Cash is King? I don't think so.

[Dabs]

Last April 1, 2014 I decided to compare cash to bitcoin. I did not post that day, because people might think it's a joke, but this is serious.

Fiat / Cash:

1. I went to a bank.
2. The drive was about 20 minutes going there.
3. Paid toll and gas too.
4. Had to write a check to myself to withdraw the cash.
5. Bank had to count the money.

Proof of the money in pictures:



That's 10 stacks of one thousand Philippine Peso bills.



That's the buying rate of that particular bank at that day for the USD, so if you want to know the dollar value of the cash I had it was 21,555.55 USD.

6. Stuffed it all in an envelope.
7. Went to the car.
8. Drove to another bank, that took about 15 minutes.
9. Lined up and waited for an available teller. Waited about 30 minutes. Standing. In line.
10. Filled up a cash deposit slip.
11. Waited for the teller to validate the transaction. This means she had to unpack the envelope and look at each individual bill to make sure the money is not counterfeit. This took another 20 minutes.
12. Got the validated deposit slip, transaction is confirmed.

Total time: About 2 hours.
Transaction fee: Gas, Toll, and my rate for 2 hours. Bank also requires a minimum maintaining balance, but let's not count that.


Okay, now, to send my friend in another country 21,555.55 USD worth of bitcoins:

1. Turn on computer. Wait 1 minute.
2. Launch bitcoin-qt. Wait 1 minute.
3. Click "Send". Type details. 1 minute.
4. Enter 64 character alpha numeric special character password to authorize transaction. From memory. 30 seconds.
5. Broadcast. 2 seconds later, 50% of the network knows about it. 10 seconds later, everyone knows about it.
6. Wait for some miner to pick it up and stuff it in his next block. 10 minutes.

Status: 398 confirmations
Date: 2014-04-01 09:47
To: Mr Friend In Another Country 1somebitcoinaddress
Debit: -50.24775095 BTC
Transaction fee: -0.0001 BTC
Net amount: -50.24785095 BTC
Transaction ID: x8e43axdd9663cdxe81a709ebx5ac7801xb2da18x6bb4ax551a7x2a90exa8ec2

Okay, now, my friend, please send back my money. Thanks!

*transaction details have been altered to protect my friend's identity.

[serenitys]

You sent a friend 21 thousand dollars? And want friend to send it right back?

Bitcoin = trust indeed! 

[iraszl]

Cool experiment!

[skooter]

You can wire transfer people money much easier then that.

You can even do it for free if you have certain business bank accounts (100K+ min balance ofc)

[vnvizow]

Now make a youtube video on it 

[CryptoPanda]

very nicely said

[Dabs]

You can wire transfer people money much easier then that.

You can even do it for free if you have certain business bank accounts (100K+ min balance ofc)

Wires here have both a cost and waiting time. Check payments require 3 days clearing. Cash withdrawals and cash deposits are the fastest method right now, but require physical presence.

But I was bored, so ... (btw it's not my money, I'm just the escrow.)

[ChuckBuck]

You can wire transfer people money much easier then that.

You can even do it for free if you have certain business bank accounts (100K+ min balance ofc)

Did a wire transfer from one bank to another bank a few months back, the charge was like $80 or something and took 3-5 days.

Nope, don't share your sentiment. 

[skooter]

You can wire transfer people money much easier then that.

You can even do it for free if you have certain business bank accounts (100K+ min balance ofc)

Did a wire transfer from one bank to another bank a few months back, the charge was like $80 or something and took 3-5 days.

Nope, don't share your sentiment. 

I did a wire transfer once. Wired like 25K, the charge was $25 and took < 1 hour.

Bitcoin isn't fee free.

You have to convert $$ into bitcoin, send bitcoin, then the receiver has to convert bitcoin into $$.

That process can take weeks.

[ChuckBuck]

You can wire transfer people money much easier then that.

You can even do it for free if you have certain business bank accounts (100K+ min balance ofc)

Did a wire transfer from one bank to another bank a few months back, the charge was like $80 or something and took 3-5 days.

Nope, don't share your sentiment.  

I did a wire transfer once. Wired like 25K, the charge was $25 and took < 1 hour.

Bitcoin isn't fee free.

You have to convert $$ into bitcoin, send bitcoin, then the receiver has to convert bitcoin into $$.

That process can take weeks.

Coinbase has instant buys.  As soon as I click buy, I get Bitcoin.

Transferring to another wallet address takes a few minutes, maybe an hour or so.

