Uber or Airbnb running on bitcoin

[coinanc]

I remember when both Uber or Airbnb each came out. You could save money using them. Now you can't.

Isn't there any good Uber or Airbnb type products that run on bitcoin?

I was thinking about long distance phone calls. A long time ago you had to pay for that. Then it gradually became free.

I'm surprised that we haven't seen that happen with Ride Sharing or even BnB's. Because think about it, both of those are pretty much commodities in society. By now they should be extremely cheap. They should be just a fraction of what is charged by Uber or Airbnb.

Especially with a ride share product. The driver could just pull over. Pick someone up, and then earn some bitcoin for driving them, to or at least close to their drop off point. But mainly compete heavily on price to disrupt the whole Uber or Airbnb sectors.

Like one day in the same way we say "remember when you had to pay for long distance".... instead people will be saying "remember when you had to pay for a Cab, wasn't that crazy?" I want this to happen somehow soon. 

What do you think?

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[TimtheYoutuber]

If a service only accepted bitcoin it would likely charge insane prices to stay afloat. (Supply and Demand)

Bitcoins features wouldn't be over the head exciting. Uber and Airbnb pay people out fairly and so there really isn't a need to cut them out....yet.



The hardest thing to do when you are in love with bitcoin and crypto in general like we all are, is to keep a sain head and really think to yourself "does crypto really need to be introduced to this section?".

The answer in my opinion is no.

[Artemis3]

If a service only accepted bitcoin it would likely charge insane prices to stay afloat. (Supply and Demand)

Bitcoins features wouldn't be over the head exciting. Uber and Airbnb pay people out fairly and so there really isn't a need to cut them out....yet.



The hardest thing to do when you are in love with bitcoin and crypto in general like we all are, is to keep a sain head and really think to yourself "does crypto really need to be introduced to this section?".

The answer in my opinion is no.

If you can't save money using those services then don't. If at an specific place a taxi or hotel is cheaper, use them. VOTE with your wallet, ALWAYS. You may even manually find a place whose owner actually even accepts Bitcoin when talked to, who knows? Its easier than a franchise imposing conditions.

[Twentyonepaylots]

If a service only accepted bitcoin it would likely charge insane prices to stay afloat. (Supply and Demand)

Bitcoins features wouldn't be over the head exciting. Uber and Airbnb pay people out fairly and so there really isn't a need to cut them out....yet.



The hardest thing to do when you are in love with bitcoin and crypto in general like we all are, is to keep a sain head and really think to yourself "does crypto really need to be introduced to this section?".

The answer in my opinion is no.

If you can't save money using those services then don't. If at an specific place a taxi or hotel is cheaper, use them. VOTE with your wallet, ALWAYS. You may even manually find a place whose owner actually even accepts Bitcoin when talked to, who knows? Its easier than a franchise imposing conditions.

True, this is something most people forget nowadays because of how convenient virtually everything is. Sometimes the conventional ways aren't bad. Anyway, I did my researches and so far I don't see any app on the market that sells services in exchange for cryptocurrencies. Like what the other person said, if they were to run on bitcoin per se, they will charge more to compensate for bitcoin's high volatility.

[kryptqnick]

I remember when both Uber or Airbnb each came out. You could save money using them. Now you can't.

Isn't there any good Uber or Airbnb type products that run on bitcoin?

I was thinking about long distance phone calls. A long time ago you had to pay for that. Then it gradually became free.

I'm surprised that we haven't seen that happen with Ride Sharing or even BnB's. Because think about it, both of those are pretty much commodities in society. By now they should be extremely cheap. They should be just a fraction of what is charged by Uber or Airbnb.

Especially with a ride share product. The driver could just pull over. Pick someone up, and then earn some bitcoin for driving them, to or at least close to their drop off point. But mainly compete heavily on price to disrupt the whole Uber or Airbnb sectors.

Like one day in the same way we say "remember when you had to pay for long distance".... instead people will be saying "remember when you had to pay for a Cab, wasn't that crazy?" I want this to happen somehow soon. 

What do you think?

I don't know any such thing, but I would be interested in that. I disagree that one cannot save money with Airbnb nowadays, though. I've just returned from a trip where I used Airbnb to find accommodation because it was way better and cheaper than a hotel room on Booking. As for the part about the calls being free now, it's not always the case (you still need the Internet connection which often costs money), and there's a free housing service which is usually called Couchsurfing.  Oh, and Blablacar is kind of like a cheap car travel service.

[cotton ball]

Good news if have any company want accepted with bitcoin as legal currency payment, not only for bitcoin take benefit but also both company will be easy for payment system where using bitcoin most easy than other fiat currency payment, for company get profit if bitcoin price up and could sell if worry bitcoin want to be lower price.

