Why would an average person actually choose to use Bitcoin?

[Lethn]

To me, the biggest reason is simply because it's a powerful hedge against inflation.

+1

I can see myself buying gold and silver with it eventually for my work because otherwise in the pound it will be too expensive, I need to find someone who can cut it into sheets for me though.

[1715027407]

1715027407

[goodbc]

...

6) It lets you send huge sums of money overseas quickly and cheaply. If you were in US and you needed to pay $1,000,000 for a shipment from China, using normal methods of wiring money would take two or more weeks, and will cost more than $25,000 for the transaction. With Bitcoin, it takes a few hours, and costs $12,000 or less.

...

Average person don't transfer 1 mil for a shipment from China, but even if - using bitcoin the fee is nowhere near $12.000!!!

For example:
http://blockchain.info/tx/ed2efa807c4d33a0ca6d15aab5e608ac624a30039965b508063c8baf9d9e8ecc

Let's not scare average person with such high fees allegations 

[Yuhfhrh]

...

6) It lets you send huge sums of money overseas quickly and cheaply. If you were in US and you needed to pay $1,000,000 for a shipment from China, using normal methods of wiring money would take two or more weeks, and will cost more than $25,000 for the transaction. With Bitcoin, it takes a few hours, and costs $12,000 or less.

...

Average person don't transfer 1 mil for a shipment from China, but even if - using bitcoin the fee is nowhere near $12.000!!!

For example:
http://blockchain.info/tx/ed2efa807c4d33a0ca6d15aab5e608ac624a30039965b508063c8baf9d9e8ecc

Let's not scare average person with such high fees allegations 

I think he was referring to the fee of buying and selling on an exchange.

[Mike Hearn]

The contracts features of Bitcoin give it a series of uses that existing financial systems can't handle. I've done a lot of research into these unused capabilities, because I believe building "killer apps" is the best way to increase Bitcoin usage. Otherwise, we do indeed face the obvious starting problem of "this doesn't solve any problem I actually have".

For example, in my conference talk I mentioned a P2P network for building assurance contracts that pay for web page translations. This is the kind of thing you really can't do with cards, but if it was sufficiently useful to people, they'd acquire Bitcoins just in order to use that network. Micropayments and other things offer a wide variety of possibilities for building killer apps.

[kjlimo]

...

6) It lets you send huge sums of money overseas quickly and cheaply. If you were in US and you needed to pay $1,000,000 for a shipment from China, using normal methods of wiring money would take two or more weeks, and will cost more than $25,000 for the transaction. With Bitcoin, it takes a few hours, and costs $12,000 or less.

...

Average person don't transfer 1 mil for a shipment from China, but even if - using bitcoin the fee is nowhere near $12.000!!!

For example:
http://blockchain.info/tx/ed2efa807c4d33a0ca6d15aab5e608ac624a30039965b508063c8baf9d9e8ecc

Let's not scare average person with such high fees allegations 

I think he was referring to the fee of buying and selling on an exchange.

Exactly, someday when we all recognize bitcoins for business transactions, the "fee" could be near zero.

However, for now we should focus on ways for businesses to use bitcoin but not need to hold it on their books... for now!

So for now, it looks like Rassah has a great business case for international transfers reducing fees even when buying bitcoin, transferring it and then converting back to local fiat.

The only logistical issue here is that this is more than the average daily exchange volume for now.  So the company would need to contract with another third party to secure that many bitcoin for a set price, to ensure reduced transaction risk.

However, with banks getting into the mix, we may be only a few months away from this becoming reality.

Not sure how this can reduce the 25k fee currently referenced, b/c I don't know why it costs that much.  Perhaos our French bankers can explain and help find a way to use bitcoin to increase their bottom line.

