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by adnrw 4518 days ago
I'm probably missing something obvious, but what use cases are possible with BTC but not, say, PayPal?

With PayPal you can pay for goods, receive payments for goods, transfer to an individual, receive payments from an individual, do it all in different currencies and transfer in and out of bank accounts etc.

Aside from the fact that the model itself is rather different, I can't think of any practical uses that can be done with one but not the other?

Edit: for clarification, I mean in the context of the parent's scenario of Apple taking their 30% cut of a transaction. Obviously there are plenty of reasons to use BTC over other payment methods.
2 comments
tommorris 4517 days ago
Not just PayPal but pretty much every bank here in the UK and EU have banking apps. I do almost all of my business and personal banking using iOS apps (just because they are a lot more convenient than online banking websites). Can transfer money to bank accounts with no charges. And I'd find it pretty objectionable if Apple wanted to take a 30% cut of me transferring money into my personal bank account.

There are also a number of simple payment apps backed by banks for doing low value transfers (under 1500 GBP) like Barclays Pingit and so on.

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pervycreeper 4518 days ago
In the most general sense, both types of apps are for "payments", but Bitcoin has unique properties that could allow for applications that are impossible with the above listed examples (because of central oversight, fees, limits, etc.)
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adnrw 4518 days ago
Like what? I genuinely can't think of any.

I agree that there are advantages to Bitcoin over other payment methods. No dispute there.

But your original contention was that Apple want to be able to take a 30% slice of transactions, and they can't do that with Bitcoin so they're banning wallet apps. My gut instinct says that's not the reason but I'm trying to find out more info before deciding.

Apple don't take a cut of any of the transactions done through the PayPal app etc. so I think it's safe to assume that they wouldn't want a cut of similar transactions done over Bitcoin.

So again, I'm probably missing something obvious, but I can't think of any: what are some examples of transactions that are only possible with Bitcoin where Apple would want to take a cut.

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