[blunte]

In many situations it is an excellent means of exchange of value. Convert your fiat to bitcoin, make a global bitcoin transaction (for a comparatively small transaction fee, and within 30 minutes), then convert the bitcoin to fiat on the other end.

That's WAY better than a bank wire, and even better than the increasingly effective service that Transferwise provides. It's also beneficial to at least one party because no bank can reverse the transaction.

[emodendroket]

It's relatively inefficient and it's hard to see why someone would choose that over wire transfer unless they were doing something illegal. I also don't get why "no banks can reverse the transaction" is touted as a benefit so often; what sane buyer prefers to do online purchases where they have no recourse if they never receive the goods?

[consz]

What's the 30min volatility of BTCUSD vs. the cost of a bank wire?