About 3 or 4 years ago PayPal added the option to buy cryptocurrency, which I thought I’d try. (Dumb idea 🙄)
Part of the sign up process was glitched. I retried and clicked submit one too many times, I guess. Now I’ve been unable to use PayPal for years. They blocked me because THEIR SITE was broken, but the web page essentially accuses me of being a criminal and asks for my bank records. No way in hell.
This was just for me to pay others. I can only imagine how awful PayPal is if you are a vendor.
Fuck PayPal.
Fair enough, I’ll be the first to admit that it takes work in order to use it. I’ll give two reasons. One is a monetary, and one is not.
Reason 1: If we are right, and 15 years of data shows we at least have a point, then you would be an early adopter and very likely end up very wealthy.
Reason 2: You can buy anything from anyone, anywhere, in the world at any time without permission. And it’s guaranteed to be irreversible in 20 minutes.
How is that a good thing? I want to be able to chargeback if I don’t get what I ordered.
That’s what multi-signature escrow is for. You deposit money into an account and you have one key. The vendor has one key and a third key is given to an arbitrator and at least two keys must sign the transaction in order for it to be completed. If the vendor sends you your product and you are happy with it, you sign the transaction and the vendor signs the transaction and the vendor gets the money. If the vendor does not send you what you ordered, you talk to the arbitrator and the arbitrator listens to your case and the vendor’s case and makes a decision.
So it is speculative.
And should I feel the need to buy something from somewhere I need permission for, I will consider getting some crypto. Haven’t had a situation yet where cash didn’t suffice though.
I feel it’s speculative something like electricity was speculative in the early days of electricity when people were doing it wrong and burning down their houses and people laughed at electricity like who would ever want that and now we can’t really live without it. I will agree, cash is a bearer asset and untraceable and therefore is very good. The only real problem with cash is that it’s based on the monetary policy of the governmyth that issues it. They make bad decisions and you suffer for it.
Edit: That and it’s kind of hard to stuff cash bills into my computer and get them to come out on the other side halfway across the world.
Don’t get me wrong, crypto definitely has its uses. But other than national or international transactions that I‘d prefer to be untraceable, from a European perspective, it seems to be too unwieldy for day to day use. At least for the foreseeable future.
I use PayPal because it quicker and easier than grabbing cash from an ATM or to pay online. I use Apple Pay, because it’s quicker and easier than searching my wallet. Crypto would ad at least a step or two to any of those processes. It’s neither quicker nor easier.
And that’s a totally legitimate viewpoint. I am using it and helping to smooth out the edges so that when you are ready to use it, you will be able to and have the experience that you expect to have. I am willing to put up with the rough edges and difficulties now in order to make your life easier in the future.
Fair. That’s partially why I use Linux while most people are still stuck with Microsoft.
But why would I use Linux when Windows comes pre-installed when I buy the computer and I don’t have to use the command line? /s
I’ve been a Linux user since 2010 and wouldnt dream of using windows as a daily driver ever again. If you are capable of running Linux, you are more than capable of using crypto. Whether you choose to or not is your own decision, but you are capable of doing so.
Once Linux is up and running it’s up and running. If I want to use crypto I have to go out of my way to use it for every transaction. I switched to Linux once Windows got more annoying than Linux was.
Which just means we need to continue to simplify the interfaces for crypto. That way, when OP is locked out of their PayPal account, they will just decide to say fuck it. I will use crypto because it’s easier than dealing with getting my PayPal account back. Make using crypto simple enough that people would ask themselves why take the risk in using the legacy financial system when my money could be confiscated at any time for any reason with no explanation required.