Newbies, read through a pile of content about covert actions people use bitcoin for: illegal trade and firearms and tax evasion. Presented in a such a way, bitcoin tends to be something highly suspicious for the most of the people, so they decide to stay away from it.
The good news is bitcoin’s 'criminal nature' is a myth.
In this article you will find five legitimate reasons why you should forget about shady economics and mason lizards from the illuminati government to show the great potential of bitcoin for personal use.
Bitcoin Bona Fide
Bitcoin is a digital currency based on the Blockchain technology. It has no central management, doesn’t directly depend on any government regulation and uses advanced cryptography to provide trust between two or more anonymous users. 'Coins' are stored in the global blockchain network, instead of the traditional local depository of the bank. Transaction data is automatically divided by blocks and mixed with other global transactions, making it a die-hard for all kinds of faking or information scamming.
Looks a bit scary, huh? Luckily, anonymity and participating in criminal activities are optional. In simple words, if you don’t like being a criminal, just don’t do anything wrong! The truth is bitcoin is more like the real hard cash. Instead of focusing on the dark sides there are at least five great advantages that an individual might have by using bitcoin on daily basis.
1) It’s Fast, Doesn’t Require a Visit to a Branch and Has Lower Fees
Picture an ordinary international bank money transfer with USD as a default currency. What you need to do is to come to the bank (usually between 9 a.m. and 18 p.m.), give them money and fill out the recipient’s address or other transaction details. Then the recipient has to wait for a few days for the transaction to be cleared and settled.
Bitcoin transaction speed is not limited by business hours, because it’s fully automatic: the blockchain system insures account consistency and funds security. This is the best time to say ‘no’ to boring bank lobbies and enjoy instant transactions along with the morning cup of coffee.
While a credit card can also give you similar instant transfers, bitcoin has much lower fees due as it is not connected to any central administrator except miners (users that confirm your transaction, making it actually happen).
To send or receive Payments both parties should have an active web wallet that is accessible from desktops and smartphones and both should know the public address he/she uses as a destination.
2) Chargebacks are Impossible
Since bitcoin is anonymous and all money are stored in the network, there’s no way to cancel the payment done. It seems like a giant flaw, because everyone has already imagined the situation when the online shop misses your purchase and refuses to give money back.
Would your payment be refunded? No.
Is that bad? Well, depends on how to look on it: while the absence of an effective chargeback mechanism creates a wall for clients, the same wall helps to defend the network from chargeback frauds. This is a criminal act, when the fraudster sends the payment, receives goods and then cancels the transaction.
No chargebacks means no attempts to use them to trick you.
3) Bank for Unbanked
Sitting with a cup of hot tea in a London street cafe and writing about bitcoin’s pros and cons is nice, but let’s look at someone who's not so happy. Governments in different parts of the world can make controversial economic decisions, which might bury the national currency in less than a year. The ongoing crisis in Venezuela is one example. A stable banking system can’t work properly in such conditions and that’s where the black market of exchanges appear.
Bitcoin stability is guaranteed by other users - as far as they believe it’s worth something, it is. There are also countries that still don’t have any stable banking system adopted at all and over 2 billion adults still remain unbanked. Reliable and accessible from anywhere, bitcoin can be an access to the secure and stable banking system for everyone.
4) Advanced Payment Security
It’s hard to compare fiat currencies with the decentralized from the point of security, because we don’t know all the measures each bank undertakes to protect its networks. But as long as your money is in third-party custody, the risk grows. The main difference with bitcoin is that your money is in your hands all the time, so its security doesn’t depend on anyone except you. With the emergence of bitcoin debit cards, it's even easier to spend coins in shops that don't accept coins with bitcoin debit cards.
It’s the good news for merchants too, since they don’t have to wait 3 to 5 banking days to receive the payment, like with a credit card and moreover protected against credit card fraud attacks.
5) Provides Security for Merchants
Another benefit for merchants and customers is the privacy and personal data security. No matter what data protection laws are being adopted year by year, private data leaks from online platforms happen on a schedule. Internal fraud by bank employees that sell the customer data, spammers or scammers drive this leaks..
Bitcoin user details are much harder to track, since all the information you send to the public is the 26 or 35-character wallet address. So, it’s impossible for spammers and scammers to parse the website or bribe the merchant employees to get access to your personal data. This eventually solves the spam problem once and forever. By using bitcoins you’re adding a security level against using your personal data for blackmailing and theft.
More Bitcoin Geeks are Expected in 2017
As you can see from this article, bitcoin can be used on a daily basis without provoking a frantic desire to perform criminal actions.
Moreover it has at least five advantages over fiat currencies: its speed, direct control over money, advanced security, spam-free merchant platforms and the opportunity to have a bank account for those who live far from the global banking system. Personally, I think that the best thing Bitcoin gives you is a financial freedom and flexibility.
It’s time for us all to reconsider the attitude towards bitcoin. The exchange rates are growing higher day-by-day, so if you’ve ever thought of buying some, now is the perfect chance to do it.