I'm gonna guess (or hope) they are one step ahead of us on this issue... time to buy some more bitcoins

[franky1]

1) It lets you send money overseas cheaper than using a bank wire (FIAT > BTC > BTC > FIAT has way better fees and exchange rates than bank wire, Western Union, etc).

not quite. to transfer from cash to BTC is predominantly done using bank transfers or moneygram/ukash and other methods which have fees. unless your cash > btc > cash is done using localbitcoins with someone face to face. which is usually costing you fuel to meet them and their inflated prices to be in their benefit to sell/buy with you.

6) It lets you send huge sums of money overseas quickly and cheaply. If you were in US and you needed to pay $1,000,000 for a shipment from China, using normal methods of wiring money would take two or more weeks, and will cost more than $25,000 for the transaction. With Bitcoin, it takes a few hours, and costs $12,000 or less.

i agree with the speed of transmission BUT try finding a trust vendor to convert cash to BTC at either end for that amount. also considering point 1's reply i gave. meeting a stranger to swap your briefcase of $1million in cash for BTC.. and then the chinese swapping the BTC for 6 million yuan. plus each side wont hand over their brief cases /BTC for $6k each

i wont reply about each of the other points but all in all the possibilities are there.. but its not quite everyday practice.. bitcoin needs to grow a bit more for most of these examples to work fluidly

also the
http://blockchain.info/tx/ed2efa807c4d33a0ca6d15aab5e608ac624a30039965b508063c8baf9d9e8ecc
is not someone transmitting funds from one person to another.. thats silkroad mixing its funds to hide it from prying eyes.. hopefully blockchain.info will remove the "pirate booty" tag from the 1dky address now its been confirmed to be silkroad

[meanig]

Bitcoin allows people to separate their wealth from their identity. Very useful for someone who likes to keep a low profile.

[Rassah]

Lowest bank transfer fee found for large money transfers: 2.5%. Most average 3% and up. No mention of how fair the exchange rates are, or if they ding you on that too.

$1,000,000 * 2.5% = $25,000
Buy/Sell BTC is about 0.5% to 0.6%, so 0.6% * 2 = 1.2%
$1,000,000 * 1.2% = $12,000
True, the volume may be low, which means you would have to buy and sell over a few days. Hopefully, the huge purchase at one end will drive the price up, and the arbitrage bots will ramp the prices on other exchanges up as well, just in time for you to sell back down to the same price.
Yes, there are still exchange rate risks, but it's getting way better.

[johnyj]

A bank allow it's customers to exchange BTC with local currency, average joe only understand a bank

[Rassah]

to transfer from cash to BTC is predominantly done using bank transfers or moneygram/ukash and other methods which have fees. unless your cash > btc > cash is done using localbitcoins with someone face to face. which is usually costing you fuel to meet them and their inflated prices to be in their benefit to sell/buy with you.

For US users, Dwolla > MtGox is 25¢, and ING > Bitfloor is free. For European users there are free SEPA transfers. I'll grant that there are fees for other services, and some countries may be restricted to fee-only methods (anyone know what it's like in China?). And yes, hopefully it will expand and improve.

[niko]

I paid for a few things and services online through Bitcoin network. Each and every time it was faster and simpler than going through Visa, MasterCard, or PayPal. Also, I've been using Bitcoin to transfer value internationally; a bit convoluted (two exchanges in two countries), but it happens to be cheaper than international wire/bank exchange, or bank exchange/mailing a certified check, or WU. I've got no ideological reasons to use coins, it's simply a great and interesting technology.

[GernMiester]

blah blah blah,  its simple, they wont use it.. BTC is far and above the average person.

GPU's pushed it away, then FPGA pushes it farther away, and ASIC, well that's the nail in the coffin for the average Joe.
Trusting your BTC to any website is sheer stupidity and all the thefts prove it.. Explaining BTC to the average guys is futile, they don't get it and don't care to. Managaing a wallet is way to hard for most since they are not even technical enough to even understand how and why you update Adobe, Java, AV, and Windows and ask why its been asking for months and months or answer I dont know what it is and was afraid to install. GOOGLE IT YOU MORONS, OMG!!!! anyway....

