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Comment by AlexeyMK | Hacker News Reader

I agree that credit cards are going to be displaced, but what is the rationale that the solution requires its own currency? Most transactions are very much within national (or European) boundaries.

I think companies like Venmo, Dwolla and Square (or even PayPal) are well-positioned to becoming credit card alternatives.

So: why Bitcoin/a separate currency?

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I think Dwolla is a valid approach that is better in the short term (doesn't ask people to change as much) but is not as good in the long term. They are built on ACH which still takes 1-3 business days. The way I think of it is Credit card = fast and expensive, ACH = slow and cheap, digital currency = fast and cheap. So it's the speed of credit card at the price of ach. Also, ACH doesn't work internationally well so there is an opportunity there (Western Union, etc).

Sure, but look at the way Venmo/Square are approaching this problem.

Venmo: You have a venmo balance. Initially, money is brought in from a CC, but they just moved to Bank Accounts. Payments are fast because it's just venmo balance --> venmo balance most of the time.

Square: They control apps on the merchant (register, square) and the client (card case, now pay with square), rendering a physical credit card useless. At some point they connect to your bank account as well (or open their own bank).

I think having a niche currency is just another barrier to success. Not saying that you shouldn't proceed with this opportunity, but you're far from the only player in the space who realizes the magnitude of the opportunity and sees what the future looks like.

Also, the way Dwolla became well-known in the first place was by supporting Bitcoins.

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