You sure sound like a hippie tho, with this "I don't want to tie my identity to my money" BS. Good luck with that in life.
I do understand that Paypal is not the best option for ordering coke on the Outlaw market. That's what BTC is for. For everything else, Paypal is free (for me as a consumer), convenient and very safe. Been using it for years and years, never a problem. In fact, purchases are insured. I don't have to worry about malevolent sellers or failing postal services. Much safer then BTC.
But then again, that's logical, because Paypal is a payment provider. They live off of providing services making payment easier and more safe. They're not money. But as you know so much about money, I guess you had already figured that, right?
Edit: sorry for being impolite. Worked too hard and slept too little.
I am on my third debit card in 12 months. And that is despite the fact that I do not use it online. With bitcoin I have never lost a penny and I can buy what I want. I don't need a nanny to Shepard me through a purchase, harvesting my data and money along the way. Best of all, 12 months ago my BTC were worth about $240 each.
You say you don't have to pay? Where did you get that Idea? They are a business and of course you will pay. For example I recently bought a gun from here:
http://shop.centraltexasgunworks.com/Because I pay in cash (bitcoin is cash) I receive a 3% discount. That 3% in credit card fees must be passed on to the customer as businesses are not a charity operation.
Last year I was buying a lot of gold and once again saved hundreds of dollars. They are out of big bars right now, but look at how to save $38 per oz.
https://www.amagimetals.com/gold/bars/gold-elemetal-barYou may find people who agree with you about PP and MC/Visa. But It ain't gona be me. I have done very well with bitcoin and have saved thousands of dollars in fees and gained a great deal of wealth. As someone who has owned businesses for over 25 years I am quite certain it is the right choice for me.
Depends on how you obtain those bitcoins you are sending across the world for pennies... If you have to buy them, like a lot of people have to do (whether that's because of lack of knowledge or lack of funds to start mining) then your identity is in fact tied to your new money... You have to pay through your bank, which has all the info in the world about you and your identity. If some clever person where to really want to get your identity if he/she realizes that you paid for your bitcoins, then theoretically it could be done.
I am not concerned about a crook stealing my identity, it's my money that an identity thief wants. I once gave out my Overstock password and login. People were free to see what I had bought and what was in my basket, but without any credit card info they could not steal from me. Can I see your Amazon account? Also, if I wanted to I could pay in a way that no one would ever be able to link to me.