Read a thread or two with CKolivas, Tycho, Slush, Great, Inaba, Eleuthria, Juke-Jr, (the list goes on) and other pool ops talking and you will see that it takes a significant amount of intelligence, wisdom (Int and Wis are not the same and not interchangeable) and time to make it all happen. Then the lurkers I see, like JoelKatz, who come forth with blinding reason and logic and back to quietly watching from above.. These are not the thoughts of average folks with IQ in the high 80's and 90's.

I bet the average IQ of the BTC developers is closer to 120-125+ and the average users IQ is at or above 100. There are always exceptions to the rule, some site/pool ops are idiots, but as it stands, BTC is just too smart for joe average.

If you need to ask how to setup a miner and cant figure it out from the thousands of posts and documents your the idiot group.
If your not testing something or using it to learn and you just setup or are asking about how to setup a GPU rig or use CPU's you are in that idiot group as well.  My favorite is stupid question - What power supply will power my x number of HDXXXX cards?
Really,,,,,,, REALLY??? Its called addition, figure it out stupid!

[2_Thumbs_Up]

To me, the biggest reason is simply because it's a powerful hedge against inflation.

From my short-but-few years as a personal financial adviser, and the years I've deal with that on the sidelines since, I would say that the average Joe doesn't even know about inflation, let alone understand it or want to hedge against it. Most people out there just get a paycheck direct-deposited into their account, use their debit card until their bank balance runs out, and wait until the next paycheck comes in. That's about the extent of their financial knowledge, and not only do they not know anything more, they don't care to know. That's why we keep having statistics with depressing results, such as: the average 54 year old has $30,000 in savings, 60% or so of those reaching retirement age have less than $100k in savings, and of all retirees, only 5% retire with enough to maintain their standard of living, and a full 25% to 30% end up needing to work after retirement to make ends meet.  People just don't care until it's too late, and warning them about it or offering to help only makes them more guarded and defensive. But that's a discussion for another topic.

Average Joe doesn't care about monetary theory. He cares about his daily life and bases hid decisions mainly on his own experiences. More importantly, he has never experienced deflation, at most heard about it, but once he does he will love it.

I believe that anyone who deals with bitcoins on a regular or semi-regular basis will sooner or later realize that they would have been better of if more of their wealth was in bitcoins, and less in fiat. Sure, fluctuations in price will counter this somewhat, but in the long run fiat will inflate, while bitcoin will not. And this is huge. It doesn't matter if you are buying and selling drugs on Silk Road, trading virtual goods on oggr, or are simply accepting bitcoins as a secondary payment option through bitpay. The realization that all unnecessary bitcoin to fiat transaction has been a mistake will come sooner or later.

[Gabi]

GPU's pushed it away, then FPGA pushes it farther away, and ASIC, well that's the nail in the coffin for the average Joe.

Lolwut why the average Joe should care about mining? Seriously, do you care how gold is mined?

[Chief Satangkai]

For me its the technology itself and the idea of decentralization combined with the degree of anonymity that
really are the selling points!  Being able to do anonymous trading is an important factor. Thats why there
must be cheap and easy ways for the average Joe to instantly acquire BTC. Most people i know are too
lazy to go through an exchange...   

[Rassah]

Most people i know are too lazy to go through an exchange...   

I've sold about $4,000 worth through localbitcoins.com already, much of it to people who were not very familiar with it. The time waiting for a confirmation is usually spent with them asking questions and me explaining how it works. They are typically return customers, since once they find out that it's as easy as stopping by a local fast food joint with some cash, they don't consider Bitcoin to be too much of a hassle for whatever they used it for. And they can go home and use it that same evening. (BTW, the fee I charge means I generally just break even)

[edd]

There are two examples I like to use when praising Bitcoin:

1) I belong to another forum where some of us have bonded quite closely for having only met online. A few months before I came across Bitcoin, a forum member fell on hard times. Via private messages, some of us passed the virtual hat, as it were, and collected some money to help him out. Since members were located in Australia, Scotland, and the UK, as well as the US, everyone contributed to my PayPal account and I covered the fees as part of my share. If only we had known about Bitcoin at the time! Our friend would have received at least an additional $20 or so (it's been so long, I can't really remember off the top of my head) that enriched PayPal, instead.

