[jusben1369]

I too am fascinated by Bitcoin and still in learning mode. I think there's one important distinction to add here though. Credit cards can charge 2.5% because they're awesome Some guy in Arizona can set himself up online, sign up for Stripe, have no set fees, and accept a payment from someone in Germany (or NY or Australia) that afternoon. That's amazingly empowering and 2.5% doesn't seem to bad for the people running those rails to collect (fraud, global movement etc)

So let's not come at it from "credit cards and payments are a bloated gouging industry" I'm not buying that and it also is too merchant focused (vs consumers who really decide what a merchant will do in terms of payments) Now, there are some really interesting fringe cases that Chris touches upon that can open the door for Bitcoin. Micropayments are broken when it comes to credit cards. It's not the %, it that's "+ 30 cents" that is brutal. So Bitcoin could play a roll there. There are disbursements and marketplaces. I suspect TaskRabbit would probably like to have the ability to move money from buyers on their platforms to the TaskRabbiter's with a reduced payment friction than today. There might be 5% margin businesses (Chris' example sounds like the founder of Dwolla) that really are motivated to drive you to Bitcoin.

So what happens over time is Bitcoin focuses in on those areas where it has a strategic advantage over cards and ignores those where it doesn't. It uses that experience to become a legitimate, scaled set of payments rails. Solutions are implemented so that consumers are comfortable with using and paying with Bitcoin. Then at that 5 - 15 year mark it's ready to take on mainstream payments. Assuming issues like fraud and settlement and wild fluctuations are worked out.

EDIT: I am definitely thinking out loud and on the fly so am ok with some serious rebuttals.

[Sambdala]

"Some guy in Arizona can set himself up online, sign up for Stripe, have no set fees, and accept a payment from someone in Germany (or NY or Australia) that afternoon."

Anyone can take payments using Bitcoin in less time than it takes to sign up for and implement the Stripe API (I would know; I've done both), and you don't have to have a bank account in an approved jurisdiction in order to do so.

They can either do this by using the technology directly or using an intermediary such as Coinbase.

"Bitcoin focuses in on those areas where it has a strategic advantage over cards and ignores those where it doesn't."

Thankfully Bitcoin doesn't care what it's used for, and there will probably be people trying to implement a Bitcoin solution for all these areas; the ones that find a niche will survive, and the ones that don't will fail. Either way, we'll (in theory) end up with the services that Bitcoin is suited for, and the ones that it isn't suited for will continue to use more traditional methods.

[sergiotapia]

Yes but you don't have the incredible safety net of using a bank. Bitcoin seems really unsafe and I keep hearing of people stealing wallets and large sums from Mt.Gox

[drcode]

> Credit cards can charge 2.5% because they're awesome Some guy in Arizona can set himself up online, sign up for Stripe, have no set fees, and accept a payment from someone in Germany (or NY or Australia) that afternoon.

Last I checked, it takes at least a month to apply for and receive a credit card, so this is obviously wrong. Guess what, I could set you up with a bitcoin account and some bitcoins in less than a minute.

> 2.5% doesn't seem to bad for the people running those rails to collect (fraud, global movement etc)

Yeah, as long as something else doesn't come along that's even better at fraud prevention and global movement and only charges 0.01% (like bitcoin, for instance)

[schrodinger]

It doesn't handle fraud in the form of not receiving what you paid for... as a consumer, you can issue a chargeback right now. That doesn't exist for bitcoin, so until we factor in another layer that provides that protection, you can't compare the 2.5% credit card fee to the bitcoin fee.

[drcode]

This is a fair argument. You would use a bitcoin service like bitrated.com in this case that also carries some cost.

[saltylicorice]

Setting up for bitcoin transactions is even easier and faster. I often see bitcoin addresses listed on github accounts, asking for a small tip. Also: http://www.reddit.com/r/bitcointip

I remember some years ago when people were getting excited about microtransactions, but nobody found a good way to make them work. It seems like Bitcoin might be a viable way of bringing the idea back.

[jafaku]

> Some guy in Arizona can set himself up online, sign up for Stripe

I'm not from Arizona, so Stripe isn't an option. But then there is Bitcoin. Countries: All. Requirements: Internet.

[jusben1369]

I'm wondering how many consumers globally know how to pay with Bitcoin vs currently have a piece of plastic.

[jafaku]

A piece of plastic? Are you serious?