What advantages does Bitcoin have as a direct payment network. What types of businesses accept bitcoins as a form of payment. What can be paid with bitcoins. And why not.
In recent years, it has become customary to use electronic wallets, apps for mobile phones that simplify and speed up purchases and payment for services. But this system has its costs: just as there are bonus operations, for others the apps charge a commission. And you also have to provide them with personal and banking information. There are also particular drawbacks: there are people who are embarrassed to give data to pay for subscriptions or purchases that have to do with their sexuality, for example.
Given this, Bitcoin is demonstrating its consistency as an online payment network without operating hours, with lower commissions and greater privacy for its users. In fact, paying in bitcoins is already an integrated option in many e-commerce stores, service providers and retail sites.
The process is very simple. The purchase is made as usual and when choosing the payment method in crypto (instead of card, for example) the system will provide a Bitcoin address for shipping, or a QR code to scan from the cryptocurrency wallet.
What can you buy with bitcoins
Airline tickets and hotel reservations
Subscriptions to online content platforms
Computer hardware, software and services (hosting, VPN)
Food, drinks, clothing, shoes and furniture
Luxury watches or high-end cars
Houses, apartments and land
Tickets to cultural and sporting events
And the list goes on: there are psychologists, pet food stores, and aerospace flight companies that already accept BTC. What’s more, there are even companies that pay salaries in crypto to employees who choose it.
However, in Argentina there are still no direct methods to use crypto to pay taxes or public services such as electricity. Although some of these things are already possible in other countries. What there are are some solutions like the Ripio Card, a virtual card with a balance in cryptocurrencies thanks to which you will be able to pay practically anything with bitcoins.
Savings and investments
Bitcoin as a store of value. Bitcoin and inflation. Advantages of bitcoin as a form of savings. Characteristics and risks of investing in bitcoins.
With the tickets you can pay for services or salaries and buy goods or supplies. But you can also save. It’s the same with bitcoins.
The difference is that Bitcoin does not depend on local economies or political decisions, while money loses value to inflation when states print currency.
In many countries, this devaluation only becomes evident after years or decades. But in others, inflation is so high that the deterioration is noticeable every month. For this reason, many people stopped saving in their own currency and did so in dollars or euros for a long time.
Bitcoin Savings
Can you save in bitcoins? Of course: anyone can purchase and keep them. In addition, they do not take up space, nor do they break or end up in the washing machine by mistake.
However, Bitcoin warns that its cryptocurrency is a “high-risk asset.” And because it has no fixed value, he recommends not saving amounts in BTC that you would regret losing.
Anyone who understands the risks and decides to store bitcoins to save capital can use online wallets as if they were bank accounts, like a savings account. This allows you to have a reserve of value but also to have it available soon, if necessary.
If the idea is to store them long term, it is advisable to use cold wallets, which are not connected to the Internet and are more similar to safes for digital information.
While “hot wallets” allow you to have bitcoins at all times, “cold wallets” are much more secure.
Investments in Bitcoin
It is true that some people accustomed to investing chose to store bitcoins with the expectation of an increase in value in the future.
Although the price of Bitcoin is unpredictable, there are people willing to take the risk because, despite having had sharp falls, in its history BTC has an upward trend.
There are also those who use this crypto for short-term investments, in search of concrete profits. These people usually buy bitcoins at a price and sell them when they reach a value that they are satisfied with.
However, these operations are not advisable, especially for users with little experience in Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and investments.
Value transfer
What facilities does Bitcoin provide to transfer value. What advantages does bitcoin have for sending remittances?
Sending money always had a very high cost for the parties.
Centuries ago it was justified by the effort and time it took to move values from one place to another, whether coins, gold, cattle or spices.
But even today sending securities by certified mail still takes days.
It is true that new methods appeared to send value between people, with bank transfers, then digital banking, and finally payment apps.
However, even if these operations are digital and no banknotes are put into motion, the commissions are still high and the deadlines are often long.
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Bitcoin works 24 hours a day, every day, and without intermediaries, so administrative delays do not exist.
Finally, there are international cash shipping services, but they only work during business hours and are only useful if you have one of their locations nearby.
On the other hand, these services pay the recipient in local currency, regardless of whether dollars, euros or pesos were sent.
All of these methods of sending value have high costs for the sender and the receiver: in some cases it is monetary (due to the commission charged), but it is also paid with the time spent waiting to receive the money or the inconvenience of approaching a branch. .
Advantages of Bitcoin for sending remittances
Unlike these different types of services, Bitcoin allows you to transfer value with a short delay (ranging from a few seconds to 10 minutes) and often with no or very low commission.
Part of the convenience of cryptocurrencies is that they are convertible to legal tender: whoever receives them can decide whether to convert them to local banknotes, to more stable currencies such as dollars or euros, or even to any other type of cryptocurrency or security.
And one of the most notable aspects is that sending value with Bitcoin, that value never passes through the hands of third parties: it goes directly from the sender to the receiver.