[hatshepsut93]

These services are still centralized, because despite not owning any property, they provide centralized matching and listing service, so they are subject to regulations. So, you can't just create Uber but with Bitcoin, because regulators would probably not approve it. For this to work, we'd need a 100% decentralized solution, but that would be quite hard if not impossible to develop.

[squatter]

I'm surprised that we haven't seen that happen with Ride Sharing or even BnB's. Because think about it, both of those are pretty much commodities in society. By now they should be extremely cheap. They should be just a fraction of what is charged by Uber or Airbnb.

Especially with a ride share product. The driver could just pull over. Pick someone up, and then earn some bitcoin for driving them, to or at least close to their drop off point. But mainly compete heavily on price to disrupt the whole Uber or Airbnb sectors.

Uber takes about 25% commission off each fare. Even if you removed them from the transaction entirely, that would only make rides 25% cheaper -- or drivers would earn 25% more, or some combination of both. And that assumes zero costs for the operation of this new ride share app, which is impossible.

It sounds like you're expecting drivers to accept lower pay just because riders are paying with bitcoins. I don't think that will pan out very well.

There is an emerging subscription-based rideshare model that I think has a better chance of dethroning Uber.

[snkneo]

I think there have been a couple of ICO designed for such business. The problem with them is that why bother with a currency specifically for say Airbnb, going through all the complications when if you were to pay with Crypto, you could with Eth or Bitcoin.

[theskillzdatklls]

The problem is these types of payments need to be front loaded, and then you have issues with ID verification, security deposits and changing contracts which makes the whole thing rather messy.

From a completely practical standpoint, yes, BTC would work just fine. But in the messy world we live in with so many consumer conveniences, cash back and the rest, it's really hard to develop something for BTC. Let alone the fact that few people ever actually use BTC in the real world which is kind of annoying to me personally.

[Amel]

If a service only accepted bitcoin it would likely charge insane prices to stay afloat. (Supply and Demand)

Bitcoins features wouldn't be over the head exciting. Uber and Airbnb pay people out fairly and so there really isn't a need to cut them out....yet.



The hardest thing to do when you are in love with bitcoin and crypto in general like we all are, is to keep a sain head and really think to yourself "does crypto really need to be introduced to this section?".

The answer in my opinion is no.

If you can't save money using those services then don't. If at an specific place a taxi or hotel is cheaper, use them. VOTE with your wallet, ALWAYS. You may even manually find a place whose owner actually even accepts Bitcoin when talked to, who knows? Its easier than a franchise imposing conditions.

I think that way is better but still not possible, because every transaction is recorded in the main server of the service, it is impossible for the waiter to add another payment method unless he pays to have a customer in advance with his money.

[Asmonist]

Definitely these merchants are interested in bitcoin since there business is more like of an online process. They're clients are booking them online. It would be good if they use bitcoin as part of there payment system. Its a great opportunity for bitcoin holders to spend and pay their bitcoin upon booking with Uber and Airbnb.

[blckhawk]

The idea is somewhat same like digital currencies running on fiat. In my country, such e-wallets and cards that store digital fiat are usable in purchases for rides and for stores. Same could be applied on Bitcoin, with the help of QR codes and a wallet app. Though the main discouraging factor is the slow transaction times and the chance of a transaction to not make it through.

[pakhitheboss]

You can find a list of 40 merchants that allow Bitcoin to pay for their product and service. Here is the link..

I do not think the list has service providers similar to uber but there are few travel and lodging companies.

[Getmon]

It will probably happen soon. Bitcoin is consistently growing in terms of merchant acceptance. Uber and AirBnB are not yet on that track but I guess Uber is very much interested in cryptocurrency. One sign of that is when it signed up as a partner of Facebook in its Libra project. Sadly, it did not push through as planned, although it could still be launched in the future. I guess time is only the factor before these major companies and others will join the Bitcoin or crypto world. 

[The Sceptical Chymist]

By now they should be extremely cheap. They should be just a fraction of what is charged by Uber or Airbnb.

I disagree--both of those services aren't that old at all, and it took many, many years for long distance phone calls to become cheaper, and those aren't free by the way, just cheaper than they used to be.

I could see something like Airbnb working with bitcoin, but I'm not so sure about Uber unless you paid in advance with enough time for the payment to confirm on the blockchain.  I've never used Uber, so I'm not really sure how the payment system works, but I'm assuming it's just like any other cab service.

