Bitcoin is a relatively new type of currency that has just started to hit the mainstream markets.
Critics claim that using Bitcoins is unsafe because:
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They have no real value
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They are not regulated
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They can be used to make illegal transactions
Even so, all the major players in the market are talking about Bitcoins. Below are some good reasons why this cryptocurrency is worth using.
Quick Payments – When payments are made through banks, the transaction takes a few days, similarly bank transfers also take a long time. On the other hand, virtual currency Bitcoin transactions are generally faster.
“Zero confirmation” transactions are instant, where the merchant accepts the risk, which is not yet approved by the Bitcoin blockchain. If the merchant needs an approval, the transaction takes 10 minutes. This is much faster than any interbank transfer.
cheap – Credit or debit card transactions are instant, but you are charged a fee for using this privilege. In Bitcoin transactions, the fees are usually low and in some cases they are free.
Nobody Can Take It Away: Bitcoin is decentralized, so no central authority can take away a percentage of your deposits.
No chargeback – Once you trade Bitcoins, they are gone. You cannot claim them without the recipient’s consent. Therefore, it becomes difficult to commit chargeback fraud, which is often experienced by people with credit cards.
People buy goods and, if they find them defective, contact the credit card agency to issue a chargeback, effectively reversing the transaction. The credit card company does this and charges you an expensive chargeback fee that ranges from $5 to $15.
Secure Personal Data – Credit card numbers are stolen during online payments. A Bitcoin transaction does not need any personal data. You will need to combine your private key and Bitcoin key to make a transaction.
You just need to make sure that strangers don’t get access to your private key.
It is not inflationary – The Federal Reserve prints more dollars, whenever the economy is sputtering. The government injects the newly created money into the economy causing the value of the currency to decrease, thus causing inflation. Inflation decreases people’s power to buy things because the prices of goods rise.
Bitcoins have a limited supply. The system was designed to stop mining more Bitcoins upon reaching 21 million. This means that inflation will not be a problem, but deflation will be triggered, where the prices of goods will fall.
Semi-anonymous operations – Bitcoin is relatively private, but transparent. The Bitcoin address is revealed on the blockchain. Everyone can look in your wallet, but your name will be invisible.
Easy micropayments – Bitcoins allows you to make micropayments like 22 cents for free.
Fiat Coin Substitute – Bitcoins are a good choice to hold national currencies experiencing capital controls and high inflation.
Bitcoins Are Going Legit – Major institutions like the Bank of England and the Fed have decided to take Bitcoins for trading. More and more establishments like Redditt, pizza chains, WordPress, Baidu and many other small businesses accept Bitcoin payments. Many binary trading and Forex brokers also allow you to trade Bitcoins.
Bitcoin is the pioneer of the new era of cryptocurrency, the technology that gives you a glimpse of the currency of the future.