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Comment by jafaku | Hacker News Reader

Most of the people of the world can't really have a bank account, let alone be eligible for a credit (card). With Bitcoin you only need internet access.

Most of the people of the world can't really save either. Cash loses value over time, gold is hard to validate and keep safe, and is even banned in lots of places. Bitcoin to the rescue! Now everyone can start saving, and even be rewarded for that.

I could go on all day long, the benefits are endless. Just live in a shitty country for some time and you'll figure it out pretty fast.

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Most of the people of the world can't really have a bank account, let alone be eligible for a credit (card). With Bitcoin you only need internet access.

Yeah cause internet access and a modern computer are waaaaay more common than bank accounts or prepaid credit cards....

... Children? I would've loved Bitcoin at age 12.

According to wolfram alpha, there are 1.871 billion children age 15 or younger: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=population+under+15

Those 1.871 billion children literally determine the future. And all of them can currently use bitcoin for buying anything available via bitcoin. That includes Humble Bundles, for example, not just drugs. Though admittedly they'll still just pirate most videogames rather than buy them. But they won't be able to pirate MMO's, and it's a matter of time before MMOs begin accepting bitcoins.

It is. In fact I have never seen a prepaid credit card. And you can use Bitcoin from your phone, no need for a desktop PC. Yes, third world countries have phones. Will I have to explain this to every American? Besides this affects first world countries too. A lot of people in first world countries can't have a bank account, but there is wifi everywhere, and even the homeless have phones (I never understood why. A marketer told me it's related the reverse pyramid of needs or something like that).

They are, if you define modern cellphones as a "modern computer".

Digging around, I found they're almost equal actually, and cellphone users vastly outnumber bank account holders (cell phone users exceed toilet access !!!).

50% of adults worldwide have an account at a formal financial institution.

60% of adults worldwide have internet access, with 39% having home internet access (the remainder having shared or limited internet access).

80% of adults have cell phone access.

Sources:

http://econ.worldbank.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Internet_usage

http://www.gallup.com/poll/159815/home-internet-access-remai...

newsfeed.time.com/2013/03/25/more-people-have-cell-phones-than-toilets-u-n-study-shows/

In Russia it's common to have computer and internet, but no credit card.

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