Not all Bitcoin supporters are millennials some of us are baby boomers. I started investing in Bitcoin in late 2011 and see a very bright future for Bitcoin. Bitcoin currently is a very significant part of my retirement planning. Contrary to common belief many of us older people are not adverse to new technologies at all; however we can be very selective and in many cases simply choose to skip a technology entirely. Sort of like the developing country that moves from no / minimal phone service to mobile phones bypassing copper land lines entirely.
In my case I use cash, cheques, credit cards, the odd wire transfer and Bitcoin. I have zero use for debit cards, and fee laden propriety payment systems. Bitcoin and related crypto currencies makes a lot more sense to someone from my generation than propriety digital payment systems because:
1) It is a bearer instrument and payments are irreversible. This is how most payments were made until the 1970s. This is the comfort level for many older people.
2) There is no risk of identity theft. I have spoken with many seniors who are paranoid about identity theft and using a credit card online. They actually get Bitcoin, when it is explained as "It works as cash you can use on the Internet". "You mean I do not have to give up my personal information to make a payment" is the response. "Yes absolutely".
3) I can pay anyone without having to get the permission of some rent seeking third party and it is not possible for a third party to interfere with a transaction. Seriously commerce have been conducted this way for millennia. Why the change in last 40 years?
In many respects Bitcoin is a return back to a saner time when it comes to payments.
In my case I use cash, cheques, credit cards, the odd wire transfer and Bitcoin. I have zero use for debit cards, and fee laden propriety payment systems. Bitcoin and related crypto currencies makes a lot more sense to someone from my generation than propriety digital payment systems because:
1) It is a bearer instrument and payments are irreversible. This is how most payments were made until the 1970s. This is the comfort level for many older people.
2) There is no risk of identity theft. I have spoken with many seniors who are paranoid about identity theft and using a credit card online. They actually get Bitcoin, when it is explained as "It works as cash you can use on the Internet". "You mean I do not have to give up my personal information to make a payment" is the response. "Yes absolutely".
3) I can pay anyone without having to get the permission of some rent seeking third party and it is not possible for a third party to interfere with a transaction. Seriously commerce have been conducted this way for millennia. Why the change in last 40 years?
In many respects Bitcoin is a return back to a saner time when it comes to payments.
Speaking of identity theft, their game needs to change. I have been using TigerDirect/Overstock lately, well mostly. Then the Heartbleed came out. I changed some vital passwords for other places, then got to those two retailers and realized that I USE BITCOIN for them, and changing anything was entirely unnecessary. All they got is my shipping address, and if a thief wants to send me stuff then they can have at it. That said, they could change the shipping address for items I buy, and that will work ONCE, maybe.
What a warm blanket BTC is turning out to be!
Congrats on being an open-minded, savvy older person! They are not easy to come by. All the older folks I try to get into BTC, even smart ones, think it is a scam and are just fine with how things are.
When you say an "older person" how old is crucial here. There is a huge difference in how I would present Bitcoin to a 65 year old than to a 40 year old. Furthermore I would expect the chance of success to be much higher with the 65 year old. For reference I am 56. Most of what I mentioned applies mostly to those my age or older. Someone who is say 40 years old is likely to be very comfortable with the current system, unless they have experienced poverty as an adult. Why are they comfortable? Because it is their generation who created it, and has the most invested in it. To the 65 year old the current system is the technology of their children's generation, technologies that they mistrusted and in many cases rejected. Bitcoin on the other hand is the technology of their grandchildren’s generation. It is no secret that most teenagers rebel against their parents in one form or another. To a grandparent on the other hand teenage rebellion is more often than not payback time.
Your comment on identity theft hits the nail on the head; however from my perspective the game should not have been changed in the first place. Identity theft was virtually unheard of as a "crime" 40 years ago, since knowing someone's address or knowing the names of their pets did not provide the keys to a bank account. Nor for that matter did knowing the bank account number itself mean one could withdraw funds from said bank account.
