In many parts of Asia people stopped using paper currencies and coins, particularly during covid, when contactless payment was recommended by governments. I was in Europe for a month recently and didn't use cash once. The US is the only place I've been in the last couple of years that continues to peddle notes and coins.
Chipotle Now Accepting Cryptocurrency Payments
- Thread starter Trader Curt
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If was a true Bitcoin Lightning Network payment (i.e. partnership with Strike App), the merchant pays no fee and the customer pays a few basis points spread commensurate with BTC exchanges. There's also no charge-backs. No CC network interaction, all fiat conversions are handled by Strike
I don't know the details on this, saw it the other day on my Twitter feed, but I think it touches the CC network, maybe I'm wrong, it's a Flexa partnership
I'm not fully sure how it works in places like Brazil. Do you still have to wait around 10-minutes for a BTC transaction just to see if it's verified on the chain, or does the government have some sort of 3rd-party wallet that speeds the thing up?
You meant El Salvador, right?
Bitcoin Lightning Network is instant and the fees can be less than a penny (charged in satoshis)
https://getumbrel.com/
If you run a full Bitcoin Lightning Node, you earn some of those fees. Nothing to write home about, I've been running one since last year but I do it to support the network
I guess I’m one of the last holdouts. I like using cash over credit cards when I’m out and about. So far I’ve never had complaints from merchants. Some tell me they appreciate it.
I always pay for personal services in cash—haircuts, massages, gardening, cleaning, work around the house. At his request, I paid the plumber in cash to replace a couple of water heaters.
When I’m in Asia (Korea mostly), I notice the surveillance state getting deeper and deeper. The young generation doesn’t know anything else. They think it’s cool they can swipe with their phones to pay for things. Everyone is tracked—where they go, who they meet, what they spend their money on. The smartphone is the barcode stamped on their foreheads.
Google is completely out of control there doing shit it would not get away with here.
It’s a country of conformists and lemmings. I’ve thought about eventually retiring there, but I don’t know.
Can't agree more. In India, the Central Bank came out with mobile payments solution and they do not charge fees like credit or debit cards. This quickly made India the world's largest mobile payment country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Payments_Interface#:~:text=With exponential growth of UPI,behind China and United States.
It is a bank account to bank account payment solution, without needing to know the other's bank account, just using QR code or mobile number or just a virtual payment address called 'upi id'. Now banks are devising credit solutions around this without the use of credit cards.
This trend could end or considerably weaken Visa/Mastercard/Amex business
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I'm surprised the 3 major card companies are still in business frankly. The 3% service charge model is over and greater Asia is leading the way to end their hegemony.
While Americans still disproportionately use paper and coin currency, they also love their credit cards, not so much for their cashless convenience, but for their line of credit.
Yeah, don't think you'd like it long if you already complain about their conformism. I'm in Singapore and 90% of the population wears COVID masks outside today even though their requirement ended a month ago. Of the 10% who don't wear them anymore, 90% are foreigners.
I'm of the young generation of baby boomers and I don't mind paying everything with a beep from my phone. Couldn't care less if the government knows where and when I went out for dinner. Reminds me of my much younger brother who prefers to wait in line at the bridge for 10 mn instead of zooming by with a beep because, he says, I don't want the government to know I'm crossing the bridge...
I'm thinking Americans have just become a fearful, paranoid population obsessed with government controls. It's something that really jumps at you living outside the country for a period of time.
Everyday I'm thankful I'm out.
It's people like this who always succeed. Instead of people who think the government is there to help them.