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Topic: Using BTC vs. Using Credit / Debit cards and purchase tracking and privacy. - page 2. (Read 385 times)

copper member
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If a person has no problem with the 'invasive tracking' while using a debit card issued by a bank, it shouldn't be a problem while using a bitcoin debit card. Isn't? This is for a person with normal uses (food, gas, etc...).

Unless the person uses BTC for something that should stay totally private (i.e. wants to be anonymous) without invasive tracking, then the person shouldn't use a debit card at all.
Cards are powered by Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Amex, and co. As soon someone uses their product, the tracking starts... No matter if it's used with fiat or cryptos

I don't think I would care to use a BTC debit card if I'm using it to pay the supermarket or stuff like that. There are things you agree to share and the things with which you want privacy. Nothing special to see LeGaulois paying the supermarket, I eat like everyone.
Now, is the percentage high enough to make me use it? If it was with a traditional bank, maybe. With a BTC card, it's something else, because it means more administrative papers for taxes and others (in my country, we need to report every year each account on the exchange platforms, even account closed)

legendary
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I know I have brought this up before, but:

We all want BTC to become more and more mainstream and we all want BTC to be used everywhere.
BUT, how much are we willing to give up to get it there?

In many places in the world credit & debit cards are just the way people spend money. Without getting into all the good and bad things and all the other stuff about them one thing they do do is allow for a large amount of purchase tracking.

I have a fair number of cards that I rotate though. Some are for certain things only others are more general use. Depends on limits, any cash back offers, and other things.

One of the cards I have is a Sears MasterCard issued by CitiBank. It was originally just a Sears store card, but when they imploded they changed it to a MasterCard.
It has a stupid high interest rate and the rewards it offers (CitiBank ThankYou points) are fair at best.
So I rarely use it.

The other day I got an email from them. Spend $500 a month in Gas / Restaurants / Food Stores and get 15X points back up to $600 a month in spending at those locations. Works out to about 12.5% cash back. Guess which card went into my wallet and I have been using to get gas and food :-)

My Amazon card gives me 5% back at Amazon. BoA has a card that gives 3% back on online purchases. Discover has the 5% back on different things every quarter and so on.
Coinbase has their debit card with 4% rewards (not in BTC but some alt) but beyond that there is not much.

Paying with BTC direct we get none of that.
I use BTC a lot, but there are also many many times when I could that I use a card instead due to the benefits the card offers.

BTC does offer some level of privacy
But giving that up, so banks / card cards can send us directed offers, will save you some real money over time. How far are you willing to go how much extra are you wiling to spend to really use BTC? With the Sears MC I mentioned above since I do spend more then $600 a month between gas / restaurants / food stores anyway I am probably going to net back over $225 in total for doing what I do normally. Best I could do normally would be $50 in cash back at best. Either way I can't do that with BTC.

But if a BTC debit card they are came out that would give you good benefits if you let them do a lot more invasive tracking, would you do it?


-Dave
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