Depending on how the other person wants to convert BTC to fiat and their institution, it could take minutes, hours, or days tops.

It doesn't take weeks, not sure if you've ever done a Bitcoin transaction before.

[bryant.coleman]

I don't understand this. The current exchange rate for RUR vs USD is 1 USD = 35.67 RUR.

Then why the selling rate is given as 1 USD = 45 RUR? That's daylight robbery!

[n3lz0n]

Last April 1, 2014 I decided to compare cash to bitcoin. I did not post that day, because people might think it's a joke, but this is serious.

Fiat / Cash:

1. I went to a bank.
2. The drive was about 20 minutes going there.
3. Paid toll and gas too.
4. Had to write a check to myself to withdraw the cash.
5. Bank had to count the money.

Proof of the money in pictures:



That's 10 stacks of one thousand Philippine Peso bills.



That's the buying rate of that particular bank at that day for the USD, so if you want to know the dollar value of the cash I had it was 21,555.55 USD.

6. Stuffed it all in an envelope.
7. Went to the car.
8. Drove to another bank, that took about 15 minutes.
9. Lined up and waited for an available teller. Waited about 30 minutes. Standing. In line.
10. Filled up a cash deposit slip.
11. Waited for the teller to validate the transaction. This means she had to unpack the envelope and look at each individual bill to make sure the money is not counterfeit. This took another 20 minutes.
12. Got the validated deposit slip, transaction is confirmed.

Total time: About 2 hours.
Transaction fee: Gas, Toll, and my rate for 2 hours. Bank also requires a minimum maintaining balance, but let's not count that.


Okay, now, to send my friend in another country 21,555.55 USD worth of bitcoins:

1. Turn on computer. Wait 1 minute.
2. Launch bitcoin-qt. Wait 1 minute.
3. Click "Send". Type details. 1 minute.
4. Enter 64 character alpha numeric special character password to authorize transaction. From memory. 30 seconds.
5. Broadcast. 2 seconds later, 50% of the network knows about it. 10 seconds later, everyone knows about it.
6. Wait for some miner to pick it up and stuff it in his next block. 10 minutes.

Status: 398 confirmations
Date: 2014-04-01 09:47
To: Mr Friend In Another Country 1somebitcoinaddress
Debit: -50.24775095 BTC
Transaction fee: -0.0001 BTC
Net amount: -50.24785095 BTC
Transaction ID: x8e43axdd9663cdxe81a709ebx5ac7801xb2da18x6bb4ax551a7x2a90exa8ec2

Okay, now, my friend, please send back my money. Thanks!

*transaction details have been altered to protect my friend's identity.

note: lining up in the Philippines is a normal they double / triple check BEFORE they let you withdraw money, on top of that the teller have to ask the manager to sign the withdrawal slip... ONLY in the Philippines such a SLOW system.

+ the FEAR of getting rob as you go OUT of the bank as there's WAY TOO many eyes watching...

Only in the Philippines

[skooter]

You can wire transfer people money much easier then that.

You can even do it for free if you have certain business bank accounts (100K+ min balance ofc)

Did a wire transfer from one bank to another bank a few months back, the charge was like $80 or something and took 3-5 days.

Nope, don't share your sentiment.  

I did a wire transfer once. Wired like 25K, the charge was $25 and took < 1 hour.

Bitcoin isn't fee free.

You have to convert $$ into bitcoin, send bitcoin, then the receiver has to convert bitcoin into $$.

That process can take weeks.

Coinbase has instant buys.  As soon as I click buy, I get Bitcoin.

Transferring to another wallet address takes a few minutes, maybe an hour or so.

Depending on how the other person wants to convert BTC to fiat and their institution, it could take minutes, hours, or days tops.

It doesn't take weeks, not sure if you've ever done a Bitcoin transaction before.

Ok, coinbase charges a huge 1% fee (that's big in the currency transaction world. Trading between USD/EUR for instance, costs you a few pips at most). That's on top of the bid-ask spread . So if you're sending 10K, that's $100 for their fee alone. And I don't think you can instant buy that much.

[BorderBits]

wow, op, you suck at money

[ChuckBuck]

You can wire transfer people money much easier then that.

You can even do it for free if you have certain business bank accounts (100K+ min balance ofc)

Did a wire transfer from one bank to another bank a few months back, the charge was like $80 or something and took 3-5 days.

Nope, don't share your sentiment.  

I did a wire transfer once. Wired like 25K, the charge was $25 and took < 1 hour.

