Using bitcoin to "save the unbanked" is stupid.
First of all the volatility can make them even poorer and the benefit of paying less fees could be gone. Are you telling me they should convert their BTC to USD to avoid volatility (paying some fees left and right anyway) and having to trust (I thought when using bitcoin it was not required to trust anyone?) an online BTC exchange holding the funds?
They could use the ripple network or something similar, using their preferred fiat currency (avoiding volatility) instead of an unstable cryptocurrency, and the fees would actually be pretty much nothing.
Bitcoin cannot really "save the unbanked". Throwing at them a volatile, irreversible, 0 consumer protection cryptocurrency is criminal.
Topic: Wall Observer BTC/USD - Bitcoin price movement tracking & discussion - page 22858. (Read 26712318 times)
February 18, 2015, 01:50:09 PM
February 18, 2015, 01:45:23 PM
Down to the deep again, sell before its too late. 
February 18, 2015, 01:43:41 PM
CNN: Breaking the bank: Bitcoins hit Africa's money transfer traditions
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/17/business/bitcoin-africa-unbanked/
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/17/business/bitcoin-africa-unbanked/
Quote
Transferring cash via a bank or a Money Transfer Operator (MTOs) like Western Union or MoneyGram can be costly. According to the Overseas Development Institute, the average charge to transfer $200 to Africa using traditional money transfer services is 12%. If you send $200, you pay $24. The ODI added up all the transfers that happen in a year, and found remittance fees cost the African continent $1.8 billion a year.
What if that money could be spent on things, rather than fees?
As Bitcoin is a virtual peer-to-peer currency -- designed to operate on the border-less internet -- the costs of transferring money can be radically cheaper than traditional methods, and the process is much quicker.
"Bitcoin can greatly alter the remittances industry and beyond," says Michael Kimani, who heads the African Digital Currency Association, a Kenya-based group launched last May to promote digital currency technologies. "From seven days [for a transaction to clear] using banks & PayPal, down to 20 minutes speaks volumes."
What if that money could be spent on things, rather than fees?
As Bitcoin is a virtual peer-to-peer currency -- designed to operate on the border-less internet -- the costs of transferring money can be radically cheaper than traditional methods, and the process is much quicker.
"Bitcoin can greatly alter the remittances industry and beyond," says Michael Kimani, who heads the African Digital Currency Association, a Kenya-based group launched last May to promote digital currency technologies. "From seven days [for a transaction to clear] using banks & PayPal, down to 20 minutes speaks volumes."
A laudable intention, and I hope that international payments and remittances will be much, much cheaper in the future. However, bitcoin as a remittance mechanism has a problem: it does not actually send dollars to the Zimberians, it only shuffles Zimberian patacas among Zimberians. This is what happens then:
https://np.reddit.com/r/BitcoinMarkets/comments/2vypy9/if_i_was_looking_to_sell_big_or_relatively_big/
Quote
Hi guys, I'm from a Bitcoin startup in the Philippines [ReBit] and we have services that range from payment processing, remittance, prepaid cards, and even new order book exchange.
Our business has been growing steadily and we've found ourselves needing to trade out big amounts of BTC for fiat on a consistent basis daily, which we have so far been able to do using our own contacts. Increasing volumes of incoming BTC is making it harder and harder though. [ ... ]
Our business has been growing steadily and we've found ourselves needing to trade out big amounts of BTC for fiat on a consistent basis daily, which we have so far been able to do using our own contacts. Increasing volumes of incoming BTC is making it harder and harder though. [ ... ]
Some comments on that from the premier Skeptic Tank:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/2w1f4g/rebit_having_problems_finding_bagholders_in_the/
February 18, 2015, 01:32:55 PM
Line breached. Going to retest $215-$220 pretty soon.
It's just a matter of time before it crashes again.
It's just a matter of time before it crashes again.
February 18, 2015, 01:28:06 PM
This really fries my thinker... lol
February 18, 2015, 01:27:57 PM
...
We know who you are, Bitcoin criminal scum
February 18, 2015, 01:24:59 PM
ok, sold all my 200 bitcoins at 231. Looks like we could test the 220
also: http://www.coindesk.com/us-marshals-auction-50000-bitcoins-march/
also: http://www.coindesk.com/us-marshals-auction-50000-bitcoins-march/
February 18, 2015, 01:23:17 PM
I wonder if bullscammers like aztecminer & fatman will ever get banned... their only purpose seems to be to lure more people into the BTC trap, which is not only morally totally wrong but eventually also criminal.... 
Banning them is pointless. They just buy more aged accounts & get right back to their criminality
February 18, 2015, 01:19:21 PM
But this has been known for ages. Not the exact date, but there isn't much left of Q1.
The sale is expected, but it's really annoying that they are not selling all 98000BTC this round.
they are not stupid. selling all of them could lower and crash the price!
oh wait...
and how is this expected? there was a trial and a possibility that ulbricht didnt do it...
February 18, 2015, 01:18:55 PM
I wonder if bullscammers like aztecminer & fatman will ever get banned... their only purpose seems to be to lure more people into the BTC trap, which is not only morally totally wrong but eventually also criminal....
lol i am a bullscammer now ...... dood i play my own game and care less what everyone else is doing. take responsibility for your own actions retard.
He is underage, he can't.
February 18, 2015, 01:17:30 PM
Auctions are good, rich dumb guys buy all the btc, they hold it, less coins in circulation, btc bagholders win long run.
February 18, 2015, 01:16:03 PM
But this has been known for ages. Not the exact date, but there isn't much left of Q1.
The sale is expected, but it's really annoying that they are not selling all 98000BTC this round.
February 18, 2015, 01:13:05 PM
I wonder if bullscammers like aztecminer & fatman will ever get banned... their only purpose seems to be to lure more people into the BTC trap, which is not only morally totally wrong but eventually also criminal....
Banning them is pointless. They just buy more aged accounts & get right back to their criminality
February 18, 2015, 01:12:39 PM
I wonder if bullscammers like aztecminer & fatman will ever get banned... their only purpose seems to be to lure more people into the BTC trap, which is not only morally totally wrong but eventually also criminal....
lol i am a bullscammer now ...... dood i play my own game and care less what everyone else is doing. take responsibility for your own actions retard.
February 18, 2015, 01:12:06 PM
But this has been known for ages. Not the exact date, but there isn't much left of Q1.
February 18, 2015, 01:10:31 PM
This is actually good news for Bitcoin!
February 18, 2015, 01:10:27 PM
Dont be mad that your losing money, it was an honest question.
We're going up and you know it
God, it would be crap if we crashed right now.
Posting a man who has aided in the us debt, as a counter argument to bitcoin crashing atm? Did I miss something
yes, plenty
February 18, 2015, 01:10:11 PM
"Looks like pizza, but it's not!"--Satoshi Nakomoto
February 18, 2015, 01:09:51 PM
February 18, 2015, 01:09:33 PM
I wonder if bullscammers like aztecminer & fatman will ever get banned... their only purpose seems to be to lure more people into the BTC trap, which is not only morally totally wrong but eventually also criminal....
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