- Bitcoin transaction saves time and stress. It makes transaction fast and safe, most especially international transactions. Bank transaction has failed there customers several times maybe because of network or something else,another example: people collecting money from ATM machine can testify to this, sometimes you will need this money urgently at that particular time but getting to the bank seeing the queue and population not only that the ATM machine will disappoint you, I have been in this situation before where my card got swallowed by the ATM machine. There was a time my country was suffering from money scarcity due to the changing of old naira notes and to get access to your own money was a problem but I can testify people who got bitcoin sold there bitcoin and they lived there normal lives despite the economic situation at that time.
I feel it doesn’t fit in having to compare or place side by side the bitcoin innovation and the ATM machine. Coming to talk about queues, the machine having to trap your card and the possibility of a transaction declined or failure.
The ATM is a machine that dispenses, make transfers, pay bills and new models can even collect deposits.
Not like bitcoin which is a currency that functions on a blockchain network. They don’t come together! The other dispenses money (fiat) while the other is money in itself.
Again, bitcoin has come to cut through time and space with regards to its nature of transacting and doesn’t necessarily require a third party in making these debit/credit facility possible but, in the phase of acceptability, we most times still need to convert our precious Sats to fiat currencies before it could be accepted by merchants for exchange of products and services.
Hence, I can categorically tell you that, in the phase of fiat scarcity in Nigeria at the time, bitcoin users were very much affected as, you still have to convert these bitcoins to fiat to make it usable with merchants that accept bitcoins not readily available. Doing this, drags you down the lane of going through the slow and limit restricted transactions that was the case at that time.
Hmmm, well, lets think on this a bit. First, your statement about ATMs and Bitcoin being different is no doubt. Bitcoin's decentralised, peer-to-peer model differs from ATMs, no? If we think about it, arent both, at their core, facilitators?
One speeds up access to fiat money and restricted financial functions, while the other allows internet transactions over geographical and physical constraints. Dont you believe its a paradigm shift in how we view and use "money" and "transaction"?
As you noted, bitcoin pioneers new financial methods by eliminating tiresome processes and third parties. Bitcoin is still bound by the system it aspires to change, especially in Nigeria, where direct bitcoin transactions with businesses are unavailable.