Topic: If confirmation takes 10 minutes, how will I buy coffee at Starbucks? - page 6. (Read 9885 times)
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December 06, 2013, 12:34:58 PM
I think a more important question here is why are you buying coffee at Starfucks?
December 06, 2013, 12:27:05 PM
You are also forgetting that they may use a 3rd party vendor who assumes that risk as part of their fee.
December 06, 2013, 12:24:10 PM
This is something I don't understand. In order to be sure that a bitcoin transfer is successful, you have to wait for a confirmation.
No true, that's only with huge transactions.Quoting myself from another thread:
Common misconception, but Bitcoin transactions are instant.
It's only the confirmations that take some time. Confirmations is what makes a transaction 100% irreversible. But nowadays, for regular payments of 'normal' amounts (up to a few thousand $) it's completely safe to accept a payment as soon as it appears in the network (and has enough tx fee).
With todays network strength it's pretty much impossible (not to mention way, WAY too expensive) to successfully forge a valid looking transaction (thus it gets propagated through the network) that doesn't get confirmed. Only in order to accept or trust payments for BIG amounts, e.g. when literally sending tons of money around, you better await a few confirmations.
So, in most situations it's perfectly valid to say that Bitcoin payments are already instant. NOT 10-60 minutes!
andIt's only the confirmations that take some time. Confirmations is what makes a transaction 100% irreversible. But nowadays, for regular payments of 'normal' amounts (up to a few thousand $) it's completely safe to accept a payment as soon as it appears in the network (and has enough tx fee).
With todays network strength it's pretty much impossible (not to mention way, WAY too expensive) to successfully forge a valid looking transaction (thus it gets propagated through the network) that doesn't get confirmed. Only in order to accept or trust payments for BIG amounts, e.g. when literally sending tons of money around, you better await a few confirmations.
So, in most situations it's perfectly valid to say that Bitcoin payments are already instant. NOT 10-60 minutes!
Oh, one more thing. As for the so called 'faster processing' of altcoins with shorter block times: this is a delusion.
In the end, the certainty of a transaction is related to the amount of processing power that would be required to successfully forge it. You may think that for example Litecoin is 'faster' because it finds blocks 4 times as fast, but it would also require 4 times as much blocks to get the same amount of certainty - that is, if the total network power were equal. And the latter is not the case by far, the Bitcoin network harnesses much, MUCH more hashing power than all other altcoins combined.
So, when comparing the speed of processing transactions, not in terms of 'number of confirmations' but in terms of actual certainty and trustworthiness, Bitcoin is a few miles ahead.
In the end, the certainty of a transaction is related to the amount of processing power that would be required to successfully forge it. You may think that for example Litecoin is 'faster' because it finds blocks 4 times as fast, but it would also require 4 times as much blocks to get the same amount of certainty - that is, if the total network power were equal. And the latter is not the case by far, the Bitcoin network harnesses much, MUCH more hashing power than all other altcoins combined.
So, when comparing the speed of processing transactions, not in terms of 'number of confirmations' but in terms of actual certainty and trustworthiness, Bitcoin is a few miles ahead.
December 06, 2013, 12:22:17 PM
I guess that more and more of the computing power mining new bitcoins today will be used to confirming transactions in the future, thus speeding up the process.
And you Also have services as bitpay.com paying the business you buy from in FIAT.
And you Also have services as bitpay.com paying the business you buy from in FIAT.
December 06, 2013, 12:19:38 PM
If credit cards take 180 days to be confirmed how will you buy coffee at Starbucks?
December 06, 2013, 12:19:16 PM
Don't forget that the transactions are instant... and I also hope that the Mining farms somehow start implementing a system that uses the fees to trigger the full strength of their cluster to be active. Once the transactions get saturated and fees start increasing rev up the farm; With this method, 2016 blocks wouldn't move the difficulty much if for only 2 hours a day the ASIC farms are roaring at full force, it could drop the transaction confirmation time from 10 minutes to under a minute when needed.
But of course this is difficult to implement when everyone is fighting for a piece of the pie.
But of course this is difficult to implement when everyone is fighting for a piece of the pie.
December 06, 2013, 12:18:55 PM
For small purchases, you don't really have to wait for a confirmation. You just need to make sure the transaction appears on the network. If there are any losses, they can be written off as a cost of doing business or treated as theft. The chances of double-spending for a cup of coffee are less than the chance of someone walking out on a restaurant bill.
December 06, 2013, 12:13:17 PM
Fellow Bitcoiners,
This is something I don't understand. In order to be sure that a bitcoin transfer is successful, you have to wait for a confirmation. Standard market practice is to wait for 3 confirmations. A confirmation takes 10 minutes on average.
If bitcoin becomes massive, how will I buy a coffee at Starbucks? Will I have to pay with bitcoins and then wait 10/30 minutes before picking up my coffee?
This is something I don't understand. In order to be sure that a bitcoin transfer is successful, you have to wait for a confirmation. Standard market practice is to wait for 3 confirmations. A confirmation takes 10 minutes on average.
If bitcoin becomes massive, how will I buy a coffee at Starbucks? Will I have to pay with bitcoins and then wait 10/30 minutes before picking up my coffee?
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