[abalone]

So they charge a 1% fee to fund the account with a wire transfer.

Can someone explain -- I am not attacking this, I am seriously wondering -- why anyone would wire funds into this account, pay a 1% fee, and then pay with a debit card like they could from any other bank account?

(I get if you already have bitcoin, but I'm wondering what the point of the wire transfer support is.)

Source: http://help.xapo.com/questions/94070-Does-Xapo-charge-a-fee-...

[IkmoIkmo]

The 1% fee is separate from the debit-card, it's just a way to buy bitcoin which isn't super easy and frictionless everywhere in the world. Of coure this is improving rapidly globally.

So why buy bitcoin in the first place? Well, bitcoin itself represents a financial system with much more autonomy, as, if you'd like, you could store your money yourself (and not with Xapo, after buying bitcoin there) instead of e.g. at a bank.

This may not sound like a big deal for people in OECD countries, but look at Cyprus where many lost funds in their banks after the government essentially seized them. Look at places like Argentina with high inflation rates, there are numerous places with rates beyond 15-25% for whom owning bitcoin may be a better solution.

And then there's the fact that bitcoin allows cheap transfer of value once you have it. Perhaps not great to buy some orange juice in the US, but if you're remitting money back home (global average of 9%), paying 1% is a bargain as crazy as that sounds.

And lastly there's the general idea of simply supporting a nascent bitcoin ecosystem. It's not much different from people spending 10% more on a fair-trade product, or a product that has harms animals less. It may be exactly the same quality, more expensive, yet attractive for more ideological supporting reasons.

[baddox]

People might want to participate in and support the Bitcoin ecosystem, for economic, political, or technological reasons. People might just be curious about the technology and want to play with it.

[abalone]

That's a little abstract.. Without deep diving is there a quick summary of the economic/political/technological reasons why one would pay an extra 1% fee to pay this way? Apart from curiosity.

[lvturner]

For me that's actually cheaper than what my bank charges for international transactions and transfers. I need this often enough that it would save me quite a bit of cash. Also there's no fee if you have existing bitcoins by the looks of things, so the 1% is just a convenience tax, afaik there are cheaper ways to buy bitcoins that circumnavigate this. I admit to not knowing much about bitcoin, but this product has piqued my interest as it might solve a few of my banking woes

[csomar]

Many people in this world don't have access to International banking. (because of local conditions or restrictions). This solves the problem.