[web4]

the majority of crypto is being held in non custodial wallets, not exchanges.

a better way to frame your comment: why does the world use Stripe and PayPal when you can just go to your bank and ask them to setup a multi day long wire process from bank A to B for less fees?

[KennyBlanken]

The 'wire process' is not "multi-day-long", plus a huge number of banks now participate in Zelle, which can be used for instantaneous fund transfers with zero fees. The biggest problem with Zelle is that it looks and feels like a circa-2002 web application.

[whimsicalism]

You could Zelle your friend in Ukraine? Doubt it.

[web4]

many wires will be multi days long, encumbered by weekends, holidays, business hours, international checks, and occasional bounces (ask any company their experience with wires for international contractors).

Zelle is between US banks only. some people live outside of the US, surprisingly.

[dmitriid]

The EU has now mandated fast transfers between banks in the EU.

So, for EU (23 countries) it's not a problem either.

Sending money between banks is both a technical and a regulatory issue (and crypto is discovering why regulations exist at great cost to crypto users). However, "instant money transfer between banks" is not an unsolved issue.

[web4]

large (> 10K) bank and wire transfers within UK and EU are still in the order of days, not seconds. the last large bank transfer I did took 5 days without any way for me to track this transfer. the same amount I was able to transfer within crypto networks in 30 seconds and the transaction progress and it’s validation status was visible for the entire duration.

the EU and UK banking system is far better than the US but still it is not a global payment processor network and API, hence why the web even in EU and UK relies on Stripe, visa, Apple Pay and PayPal and their corporate and centralized infrastructures. building an alternative infra that is not based on a single corporate entity is net positive for the world long term

[phatfish]

No idea which bank you used where a payment took 5 days (are you American?). I made a high five figure payment online when buying a property and it was in the destination account the next day.

Crypto bros really have to drop the idea that it's going mainstream by allowing people to transfer money. Crypto is NOT easier or safer for anyone than a faster payment in the EU/UK. Unless you are doing something illegal.

[web4]

this was with CHAPS.

> was in the destination account the next day

that’s probably CHAPS as well then as FP is within 2 hours. still a a lot slower than crypto’s 30-60 seconds, and extremely opaque process that could have taken additional days without any information to the customer.

but undoubtedly, both CHAPS and FP are very fast and inexpensive, and some of the best systems in the world for interbank transfers. unfortunately it only works from one UK bank to another UK bank, which makes up a small portion of global population. even within UK you will often have need to pay somebody who doesn’t have a UK bank.

[mutatio]

This isn't true for transfers within the UK using Faster payments - upto £250K, near instantaneous.

[web4]

that limit depends on your bank. for large transfers you will often need to visit your branch in person which can be a multi day process.

and yes UK faster payments system is great but it is not yet the backbone of global payment processing. the world is larger than the UK and as we continue to connect globally online and become more digitally nomadic there will be more need to pay users outside of a UK-to-UK bank system.

[thehappypm]

People do both, every day, what is your point?

[web4]

the point is that Stripe achieves some features for certain users that a wire does not. and crypto achieves some features for certain users that Stripe does not.