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Comment by zanny | Hacker News Reader

> I'd rather it just say "Donate" and have my payments processor accept any local currency.

They have dealt with the ecentricities of their local money their entire life. Bitcoin is new. In the end, from an objective standpoint, scanning a QR code and confirming the transaction is easier than dealing with debit / credit cards -> bank accounts -> checkbooks, etc. I still have a POS time with routing numbers and bank account numbers and those are effectively fiat bitcoin addresses.

Bitcoin is so much easier to use because all you need to use it is a bitcoin address.

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But to obtain BitCoin in the first place, you need to trust Coinbase with your account and routing number and possibly ID documents, wait a week for your BitCoin to become available, and then spend it.

To my knowledge there is no way for a first-time BitCoin user to make a purchase right away.

Coinbase delays the disbursement to keep you from chargebacking. Same thing happens in Dwolla. If you send a money order over snail mail to an exchange, you can get your funds available same day (they receive it).

It isn't anything bitcoin can change - it is moving money from a chargeback system to one without a way to reverse transactions. If they allowed chargebacking, they would be exploited and go bankrupt.

Transactions in person and Bitcoin ATM's will be the bread-and-butter of exchanging fiat money for BTC as it gains widespread adaptation.

The easiest way is to purchase bitcoin from a friend or coworker. Hand them cash, and they should be happy to show you how to download a wallet app, and send you some bitcoin.

You don't have to buy bitcoins with coinbase. They use coinbase to accept them, but the donator can get them from any method they choose, including coinbase, campbx.com, localbitcoins.com, friends, mining, etc.

But none of those methods can happen on the checkout page. My mom already knows her credit card number; why is she going to put off her purchase until she can buy BitCoin somewhere else?

That's a bad comparison. You're comparing using Bitcoin after its set up, with a bank account with no set up. I have direct deposit plus a credit card, and using my money is as easy as a swipe or inputting some numbers. And unlike Bitcoin, I get chargeback protection and account insurance.

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