[quack]

> Let's make this a bit more concrete: assume eBay accepts BTC. I could sign up for a seller account, make some auction listings, once some people buy them, never ship the goods, and disappear.

This already is a problem on ebay. People post dishonest listings all the time and run with the cash. You have the additional problems of people buying goods with stolen cards or running up the price of an item with no intention of purchasing. With BTC you can verify that a bidder is able to pay for an item, and you can immediately hold the funds in escrow. There is no "overcharging" a Bitcoin account.

> As a consumer, the irreversability of BTC transactions is a bug, not a feature.

Bullshit. Credit card companies are paying people with their own fat. The 3% cashback that you get on purchases for gas and food comes from the profit theyre making on top of that. Many local stores give cash discounts when buying goods, and some refuse to accept cards because they are so expensive.

> It's only when certain financial instruments are built on top of Bitcoin that have the same kinds of consumer protection and regulatory compliance built in.

We dont need your middlemen. I dont need an account to hold my funds when I sell an item online. I dont want to give eBay, paypal, et al, a unilateral authority to withdraw from my bank accounts.

[steveklabnik]

> This already is a problem on ebay.

Exactly. It's a problem that doesn't go away with Bitcoin.

> Credit card companies are paying people with their own fat.

I am certainly not arguing that they don't charge a premium. I'm saying that they do add value.

> We dont need your middlemen.

You may not, but I am quite certain most people do.