Would you buy a coffee using BTC during current times?

[NeuroticFish]

Check Flexa's app. It got released a few days ago and apparently, it's supposed to serve exactly this purpose.

Personally, I wouldn't use this app because it's clearly the way to centralization and I also wouldn't buy coffee at this point because of the confirmation times, fees, etc.

Clearly, the best solution here would be the lightning network but that's far from being finished.

From what I see, it does the job. And they've moved fast enough to be one step before LN.
Indeed, centralization is bad. But I expect that even LN will be used by a big % of the Bitcoin users in a centralized manner. So at the end, keeping a couple of $ in their app for having at hand for a coffee is okay imho.
I would use such solution if done properly (instant "transaction", which is possible since it's off-chain), and accepted by a big number of merchants I buy from.
(It would be imho a good replacement for the cards that use fiat kept at banks.)

[uneng]

No, because as far as I know there isn't any third party service fulfilling this task. This Flexa Network works only in select shops, not useful for common people who drink a coffee in popular pubs and snack bars, far from the gourmet hipster areas.
Debit cards would be another option, but I don't see any affordable options. Or they aren't available in my area, or their fees are expensive, making it much more benefical to exchange btc into fiat to buy a coffee and similars.

[FIFA worldcup]

A question came in my mind that with the current fee storm that's taking down everyone's morale not to use BTC for smaller amounts as the fee would get so high (even much more higher than the transaction amount itself) and if possible, we may even see the fee values get above $100 once again for even least amount transactions, here I'd like to ask you whether you would buy a coffee worth $1 - 2 (and more as it differs country to country as well as cafe to cafe) when you currently need to pay the exact amount in fee (like $1 or more to get assured confirmations)?

For sure, i will not buy a coffee or anything on which i have to pay same amount as a transaction fee. I think this is one drawback of bitcoins where it is not feasible to make small payments of 1 or 2$ or even less. We have to pay transaction fee and the cost will become double in this case.

[dothebeats]

I think not, but I will certainly take this opportunity to buy high-valued items while the price of 1 bitcoin is high. Buying coffee is the least of my concerns, especially using bitcoin. I can buy coffee easily using my debit cards and my cash, and I don't even think coffee shops around me accept bitcoins already so yeah. The fees are also ridiculously high for a single purchase of a $4 coffee so I don't think it's really worth it at all. Well if I could make money out of that coffee perhaps that's a purchase I'd like to take, lol.

[franky1]

alot of people are blaming fee's on these things
1. "blockchains are broke/cant cope"
2. "mempools are too full"
3. "fee's are using an ebay-esq/auction model, not a plane/train ticket model"

all of this is nothing to do with technical flaws of hardware or physical issue. but purely due to intentional code limitation and suppression to make bitcoin look bad.

from 2009-2015 there has been a known number that bitcoin could handle upto ~4200tx (7tx/s) but with the inception of new bloated transaction formats the average tx size has increased. yet the block size buffer has not increased to compensate for increased adoption over the last 4 years
in april 2018 (AFTER the last price drama subsided) the average transaction size was ~500bytes. right now its more like 700bytes
meaning on average 40% less transaction count per block is getting confirmed
2009-2015 alot more transactions were around the 250byte area.
this alone shows that without even considering blockspace buffer, there are 200% less transactions atleast able to go through now than there were 4+years ago (byte for byte)

due to lack of any STRUCTURED fee mechanism there is no way to actually guarantee that paying X will get a tx confirmed in X blocks. so the current model even in its auction based mode is a failure where the mempool even with transactions paying a certain amount are left waiting far passed peoples estimates. because the fee model is based on guesses/estimates with no structure of assurance.

implementing a structured fee mechanism would actually help, it would take the guess work out of it, reduce the unassurances, and make people change their habits in regards to how they transact. all of which would help everyone from the users and the pools.

the fee structure, block limit and wishy washy code of unassurance is not due to 'blockchains are bad' or 'blockchains dont work' but due to developers making intentional decisions to avoid making positive changes. instead they just want blockchains to look bad to promote alternative networks for commercial gain and make ROI for the investors that paid their salaries

[Pipdips]

No I will not buy coffee using Bitcoin. I still use fiat for buying coffee and everything else.

[Tylev]

A question came in my mind that with the current fee storm that's taking down everyone's morale not to use BTC for smaller amounts as the fee would get so high (even much more higher than the transaction amount itself) and if possible, we may even see the fee values get above $100 once again for even least amount transactions, here I'd like to ask you whether you would buy a coffee worth $1 - 2 (and more as it differs country to country as well as cafe to cafe) when you currently need to pay the exact amount in fee (like $1 or more to get assured confirmations)?

