Why should I use Bitcoin instead of Paypal?

[CoinCidental]

my friend transferred  about 2.6 million dollars  worth of BTC to singapore for a property deal
for like 60cents and took about an hour to get the 6 confirmations

imagine what that would have costed through regular banking  and how much  longer it would have taken   ?

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[eatrader]

my friend transferred  about 2.6 million dollars  worth of BTC to singapore for a property deal
for like 60cents and took about an hour to get the 6 confirmations

imagine what that would have costed through regular banking  and how much  longer it would have taken   ?

Yeah and the snooping eye... "I should give you $2.6M of the money that you trust me to hold, for what?  I will have to get a manager to to authorize."  Two days go by and magically that property is sold for $2.8M.  Banks are done.

[eatrader]

With Bitcoin:

Escrow is optional, and there is competition between escrow services, providing different levels of service.
Currency Exchange is optional, with a choice of exchanges.

If it weren't for ebay, I would not use Paypal.

In your opinion the best escrow service is...?

[hilariousandco]

Because Paypal and eBay are twats. I think everybody has already mentioned pretty much all the reasons why BTC/cryptos are better.

[eatrader]

Because Paypal and eBay are twats. I think everybody has already mentioned pretty much all the reasons why BTC/cryptos are better.

++++++++++++++++++++

Awesome!

[LatestBTC]

Bitcoin won't put a 40 day hold on your money
Bitcoin won't limit your account
Bitcoin won't report you to tax officials
Bitcoin won't let people scam you with charge backs

[eatrader]

Headed over to r/Ebay is search for a contrary opinion.  Horror stories everywhere...

http://www.reddit.com/r/Ebay/comments/1sly0u/paypal_is_holding_my_xmas_money_until_the_24th/

http://www.reddit.com/r/Ebay/comments/1sio3h/ebaypaypal_just_ate_my_payment/

http://www.reddit.com/r/Ebay/comments/1s961v/am_i_being_scammed/

http://www.reddit.com/r/Ebay/comments/1rkkif/having_trouble_claiming_money_from_ebay_help/

I can see now why EBay is embracing Bitcoin.  Sellers on EBay and merchants in real world need fast confirmation and clearance of money.  If you want to buy, be willing to pay.  

[DeathAndTaxes]

I am considering writing an article of the advantages of Bitcoin over Paypal. Answering the question "Why should I use Bitcoin instead of Paypal?"  This will serve to help the undecided to take the plunge.


So, why should I use Bitcoin instead of Paypal?

1) Lower fees.  Please don't say Bitcoin is "free" but it is very low cost.
2) Less chance of fraud.  No wondering if your buyer can be trusted, if he is using a hacked account, if you are going to get a chargeback.
3) No central authority.  Ever had a PayPal account frozen for 30 to 180 days.  Your money but you can't spend it or even withdrawal it because PayPal says so.  No appeal, your funds are just held hostage because it is their network.  That can't happen with Bitcoin.

[babeq]

Ofc goverment can't freeze your bitcoins and fees here are so nice. Paypal have only easier acces to bank transfers ;<

[mochicoin]

no chargeback fruad
no way for companies to withdraw funds all willy nilly

[beetcoin]

my friend transferred  about 2.6 million dollars  worth of BTC to singapore for a property deal
for like 60cents and took about an hour to get the 6 confirmations

imagine what that would have costed through regular banking  and how much  longer it would have taken   ?

was he sweating that he somehow sent it to the wrong address, or that somehow the coins wouldn't be there? what is bitcoin's pro is also its con, but i'll take it over paypal or any other junk corporation any day.

