[kovek]

We were just discussing this earlier with some friends. Don't bitcoin transactions take a large amount of time? A block takes 10 minutes to mine, and there is no guarantee your transaction will be picked up by the currently mined block (or the one after), because there is a limit on the number of transactions that can fit in a block. Are there solutions to this?

[diegocerdan]

Ethereum's blocktime is way shorter: 10 seconds. You usually want multiple blocks to be finalized, from 3 to 6 to be sure you are on the longer chain.

The proposed blockchain solution for this are state channels where payments are then instant. Using state channels you can build a multi-hop network solution called Raiden (Ethereum) and Lightning Network (Bitcoin).

[nicky0]

That is correct. One solution to this being worked on is Lightning Network (http://lightning.network)

[jerrre]

In the case of a debit card it can be pre-paid and/or the fees cover the costs just like with credit cards.

[nicky0]

But then you are not really paying with Bitcoin. You are paying with Visa and funding your account with Bitcoin.

[Sir_Substance]

By that standard, when you use a bog standard Visa card you're not actually paying with dollars[1], you're paying with the artificial virtual currency your bank provides that is pegged to the dollar at 1:1, and merely funding your account with dollars.

[1] Substitute your local fiat currency here

[evgen]

No, you are paying with whatever currency the counter-party accepts. What backs the debit/credit card does not matter as long as the issuer thinks you have the assets to cover the loan they are making. If I have a card linked by my brokerage account I am not paying for dinner with shares of AMZN, I am paying in dollars and at some point will be required to convert some asset into dollars to cover the loan.

[baddox]

But this is a pretty inconsequential semantic difference. You could just as easily say that you’re selling dollars and the grocery store is paying you in bread.

[evgen]

No, it is a very significant difference and is not just semantics. The transaction is clearing in dollars and those dollars are moving from buyer to seller. There is no other currency involved in the transaction. The fact that dollars are constant and the seller could be exchanging bread, milk, cars, or bars of gold for the dollars tells you what the medium of exchange is here.

Once the transaction has cleared the seller can convert the dollars into euros, yen, ruble, pesos, or bitcoin and it has nothing to do with the actual transaction.

[nicky0]

But in both cases the merchant receives dollars. When actually paying with Bitcoin, the merchant would receive Bitcoin.

The point is that it's a Visa transaction not a Bitcoin transaction.

[hanniabu]

An alternative solution are some cryptocurrency loan programs such as ActiveHold