, the pseudo-anonymity is important.  But, using bitcoin at, say, a coffee shop instead of using cash seems a bit eccentric....I mean, it's so much easier to hand over a couple dollars instead of carrying around a phone and swiping it for every small transaction I participate in throughout the day.  Isn't it?

Oh most definitely, for simple everyday purchases/transactions it's hard to beat cash plus cash is even more anonymous than Bitcoin. But right Bitcoin provides the most anonymity for online transactions because you don't need to have your identity linked to them, it's the best way to stay off the grid. This probably won't be possible for very long though.

Yes.  After Black Friday in 2011, my whole outlook on banks changed....It turned everything upside down for me and since that event, I've been avoiding banks like the plague.  Being able to play poker once again without the banking industry's interference is my predominate reason for adopting the bitcoin protocol.

What did banks have to do about that, sorry I'm from Europe, I've heard about Black Friday, but like I said, what did it have to do with banks?
It was my understanding that it was just the government who cracked down on online poker sites...

[sherlock_h]

The OP pointed good reasons, besides the efficiency to send and receive money, for me one of the best things is to have real control over the funds, without depending on banks and central authorities.

[Wandering Soul~]

The OP pointed good reasons, besides the efficiency to send and receive money, for me one of the best things is to have real control over the funds, without depending on banks and central authorities.

And we should not also forget bitcoins anomity, For a privacy freak like me, Opening a bitcoin waller is faaaaaaaaar more better than opening an account in a bank like you have to bring a bunch of documents and fill out forms

Plus we are free form the banks strict rules and regulation and their fee's like transaction fee, yearly fee, maintaining balance etc.

There are many reasons why bitcoin is beter than fiat but we should not forget that fiat has it's important role in this growing community

[arseaboy]

The OP pointed good reasons, besides the efficiency to send and receive money, for me one of the best things is to have real control over the funds, without depending on banks and central authorities.

And we should not also forget bitcoins anomity, For a privacy freak like me, Opening a bitcoin waller is faaaaaaaaar more better than opening an account in a bank like you have to bring a bunch of documents and fill out forms

Plus we are free form the banks strict rules and regulation and their fee's like transaction fee, yearly fee, maintaining balance etc.

There are many reasons why bitcoin is beter than fiat but we should not forget that fiat has it's important role in this growing community

True. Going to bank to open an account is somehow I consider a big hassle which you need to fill out lots of forms.. not like with bitcoin you can manage your money the way you want it.

[Pierre 2]

My only answer is: It allows people to universally trade without commissions, taxes etc.
For people from 3rd world countries, bitcoin is definitely great thing.

[socks435]

The OP pointed good reasons, besides the efficiency to send and receive money, for me one of the best things is to have real control over the funds, without depending on banks and central authorities.

And we should not also forget bitcoins anomity, For a privacy freak like me, Opening a bitcoin waller is faaaaaaaaar more better than opening an account in a bank like you have to bring a bunch of documents and fill out forms

Plus we are free form the banks strict rules and regulation and their fee's like transaction fee, yearly fee, maintaining balance etc.

There are many reasons why bitcoin is beter than fiat but we should not forget that fiat has it's important role in this growing community

True. Going to bank to open an account is somehow I consider a big hassle which you need to fill out lots of forms.. not like with bitcoin you can manage your money the way you want it.

Also you need to pay some taxes before you can receive your money.. so for me it is good if you choose to receive bitcoin so that there is no hassle to with your money..  in my job to withdraw with my money or salary into cash it needs banks so yeah its hassle and it takes a long time before you can have a bank account unlike in bitcoin just make any name and your done you can use it.. unlike banks and paypal.

[Golftech]

The OP pointed good reasons, besides the efficiency to send and receive money, for me one of the best things is to have real control over the funds, without depending on banks and central authorities.

And we should not also forget bitcoins anomity, For a privacy freak like me, Opening a bitcoin waller is faaaaaaaaar more better than opening an account in a bank like you have to bring a bunch of documents and fill out forms

Plus we are free form the banks strict rules and regulation and their fee's like transaction fee, yearly fee, maintaining balance etc.

There are many reasons why bitcoin is beter than fiat but we should not forget that fiat has it's important role in this growing community

True. Going to bank to open an account is somehow I consider a big hassle which you need to fill out lots of forms.. not like with bitcoin you can manage your money the way you want it.

Also you need to pay some taxes before you can receive your money.. so for me it is good if you choose to receive bitcoin so that there is no hassle to with your money..  in my job to withdraw with my money or salary into cash it needs banks so yeah its hassle and it takes a long time before you can have a bank account unlike in bitcoin just make any name and your done you can use it.. unlike banks and paypal.

Yeah I've tried withdrawing btc from an outlet and the transaction fee is not as high compared to when you're withdrawing from banks. But I think this is just for a couple of transactions. Cash is still needed I think more than btc still. There are a lot of purchases that we can only do through cash

[socks435]

The OP pointed good reasons, besides the efficiency to send and receive money, for me one of the best things is to have real control over the funds, without depending on banks and central authorities.

And we should not also forget bitcoins anomity, For a privacy freak like me, Opening a bitcoin waller is faaaaaaaaar more better than opening an account in a bank like you have to bring a bunch of documents and fill out forms

Plus we are free form the banks strict rules and regulation and their fee's like transaction fee, yearly fee, maintaining balance etc.