2) I've had quite a bit of graphic work done for me since I started my online projects. Fortunately, I met a very talented artist located in England who understands my visions and always produces top notch work. He always responds to my emails in a timely manner, and almost invariably is able to produce a finished product by the next day. He also accepts bitcoins as payment. This means that the time elapsed from my initial email request to him receiving confirmed, irreversible payment for a job well done is often less than 48 hours. How often does that happen between individuals living almost five thousand miles apart?

[FreeMoney]

1) It lets you send money overseas cheaper than using a bank wire (FIAT > BTC > BTC > FIAT has way better fees and exchange rates than bank wire, Western Union, etc).

not quite. to transfer from cash to BTC is predominantly done using bank transfers or moneygram/ukash and other methods which have fees. unless your cash > btc > cash is done using localbitcoins with someone face to face. which is usually costing you fuel to meet them and their inflated prices to be in their benefit to sell/buy with you.

6) It lets you send huge sums of money overseas quickly and cheaply. If you were in US and you needed to pay $1,000,000 for a shipment from China, using normal methods of wiring money would take two or more weeks, and will cost more than $25,000 for the transaction. With Bitcoin, it takes a few hours, and costs $12,000 or less.

i agree with the speed of transmission BUT try finding a trust vendor to convert cash to BTC at either end for that amount. also considering point 1's reply i gave. meeting a stranger to swap your briefcase of $1million in cash for BTC.. and then the chinese swapping the BTC for 6 million yuan. plus each side wont hand over their brief cases /BTC for $6k each

i wont reply about each of the other points but all in all the possibilities are there.. but its not quite everyday practice.. bitcoin needs to grow a bit more for most of these examples to work fluidly

also the
http://blockchain.info/tx/ed2efa807c4d33a0ca6d15aab5e608ac624a30039965b508063c8baf9d9e8ecc
is not someone transmitting funds from one person to another.. thats silkroad mixing its funds to hide it from prying eyes.. hopefully blockchain.info will remove the "pirate booty" tag from the 1dky address now its been confirmed to be silkroad

I enjoy where this thread headed. The average person won't use bitcoin because the suitcase-of-1M-to-btc-fees are still too high.

[Justin00]

just out of curiosity... besides the people who are keeping BTC for investment purposes, what type of items do you think the average person is buying ?

Most people i know are too lazy to go through an exchange...   

I've sold about $4,000 worth through localbitcoins.com already, much of it to people who were not very familiar with it. The time waiting for a confirmation is usually spent with them asking questions and me explaining how it works. They are typically return customers, since once they find out that it's as easy as stopping by a local fast food joint with some cash, they don't consider Bitcoin to be too much of a hassle for whatever they used it for. And they can go home and use it that same evening. (BTW, the fee I charge means I generally just break even)

[2_Thumbs_Up]

just out of curiosity... besides the people who are keeping BTC for investment purposes, what type of items do you think the average person is buying ?

Most people i know are too lazy to go through an exchange...  

I've sold about $4,000 worth through localbitcoins.com already, much of it to people who were not very familiar with it. The time waiting for a confirmation is usually spent with them asking questions and me explaining how it works. They are typically return customers, since once they find out that it's as easy as stopping by a local fast food joint with some cash, they don't consider Bitcoin to be too much of a hassle for whatever they used it for. And they can go home and use it that same evening. (BTW, the fee I charge means I generally just break even)

Drugs. That's pretty much the only reason for a non-enthusiast to go through the hassle of getting Bitcoins right now.