For sure, i will not buy a coffee or anything on which i have to pay same amount as a transaction fee. I think this is one drawback of bitcoins where it is not feasible to make small payments of 1 or 2$ or even less. We have to pay transaction fee and the cost will become double in this case.

Yes, it is still very uncomfortable and very expensive. If you want to buy coffee for Bitcoin, it will not be an easy task. You will spend a lot of time and actually pay double the price. Then what's the point of doing this? Moreover, we believe that Bitcoin will continue to grow well in price. If Bitcoin does not significantly improve the situation with the high transaction costs and transaction time, then most likely it will be used primarily for making expensive purchases.

[worldtraveller321]

yes but  a small amount, as i think it is important to get BTC moving around in the Network, makes its gain traction and get more in views. only way to encourage people to get into crypto

[pixie85]

If I have to pay double to get it I won't spend Bitcoins. I'm not that dedicated to spreading the word to pay double and wait for a confirmation just to show off.

Usually people who stand in line behind you aren't too happy when your card gets stuck or you can't find coins in your pocket. I wouldn't dare to make them wait 10 minutes for my transaction to go through.

[rdbase]

I thought we wouldnt be having this problem with high transaction fees again since the last time it happened over a year ago with $20 worth of bitcoin to send any amount even if it was $1 in bitcoin.
With the introduction of the lightning network and the increase of full nodes werent these going to stop the gouging of high miners fees being paid out by bitcoin users.

[rdluffy]

Not today, I use BTC as a investment, and I'll only spend BTC if I really desperate
Let's wait for lightning network, and see what happens

[stfN2128]

yeah why not, but just btc which i had changed from some staking coins  or masternode coins before. my btc longterm investment will stay untouched on my trezor wallet
but enjoying little things from time to time is always a good choice 

[Youghoor]

Looking at the transaction fees needed for a Bitcoin transaction to be confirmed, It will not be a great idea to buy a coffee using Bitcoin. It will be advise to use Bitcoin for transactions which involves you sending more than $20 worth of Bitcoin than transactions less than $20. And looking at the current state of the crypto market, no one will buy coffee using Bitcoin, because Bitcoin is regarded as a investment currency than a normal digital money used for exchange of goods and services.

[minersday]

Bitcoin currently is consider as a financial asset than as a digital currency so it will be very hard to see people buying coffee with their bitcoin. Personally I will never use my Bitcoin to buy coffee because it will expensive making the transaction. I invest in Bitcoin rather than using it to make purchases of goods.

[Cuk0ng_bitc0in]

we can use crypto wallets like LUNO or others when buying a coffee using BTC.  I thought.  there are no fees for each BTC transaction.  but.  as long as there is still Fiat, I will use it.  buying BTC using BTC now only creates new sensations.  cooler.

[muratsink]

I don't want to buy anything of small value using BTC.  I don't think the cost is expensive, but I think that BTC is very special.  I don't want to sell BTC for small items.  I choose BTC to buy property, cars, or item that has a great value.

[mrjohanr]

I would not use it for small payments, for that there are alternatives.

Although it represents a great advantage for high transactions compared to banks.

[gentlemand]

Though I'm all for affordable on chain usage I do wish the coffee thing would bog off forever. It should never have popped up in the first place.

I would hope the people who were around in 2009/10/11 who came up with it recognised that the empty and effectively free chain they had was because of the luxury of their obscurity rather than the final intention.

[FlightyPouch]

It is not a problem to use Bitcoin buying coffee but the problem is what you've said, fees will eat up that payment. I know there will be a solution to these but I think, for now, some exchanges will do. In our country, you will be able to transact Bitcoin in the same exchange without any fees. It is amazing and it can solve this problem, the problem is whether the store will be using the same app or if they will be accepting Bitcoin in their store.

[maxreish]

I don't want any hassle so if the cost of a coffee that I'm going to buy is that low, I would rather use cash to buy it. I won't complicate things when there is actually an easier way for me to buy with no fees needed. I would use it when purchasing goods at a higher cost which is worth the fee.

Absolutely. I wouldn't mind paying $1-$2 for a cofee in cash instead of using my btc. Transaction confirmations for btc is too slow just like what others are saying. Spending my btc just to buy a coffee is a sign for a massive adoptation but also needs improvements for the transaction fees and other things. For things like this, there are more valuable things that is worth to spend our btc aside from coffee.