From a completely practical standpoint, yes, BTC would work just fine. But in the messy world we live in with so many consumer conveniences, cash back and the rest, it's really hard to develop something for BTC. Let alone the fact that few people ever actually use BTC in the real world which is kind of annoying to me personally.

Well said, and I was thinking about most of what you wrote when I read the OP here.  The main issue I see is one of bitcoin adoption in general.  I have no doubt bitcoin could be integrated into services like Uber, Airbnb, or anything else but people just aren't clamoring for ways to spend their bitcoin if they even own any to begin with.

[CryptoBry]

I remember when both Uber or Airbnb each came out. You could save money using them. Now you can't.
Isn't there any good Uber or Airbnb type products that run on bitcoin? I was thinking about long distance phone calls. A long time ago you had to pay for that. Then it gradually became free. I'm surprised that we haven't seen that happen with Ride Sharing or even BnB's. Because think about it, both of those are pretty much commodities in society. By now they should be extremely cheap. They should be just a fraction of what is charged by Uber or Airbnb. Especially with a ride share product. The driver could just pull over. Pick someone up, and then earn some bitcoin for driving them, to or at least close to their drop off point. But mainly compete heavily on price to disrupt the whole Uber or Airbnb sectors. Like one day in the same way we say "remember when you had to pay for long distance".... instead people will be saying "remember when you had to pay for a Cab, wasn't that crazy?" I want this to happen somehow soon. 
What do you think?

You have a good idea but there is no guarantee that in the real world it can be working or that the project will not morph into just another Uber or Airbnb. And just because the project is using Bitcoin is not guarantee that the services or products can be cheaper than those already in the market, heck it can even be more expensive and more hassle with the consumers at the end. However, I do understand your frustration all maybe because we are really expecting a lot from Bitcoin, cryptocurrency and the blockchain a lot. We are all dreamers here in this space, and I am hoping that one day we can see many platforms implementing the blockchain and Bitcoin in a way that we the consumers will really appreciate and love.

[joniboini]

I remember a project that tries to do this. They develop their own blockchain and basically allows their users to pay on whatever currency they want, from crypto to fiat. Blockchain is used for the tx logging, id management etc. It is not yet launched so we still have to wait how it will work out in real life.

They already have their own ride-sharing company that is fully functional so it is not started from scratch. A good thing considering it will be really difficult to acquire new users if you're a new company.

[Steamtyme]

I use Airbnb almost every time I need a place to stay. Unless it is a major center off peak from tourist season it is still generally a great deal on accommodations; that or I book late when they are eager to fill a spot. If not I find somewhere else, as I'm not about to just throw away cash.

Airbnb as opposed to Uber is a great opportunity to use BTC. Currently you need businesses where the transaction isn't a time sensitive interaction, so pre-booking anything is perfect. Really anything with travel, flights car rental you name it. If you have a few hours to days in advance it would be just fine, Uber is tougher as has been pointed out by needing to frontloaded and is generally a short time frame for the interaction. It's similar to how buying a cup of coffee just isn't practical.

Going back to services that are already suited to these transactions, I think mining hardware manufacturers have the right idea in regards to refunds. It can be a bit of a lottery especially when spread over months on a pre-order but the refund amount is equivalent to the USD(or whatever currency) value at the time of payment. BTC and crypto aren't mature or stable enough to tie things into strictly BTC refund amounts. Otherwise on a price increase you risk individuals cancelling services to squeek out a few dollars in profit, which would be unfare to a business accepting crypto.

Either way any company that implements crypto payment options needs to still offer FIAT strictly for their ability to appeal to a wide customer base. It doesn't have to be all or nothing, small steps in the right direction is still progress.

[alyssa85]

I remember when both Uber or Airbnb each came out. You could save money using them. Now you can't.

Isn't there any good Uber or Airbnb type products that run on bitcoin?

I was thinking about long distance phone calls. A long time ago you had to pay for that. Then it gradually became free.

I'm surprised that we haven't seen that happen with Ride Sharing or even BnB's. Because think about it, both of those are pretty much commodities in society. By now they should be extremely cheap. They should be just a fraction of what is charged by Uber or Airbnb.

The issue is the confirmations. It takes an hour for six bitcoin confirmations (even though most retailers know bitcon is safe and needs only one confirmation, they still insist on six).

Litecoin and Doge have quicker confirmations - but counterintuitively most exchanges require about 10 to 20 confirmations for them, taking about half and hour to 45 minutes.

Someone booking an Airbnb might wait the hour to do the confirmations, but an Uber won't wait. And then of course was the famous mempool backlogs of 2017 which did more to destroy bitcoin's ecommerce credentials than anything else.