Bitcoin isn't fee free.

You have to convert $$ into bitcoin, send bitcoin, then the receiver has to convert bitcoin into $$.

That process can take weeks.

Coinbase has instant buys.  As soon as I click buy, I get Bitcoin.

Transferring to another wallet address takes a few minutes, maybe an hour or so.

Depending on how the other person wants to convert BTC to fiat and their institution, it could take minutes, hours, or days tops.

It doesn't take weeks, not sure if you've ever done a Bitcoin transaction before.

Ok, coinbase charges a huge 1% fee (that's big in the currency transaction world. Trading between USD/EUR for instance, costs you a few pips at most). That's on top of the bid-ask spread . So if you're sending 10K, that's $100 for their fee alone. And I don't think you can instant buy that much.

$1 for $100 is huge now?  That's nothing compared to a Wire Transfer fee.  I paid $80 just to wire $800.  By my math that's 10%.

Not a Mickey mouse bank either, Wells Fargo, the biggest bank in the US.

By the way my daily buy limit on Coinbase is $50,000.

[skooter]

You can wire transfer people money much easier then that.

You can even do it for free if you have certain business bank accounts (100K+ min balance ofc)

Did a wire transfer from one bank to another bank a few months back, the charge was like $80 or something and took 3-5 days.

Nope, don't share your sentiment.  

I did a wire transfer once. Wired like 25K, the charge was $25 and took < 1 hour.

Bitcoin isn't fee free.

You have to convert $$ into bitcoin, send bitcoin, then the receiver has to convert bitcoin into $$.

That process can take weeks.

Coinbase has instant buys.  As soon as I click buy, I get Bitcoin.

Transferring to another wallet address takes a few minutes, maybe an hour or so.

Depending on how the other person wants to convert BTC to fiat and their institution, it could take minutes, hours, or days tops.

It doesn't take weeks, not sure if you've ever done a Bitcoin transaction before.

Ok, coinbase charges a huge 1% fee (that's big in the currency transaction world. Trading between USD/EUR for instance, costs you a few pips at most). That's on top of the bid-ask spread . So if you're sending 10K, that's $100 for their fee alone. And I don't think you can instant buy that much.

$1 for $100 is huge now?  That's nothing compared to a Wire Transfer fee.  I paid $80 just to wire $800.  By my math that's 10%.

Not a Mickey mouse bank either, Wells Fargo, the biggest bank in the US.

By the way my daily buy limit on Coinbase is $50,000.

Yeah, well, I would only wire transfer money if it's a large amount. Like > 10K.

And you got scammed if you paid $80 to wire transfer money. Typical outgoing wire tx fee in the US is around $25 for domestic, $40 for international. $25 out of 10K is .25%.

There's other ways to move money around that has less fees. Like you could use chase quickpay, which is free. People use wire transfers because they are very hard to reverse. If the recipient trusts the sender there's plenty of low cost ways to move money around.

The OP was talking about moving around a fairly large amount of money.

[stokecrypto]

youve just got to withdraw the bitcoin into fiat and transfer to your bank account. still takes days!!

[Meuh6879]

wow, op, you suck at money

if you have 10-20 years of economy ... not a big deal.

[Dabs]

I don't understand this. The current exchange rate for RUR vs USD is 1 USD = 35.67 RUR.

Then why the selling rate is given as 1 USD = 45 RUR? That's daylight robbery!

Sir, that's Philippine Peso. Not RUR.

note: lining up in the Philippines is a normal they double / triple check BEFORE they let you withdraw money, on top of that the teller have to ask the manager to sign the withdrawal slip... ONLY in the Philippines such a SLOW system.

+ the FEAR of getting rob as you go OUT of the bank as there's WAY TOO many eyes watching...

Only in the Philippines

Yes. Scary. I have another post here on this forum about 3 million pesos (60k USD). In those cases, I take a non-standard route that goes through armed security, as well as keep my 1911 (Armscor GI model) fully loaded.

wow, op, you suck at money

if you have 10-20 years of economy ... not a big deal.

And, how do I suck for money? That's the deal, it had to be done.

On other days, the money transfer is from one bank to another and the other bank is literally next door. Between the two doors, there are 6 armed security guards. The counting and lining up still takes time. I have someone line up for me in the second bank while I'm in the first bank waiting.

[Bit_Happy]

BTC has extremely low fees (for any large transaction) and is pretty fast.
For smaller amounts, you can get virtually no fees and super-fast times, with alt coins.

BTC > Wiring money.