The Infuriating Reality of Traveling with Bitcoin in the World's Crypto Capital | Hacker News Reader

The Infuriating Reality of Traveling with Bitcoin in the World's Crypto Capital

bloomberg.com

32 pointspseudolus14 comments

> I’d also paid $40 in Bitcoin fees, such as levies for transferring the currency between Coinbase and my digital wallet. My Visa, by contrast, is paying me—$20 in cash-back rewards.

This doesn't mention that Visa rewards are subsidized by a ~1-3% fee that is payed by the vendor, and paints the picture that somehow Visa is away something for nothing. [1]

[1] https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22454885/who-pays-for-credit-c...

All this talk of visa and Bitcoin always makes me appreciate the marvel that UPI is: Instant free money transfers to any bank account from any bank account.

Unfortunately both Bitcoin and Visa have highly entrenched incumbents who would never allow this kind of thing to happen.

We have two main Interbank transfer networks in El Salvador:

The state owned one, which is free and takes less than 15 minutes.

The bank owned network, which costs from $0 to $2 depending on the bank and is instant.

don't forget the 19.99% or higher interest paid by users of visa cards who cant or forget to make payments.

Fees are even higher in El Salvador.

> This doesn't mention that Visa rewards are subsidized by a ~1-3% fee that is payed by the vendor, and paints the picture that somehow Visa is away something for nothing. [1]

The fees start at 3% for the formerly local bank network, and to up to 5% for the bank that has the AMEX exclusive agreement in El Salvador

> don't forget the 19.99% or higher interest paid by users of visa cards who cant or forget to make payments.

And up to 39.99% APY for introductory credit cards in El Salvador.

> Avilés brings the Chivo point-of-sale gadget to our table. As in the hotel, I scan it and get the all-clear check mark on my phone, but no receipt. I try again. No luck. I pay with my Visa card.

The author doesn't seem to understand the finality of Bitcoin lightning payments.

> As I walk out, my phone vibrates. It’s a WhatsApp message from Natalia Avilés, the restaurant manager from Brutto. It turns out I triple-paid for lunch, twice with Bitcoin and once with Visa. It came to $180 for a $60 meal. She’s working on reversing the Bitcoin transactions.

Ah, now he should understand.

> She’s scored me a refund for one of my two extra Bitcoin payments. My wallet shows a credit for 152,000 Sats, about $56. I’m not whole, exactly. My wallet charges me about $4 in fees.

Such a large fee cannot be for lightning payments, which would be counted in cents.

Tromp from Grin?

Check the webpage in my profile...

The other poster doesn't appreciate you, but I think the content on your website is delightful.

Lol with a reply like that, I don't care. It was a simple question that could have been a yes or no, but you had to do the most. Take care stranger. Enjoy yourself.

I don't know if Chivo is an off-chain system of some sort bu I can't help wondering if the transactions would be faster and lower cost if done via Lightning instead of the regular BTC network. Granted, Lightning won't help if you don't have an internet signal or the vendor insists on cash but it is much faster and the fees are far lower.

I really liked how the article focuses on Salvadorans and not the technology. It reminded me of "Humans of New York".

Where other articles would show only a picture of a food stall, the writer and photographer actually went to talk to the people and hear their opinion and perspectives.

Not often you can read about taxi drivers, hotel workers, Salvadorans who studied abroad in Switzerland, Chivo ATM workers, 76 year old small business owners, the guys administering the family's 100 year old bar, 'tienda' grocery store owners, the food stall guy, the small scale crypto traders or a family from rural La Unión.

The title

  Paying With Bitcoin in World Crypto Capital El Salvador is Infuriating

is shorter and clearer than the subtitle

  The Infuriating Reality of Traveling with Bitcoin in the World's Crypto Capital

Life on Bitcoin is a documentary about traveling using only Bitcoin, but it was made years and years ago. It's very interesting, and by some accounts is the most expensive documentary ever made :)

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