[franky1]

there are many reasons paypal sucks

there are many reasons bitcoins is better.

but i can only think of one reason to use paypal, which is Ebay's vast product range. and that is it.

once ebay drops paypal and uses a crypto currency as its backbone system for value storage, thus removing the requirement of servers, databases etc(saving ebay money). paypal will be useless

[Kazimir]

1. Low transaction fees
2. No charge-backs
3. No fraud
4. Anonymity
5. No need for adding CC / Bank account
6. No currency conversion fees

7. No hidden political agendas (e.g. Paypal blocking Wikileaks' account)
8. Applicable worldwide (Paypal cannot be used in e.g. Macedonia, Belarus, Tibet, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and many other countries)
9. No dependency on some company who decide what you are allowed to buy or not
10. No need to 'register' anything, no account, no ID verification
11. No risk of getting your account frozen at whim by Paypal (happens quite often!)

[beetcoin]

there are many reasons paypal sucks

there are many reasons bitcoins is better.

but i can only think of one reason to use paypal, which is Ebay's vast product range. and that is it.

once ebay drops paypal and uses a crypto currency as its backbone system for value storage, thus removing the requirement of servers, databases etc(saving ebay money). paypal will be useless

once? you do know that ebay owns paypal right? no one's going to shoot themselves in the leg, at least voluntarily.

[techstorm2]

Fees

paypal will block your account and seize your funds on a whim, they are the controller of your money, do you really like that idea.

 

[vesperwillow]

I use paypal a lot, not just for ebay but on other merchant sites as well. I'm a business-class merchant paypal customer, not just the normal user, so keep that in mind when I say this.

I've done large transactions, I've done small transactions. They've called me moments after placing a large transaction to verify I was actually meaning to do that (anti-fraud service, which is nice). On the contrary, I've had them freeze small transactions, not call me, and I was unable to reach them for days by phone.

I've had my account frozen, I've had transactions held for no apparent reason. Not often, but a few times. I don't keep large amounts of money in my paypal balance just for this reason.

In answering the OP question, and since we already know what cryptocurrency is, I think we need to examine: What IS paypal exactly? Here are some short notes on that at a macro level:

Financially:

• It is a transaction service (fiat to fiat, fiat to balance sheet, etc)
• It is a credit service
• It is a bank/financial company

Functionally:

• It is a merchant/retailer exchange/interface/website with many features, which tie the financial services to mobile/internet functionality
• A certified address book / shipment center
• A proof of identity/validity provider

Logistically:

• It is usable in many countries, with certain restrictions
• It is centralized, with processing power controlled by itself
• It caters toward the highest bidder--companies and stock holders
• It is involved in politics (politics + financial transactions = bad)

Summary: You can see that at a macro level, it's not much different than cryptocurrency and a crypto exchange (minus the politics), but the detractors would use FUD to say otherwise. Read on.

PayPal pros:

• Lots of merchants take it, and it makes it easy so you don't have to register an account on some website to buy a product or service
• It ties in your verified shipping addresses, makes checkout quick
• Lets you choose a funding source, easy to add new ones once verified
• Fairly secure
• Easy to integrate into your website or to receive money into your bank account (faster than bitcoin)
• Take card payments manually or by swiping
• Chargebacks (yes, this is a pro for the consumer being ripped off)
• Can pull fiat out of any ATM
• Can put withdrawl and transfer limits in place, based on daily, weekly and monthly allottment (safety measure)

Summary: A lot of this could be handled on an exchange site (for instance, coinbase), on a functionality level.

Paypal cons (ones I haven't seen mentioned yet):

• They will limit your funding source options at times
• They may limit how much you can pay in one transaction, even if it's  below the $10k mark--sometimes it's random
• If your transaction (or the goods/services for it) are challenged, it's tough to work the situation out
• No escrow - they allow chargebacks if someone can prove they've been swindled, but they don't provide an escrow ability to circumvent swindling
• Hard for non-US citizens, or US residents who are legally allowed to be here, to obtain verified accounts (or accounts at all)
• Relating to having a "Balance" in PayPal (money on hand in the paypal account), you can only have one of these balances, you can't easily distribute it between users of the account
• Fees can hurt on large transactions!!!
• If they don't like items, they won't let you use their service for it (example, gun related items are barred from their list of allowable reasons to use their service)

