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Comment by jasonlfunk | Hacker News Reader

It's definitely an interesting idea. Though one of the major features that I love about Uber/Lyft is that I don't have to worry about paying in cash.

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BitCoin integration is on the way!

I know what you mean, but the Bitcoin integration is going to be really exciting!!!

If there is one thing people love to be paid in, it is a collectible whose value widely varies daily based on when its larger holders game the system or when online drug markets get shutdown.

It's likely/possible for the drivers to be insulated from that with something like bitpay that auto-converts to currency.

But if you auto-convert to currency then what's the point of using bitcoin at all?

Just a guess— because it's easier for LibreTaxi to implement as a free open-source project, without needing to deal with IRS, banking, & other financial bureaucracy.

Means the drivers get to have all that fun themselves instead.

They still have to file taxes and deal with banking if they get paid cash.

Bitcoin gatekeepers are slow and have delayed or altered conversions such that they profit due to fluctuations in Bitcoin value.

I'm not completely sure whether you're referring to cash or Bitcoin.

How does cash vary in value? If you have a $50 bill, you can expect to buy a very predictable amount of food (for example) next week, regardless of what happens. Not so much if you have 0.0521 BTC.

There are plenty of cash currencies, aside from USD, that fluctuate wildly.

That's true, but most vary fluctuate wildly with respect to the USD, not in their purchasing power within their country of origin, even less so in the span of weeks or days.

For example, if I was paid the equivalent of a 50 USD ride in Bitcoin in Jan 4, and were to go to buy food today, I could only buy 40 dollars worth of food.

Which currency does that? Sure there may be a few examples in case of extreme inflation, etc, but it's not the norm at all.

My point is that both are flawed and have their uses.

I won't be paying any bills with Bitcoin any time soon.

Cash is liquid whereas Bitcoin is a collectible that can't be used to pay all debts. My last two points about Bitcoin's instability do not apply to cash. Cash doesn't have a few slow gatekeepers that also game the system in their favor when you go to convert your cash into a more liquid form.

I hope that's sarcasm that I'm sensing.

That's great, as long as they do it in a way that allows both me and the driver not to have to wait an hour before the transaction gets confirmed. So either someone needs to shoulder that risk or those micropayment platforms on top of Bitcoin need to start making some headway.

I wouldn't want to deal with cash. That's always a pain and also insecure for both the driver and for the passenger. it should leverage some online payment (even sg. like Bitcoin)

I came here to say just that. This probably will be the biggest challenge for this app. I see that it promises future bitcoin integration, which will be a challenge by itself to be accepted by drivers and users both. I guess app could partner with an instant bitcoin to fiat processor.

Anyway, both a cool idea and a challenging one. Best wishes!

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