There are many reasons why bitcoin is beter than fiat but we should not forget that fiat has it's important role in this growing community

True. Going to bank to open an account is somehow I consider a big hassle which you need to fill out lots of forms.. not like with bitcoin you can manage your money the way you want it.

Also you need to pay some taxes before you can receive your money.. so for me it is good if you choose to receive bitcoin so that there is no hassle to with your money..  in my job to withdraw with my money or salary into cash it needs banks so yeah its hassle and it takes a long time before you can have a bank account unlike in bitcoin just make any name and your done you can use it.. unlike banks and paypal.

Yeah I've tried withdrawing btc from an outlet and the transaction fee is not as high compared to when you're withdrawing from banks. But I think this is just for a couple of transactions. Cash is still needed I think more than btc still. There are a lot of purchases that we can only do through cash

The fee for every transaction if you save those every transaction you can make a large amount of savings.. the fee and taxes are the problem in our government we are choosing bitcoins because we have freedom and low fee..

[Doamader]

I may say the big advantage of having bitcoin agaisnt the cash, is the huge possibility that our bitcoins be worthing much more on the other day, besides the low cost transactions, and plenty control of our money.

[Betwrong]

I may say the big advantage of having bitcoin agaisnt the cash, is the huge possibility that our bitcoins be worthing much more on the other day, besides the low cost transactions, and plenty control of our money.

I agree with what you've said but all those advantages are worthless without wider Bitcoin acception. In the future I'm sure people will be using Bitcoin and maybe some other cryptoes because of all you've mentioned but for now using cash in almost all the cases is what we can do.

[nizamcc]

Bitcoin should be preferred because it has a value which get inflated anytime where the value of cash will remain the same.
Like if you are going to buy something for BTC0.1 and the price is $500 and when you get out of your home, suddenly it increases $50 and you get what you want for BTC0.091 which feels awesome.

[Shady]

If I intend to travel abroad as much as I plan when BTC stabilizes it will likely be less expensive due to bank conversion reduction.

No other currency can be moved into a foreign amount without paying 1-5% at either the airport or bank... This'll be a main bonus to my collecting.

Other reasons are for the gambling, social interaction + global interconnectivity. In regards to value it tops gold with potential, so why not try something new and get used to cryptocurrency :-) !

[xSkylarx]

Having just bitcoin only is not that good also because you can't buy anything you want just by using bitcoin. Having both is the best. Cash for your daily needs and bitcoin for other things like you have something to buy on the internet .

[Mastsetad]

I may say the big advantage of having bitcoin agaisnt the cash, is the huge possibility that our bitcoins be worthing much more on the other day, besides the low cost transactions, and plenty control of our money.

I would really like to agree with your first point, because i have just seen it yesterday when the price have grown more than $20 in just 24 hours, so if we have bitcoins that is the biggest advantage, our money is just growing.

[iv4n]

I may say the big advantage of having bitcoin agaisnt the cash, is the huge possibility that our bitcoins be worthing much more on the other day, besides the low cost transactions, and plenty control of our money.

Yes you are right, and that is called "investment for the future". That is great for people who hodl coins for years, and they plan to continue to that for who knows how many years. Low cost of transactions and better control are advantages over the fiat, and I think for ecology is much better for everyone to transfer on digital currencies, one day this will happen.
They will never end fiat counterfeiting, and that is big flaw of the fiat. Bitcoin doesn't have that kind of problems and I think this will be one of the main reasons why will world stop to use fiat one day.

[1Referee]

I may say the big advantage of having bitcoin agaisnt the cash, is the huge possibility that our bitcoins be worthing much more on the other day

When you look at the potential positive impact of the price going up, you also have to look and mention the fact that the price can go down real hard. If you only look at the benefits and not at what risk you are exposing yourself to, then you're doing something wrong. Especially when you just assume the price will go only up. Exactly this is where a lot people go wrong.

the low cost transactions

If you would use Bitcoin on a daily basis like you are doing with fiat right now, then you will notice the impact of the "low cost" transactions. On average the fee that people include with their transactions is $0.05-$0.10. If you compare that to the free transactions you are enjoying in your local area when paying with cash money or your bank card, then you'll see and notice the difference.

plenty control of our money.

If you have everything in your own wallet, and not in an online wallet service, then that's exactly the case.

[goldcoinminer]

I may say the big advantage of having bitcoin agaisnt the cash, is the huge possibility that our bitcoins be worthing much more on the other day, besides the low cost transactions, and plenty control of our money.

Yes you are right, and that is called "investment for the future". That is great for people who hodl coins for years, and they plan to continue to that for who knows how many years. Low cost of transactions and better control are advantages over the fiat, and I think for ecology is much better for everyone to transfer on digital currencies, one day this will happen.
They will never end fiat counterfeiting, and that is big flaw of the fiat. Bitcoin doesn't have that kind of problems and I think this will be one of the main reasons why will world stop to use fiat one day.

I see it investment for today, we are in the stage that bitcoin is not yet stable and there's more room to grow therefore it can be called as investment more than a currency. I am actually amazed that bitcoin is not only for single purpose of transaction but more on investment and every investment when it succeeds will bring us money.