Summary: these cons are overcome by cryptocurrencies, except escrow of course

Cryptocurrency solves many of the cons, while not taking away many of the pros (bold ones are those which really excite me the most):

• You are wholly responsible and in full control of all of your assets. Period.
• No overspending, overdraws, fees relating to this, etc
• It doesn't matter what your citizenship status is, nor your age, etc--it's the MOST HUMANITARIAN financial transaction system in the world. It's like having secured cash which can be sent anywhere in the universe within a second.
• Fees are moot
• You can turn any physical object into a wallet, as long as you can put the wallet and key info on it--this is neat. You could laser-engrave a wallet ID in a crystal and give it to someone, and it will HAVE value (anyone wishing to take this idea.. i claim royalty lol)
• It is, by far, the easiest payment/transaction system I have ever used for purchase - at times, no need for me to log in to anything, just enter an address and click a button
• You can view your balance/transactions securely from anywhere, using anything, without the concern for encryption -- just look up your wallet in the blockchain. This is much nicer than worrying about logging into your bank account, especially on questionable networks or in public. This is amazing to me.
• It is decentralized, with processing power spread throughout the globe
• For the time being, those providing the transaction guarantee and security, are being well compensated for their efforts. Even once this isn't the case, the network will be well established and mostly self sustaining. Cryptocurrency-esque stuff is the wave of the future.
• It provides a level of identity security for those who care, but it's not beyond tracability, for those who are afraid of such issues
• There's no question of fund availability
• Transactions are guaranteed and instantaneous
• You control your own balance sheet, and can split it up however you want (multiple wallets, etc)
• No special equipment or software needed to verify funds
• There's no wizard of Oz, man behind the curtain, controlling your money or transactions or anything else
• Merchant interaction is limited only to what can be developed.. just like PayPal was 10 years ago. In its infancy, PayPal was no different than bitcoin now. Too many people (I think, anti-bitcoin people) use FUD to say it's not easy to work with.. it's easier than anything else on the internet!!!

Hopefully this is useful. If I can think of anything else I'll contribute.

Will you be doing interviews or anything similar down the road? I'm sure some of us can share our story.

(edited to add gun-related bullet point)

[BitchicksHusband]

I am considering writing an article of the advantages of Bitcoin over Paypal. Answering the question "Why should I use Bitcoin instead of Paypal?"  This will serve to help the undecided to take the plunge.


So, why should I use Bitcoin instead of Paypal?

Because you're a seller.  </thread>

[guybrushthreepwood]

Paypal would be great if they weren’t such bastards.

A few years ago I sold a camera on ebay and the buyer claimed to have not received the item even though I sent it and had proof that somebody signed for it. For some reason they found in favour of the buyer and put my account into negative balance, and eventually even sent me out a letter from a collection agency. Luckily, after a while I managed to appeal the decision and got my money back, but I’ve heard horror stories where people haven't been as fortunate as me.

[BitchicksHusband]

here are some reasons why paypall sucks:
-fees
-third party involved
-people can request the money back
-not anonymous

Why do I read stories about sellers in a bitcoin transaction being at such risk.  Arent some of these transactions using escrow services?

Because the money could dip 50% after they complete the transaction but before they cash out.

But since Paypal can steal 100% of your money, it still seems less risky.  Besides, if you keep the bitcoins long enough, they will probably go back to the value you paid for them.

[worldtreasurefinders]

Real life example.  I owed my dad (who doesn't use bitcoins) $31, and I told him I could send it via paypal or mail him a check.  While the money was transferred instantly to his paypal account, they require three business days to transfer the money out of his paypal account and into his bank.  Three days of delay.  And mailing a check will take 2-3 days to arrive.  Again, 2-3 days of delay.  I told him if he had a bitcoin wallet I'd just send him the money and he'd have it for all intents and purposes instantly. 

I know one of the gripes about BTC is that it's slow to confirm payments, but in many instances (like this) it's much faster than other methods.