Isn't the main use case of bitcoin ransomware and ddos hostage payments?
Ransomware payment is an example of that.
And if you're advocating for violent overthrow of the governments that do those kinds of things, that in and of itself is illegal (and much more so) than any skirting of financial regulations; not to mention that most people sensibly aren't willing to stick their neck out unless things get really bad.
But the main use worldwide is remittances without paying %30 fees.
What's the average time for a bitcoin transaction these days?
Ten minutes, ok.
So those people in El Salvador actually aren't transacting in BitCoin, they're doing transactions by having a number change in a centralized database somewhere that someone owns, and then claims that all transactions are backed by bitcoin, whatever that means.
And the difference between that, and having your bank update their centralized database as a result of a transaction going through the VISA network is... what, exactly?
So it's a) faster for most people, b) you don't pay big corporations for the transfer itself, c) it works 24/7, d) doesn't track "well" as of now. Those reasons are enough for some people to prefer it over traditional remittance.
Wrong, people in El Salvador are using Lightning Network.
It's always easy to take things for granted, but the real power of Bitcoin shows when things go sidewards. One could say that governments printing a lot of money is already the beginning. Bitcoin (as well as other stuff such as Gold or even global competition) are acting as a certain counterweight against control by other people.
Maybe without these counterweights, we would already be in a much worse situation right now.
Yes because the one thing that works best when things go sideways is a giant network of electricity wasting computers you access over the internet. Definitely nothing taken for granted here.
> Maybe without these counterweights, we would already be in a much worse situation right now.
That is certainly a take.
With gold you are more in danger and you can't easily move it. Bitcoin is better, but certainly not optimal. Still, if you were to flee from your country, you might not be able to take gold or money with you, but for bitcoin it's much easier. So someone in government will think twice before putting heavy restrictions if they can easily be circumvented.
So you mean as a hedge against inflation? That is exactly the usecase of Bitcoin right now.
Other cryptocurrencies go for other usecases, but for bitcoin, that is it.
Bitcoin is an imaginary thing someone made up ten years ago that we all just collectively decided to value. Or at least, some of us did, in the hopes that the rest of us would come aboard and they’d be rich.
For me, there is only a small chance that cryptocurrency will truly break through. But when it does, it will be HUGE.
So a small chance X total game changer = a lot of potential return.
If you invest 1% of your portfolio, you can only lose 1%. However, there was (and still is) a small chance it goes x100, which means a total 100% return on your portfolio. So now you have 200 instead of 100.
I was proven right, and so it's easy for me to say I took the right decision. But when it would have gone to 0, it would have still been a smart move to invest 1%.
For me, the stupid people are the ones who are sure about the outcome. While at this point, nobody knows. You can only see the potential or not.
More like a gambling platform.
Secondly, no one likes to admit they've been foolish, and so far the value of BTC has not made fools of anyone. Well except if some people borrowed to buy at 20K and it stayed around at 2-3K for a long time. And those burned "losers" mostly stay quiet, out of embarassment.