1) Tip your favourite blogger ten cents with a near-zero transaction fee (less than a penny).
2) Write a book, create artwork, play a song, upload it, and sell it, now. No shopping carts, no publishers, no distributers, no PayPal, no credit cards, no addresses.
3) Send a dollar to someone half a world away for less than a penny.
4) Send ten thousand dollars to someone half a world away for less than a penny.
5) Maintain a savings account without paying someone else to hold your money or give it back to you.
6) Withdraw your winnings from an online casino - all of it - and get it instantly. Do it without anyone knowing your name or where you live.
7) Playing poker at your buddy's place? Don't worry about stopping at an ATM to get cash. Settle your winnings at the end of the night without trying to figure out how to make change.
8) Eating out at a restaurant and the waitress won't split the bill? Let someone else pay and give them the exact amount you owe, to the penny. No need to carry cash.
9) Running out from the office to buy lunch for your co-workers? No need to collect the money in advance. Send them the payment address and they can pay their share without leaving their desks.
10) Set up an online store in minutes. No shopping carts, no payment processors, no fees.
11) Receive a payment and not worry about a chargeback from the credit card company or from PayPal. All payments are final.
12) Send money to any organization. No middle-man can stop you from supporting a cause.
13) Protect your wealth from your country's unsustainable financial policies without destroying the environment or native land.
14) Travel to another country. Cover your expenses without exchanging currencies (coming soon).
Excellent list!
ReplyDeleteBroken link on #2
ReplyDeleteThanks. Link removed. Not sure where the site went. Another good example for #2 would be http://vo.do which just adopted Bitcoin.
ReplyDeleteLoved the list and -- I'm also a traveler who keeps my spare cash on a USB thumb drive. Crypted and backed up on a server, of course. But it's nice to know I've got $5k on a chip in my pocket, just in case =)
ReplyDeleteAbout #14: What about that Chinese guy that got deported from the US because the customs agents didn't think Bitcoins counted as money with which to finance his stay?
ReplyDeleteGood stuff overall, but Bitcoins *do* have a deleterious effect on the environment: mining them requires quite a bit of electricity, and most sources of electricity have environmental costs.
ReplyDeleteUmm... how much energy does it take to create other currencies? Lots more than bitcoins I think.
Delete"What about that Chinese guy that got deported from the US because the customs agents didn't think Bitcoins counted as money with which to finance his stay?"
ReplyDeleteMakes perfect sense.
The US gov't ( all gov'ts, actually...) is a 'company store'. You get company script for your work, and everywhere you spend money is forced to use that script. Rigged game. If you're lucky, you die broke - if not, your kids gotta pay more. Customs agents are just another part of the enforcement arm.
"Good stuff overall, but Bitcoins *do* have a deleterious effect on the environment: mining them requires quite a bit of electricity, and most sources of electricity have environmental costs."
Not even a tenth of what it costs - environmentally - to mine for gold. Or to print and distribute paper money and coinage: deforestation, pulp bleaching, toxic inks, metal mining and refining, the carbon release in transporting it and erecting concrete structures to store it and keep it safe, etc., etc., etc.
"( all gov'ts, actually...) is a 'company store'. You get company script for your work, and everywhere you spend money is forced to use that script."
Delete-- yep. I've been saying the exact same thing for years.
This list really pointed out the strong sides of a bitcoin.I just recently learned how to play poker, and I think it would be very beneficial for me to get some of these precious and useful bitcoins.
ReplyDelete