undefined | Better HN

0 pointsoarsinsync6y ago0 comments

Bitcoin holder and user for ~5 years here. As a comparison of two of those features, against Faster Payments (which is what the Fed is proposing creating a similar system to):

Bitcoin is slow - it takes minimum 10 mins with high fees, or in times of congestion, hours or days with low fees. Faster payments takes minimum a few seconds, maximum 2 hours, for processing, no fees involved.

Bitcoin is expensive - fees are variable depending on congestion on the network, and current value of BTC. Faster Payments charge nothing to transfer 0.01 - 100,000.00 GBP (in reality, 10k - 100k, depending on your bank. I have banks that allow 25k and 50k) in a single transaction.

Bitcoin is a wonderful experiment, wonderful proof of trustless immutable transactions, but as far as a payment system goes, is only better in one way, and worse in many others.

0 comments

2 comments · 1 top-level

sneak6y ago· 1 in thread

The fees are variable with congestion, sure, but in practice are very low, and even when “high” are less than what some people are mentioning the retail cost of a single one of these new fed transactions might cost (routinely, not congested).

Also, you cite speed, but Bitcoin transactions confirm sufficiently in the usual case in 20-40 minutes, where two hours is the upper bound you mentioned for the new fed system.

Bitcoin is also functioning today, isn’t censorable, and is transnational. The new fed system isn’t due to be operational for years, and will only serve a single country with fewer than 4% of humans living in it.

I think you are exaggerating the downsides of code that is working and providing value today.

oarsinsyncOP6y ago

Faster Payments exists today, costs nothing to the end user, and usually takes seconds.

Bitcoin processes 200-500k payments per day[0].

Faster Payments processes 230k payments per hour[1].

Bitcoin may be superior to what currently exists in the USA as provided by banks, but it isn't compared to existing private sector payment solutions, and it definitely isn't compared to what other countries have already implemented successfully in their banking system.

Again, long time bitcoin holder and user, I'm painfully aware of the downsides having paid absurd fees and still ended up waiting hours for a transaction to finally get accepted into a block.

Bitcoin's great as a speculative asset, but it's not so great as currency.

[0] https://www.blockchain.com/en/charts/n-transactions?timespan...

[1] http://www.fasterpayments.org.uk/press-release/faster-paymen...

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse