Negligible transaction costs. For small businesses this can save them 3-5% on their bottom line by not having to pay merchant fees. These savings can be passed down to the consumer as well, for lower cost of items.
Sending global remittances is much cheaper. Traditional wiring services charge upward of 10% and take days to process. Bitcoin is instant and costs less than 1%. Wire fees currently cost an estimated $400billion annually. This could be a big deal for immigrants sending money home
Financial services for the world’s unbanked population. They may not have banks, but they have cellphones. Kenya, for example, is using a lot of Bitcoin.
There are no chargebacks, so if you as a customer are due a refund, the merchant would need to issue it — versus today’s fraud-laden method where the consumer initiates the chargeback, whether it was founded or not.
Accounts can’t be frozen. This is a feature not a bug, especially if you are a dissident in an oppressive regime. Or even if you are a dissident in a non-oppressive regime.
Regarding asset storage, you can print out a paper wallet or store it on a USB stick or hard drive and put it offline in a safe or deposit box. No different than gold… well, except that you can carry it in your pocket too if needed.
But the best benefit: easier to buy drugs and prostitutes.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Bitcoin is the greatest thing ever or that it will take over the world. It obviously has issues like any new thing does, but I’m not ready to write it off as a Ponzi scheme or the Friendster of finance either. As a h4x0r it kinda gives me a stiffy. I’d just like to hear some cogent arguments against it other than “it’s a ponzi scheme” or “it’s a fad” or “who cares?”
