Ever since Bitcoin was launched in 2009, it has been used in many countries and by many firms. Evermore countries and firms are accepting and using Bitcoins in their monetary transactions.
Bitcoin has quite a few uses, which is what we’re going to see in this article. Bitcoin also offers several advantages over traditional money and traditional Net Banking systems. Therefore, evermore people are buying and using Bitcoins and the value of one Bitcoin is steadily heading northwards.
Uses of Bitcoins
Due to the security, privacy, accuracy, and adaptability provided by Bitcoins, they are used for many purposes. They are:
Spending money privately
In Bitcoin transactions, people and organizations are identified by their public keys and not by their names. This feature of Bitcoin provides a great deal of privacy and security to people and organizations.
This feature can come in handy if one is paying for a controversial healthcare procedure (like having a test tube baby or changing one’s sex) in a hospital, doing business in an oppressive country, etcetera.
Unfortunately, this feature of Bitcoin also has its cons. Many criminals and criminal organizations are able to use privacy (anonymity) provided by Bitcoin transactions for money laundering and funding criminal activities.
An example of that is the notorious Silk Road incident where criminals bought and sold illegal drugs and confidential government documents securely and privately. This incident exposed one of Bitcoin’s major flaws.
For international money transfer
If you pay for things or transfer money using traditional Net Banking systems, there will be a convenience charge applied. This charge can vary from 0.1% to 1% of the transaction amount, depending on your bank. For international money transfers, this convenience charge can go up to 7.75% of the transaction amount.
Bitcoin charges only a 0.0001% convenience fee for international money transactions. Bitcoin money transactions done within the same country (domestic transactions) are free of convenience charges. Other cryptocurrencies to charge a very low convenience fee for domestic and international money transactions.
The transaction time of Bitcoin transactions is also very low. It does not exceed more than a few minutes for international money transactions. Domestic money transactions are done in an instant.
The fact that Bitcoin transactions have a very low convenience fee is something that people find very convenient. After all, who would want a high convenience fee eating into their transferred money? It only upsets people.
Purchasing of normal goods
People can use Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies to purchase regular goods like food, groceries, vehicles, jewelry, and other goods. As Bitcoin becomes ever more popular, such activities will only become more common.
One more good news is that, as more and more people buy and use Bitcoins, the value of one Bitcoin and its sub-denominations are steadily increasing. This means that if you had invested in Bitcoins before (it’s still not too late), you can buy more goods for the same amount of Bitcoins as time progresses.
As more and more governments, firms, and merchants accept Bitcoins the usage of Bitcoins will only increase in the future. In case you are looking to set up your own cryptocurrency exchange website, you can download the Cryptocurrency exchange script.
Conclusion
The future of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is uncertain. While Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies do offer several advantages over traditional currencies and traditional banking systems in terms of security, privacy, accuracy, swiftness, economy, and adaptability, they also have serious drawbacks.
Firstly, most of the countries are not receptive (accepting) towards Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Out of the 191 countries in the world, only 7 countries are accepting Bitcoin as of today. They include China, Russia, the US, Canada, Australia, the EU, and Finland. So, Bitcoin is far from becoming a global currency. Its use is limited to only those seven countries.
The privacy and security offered by Bitcoin transactions enable criminals and criminal organizations to use Bitcoins for criminal activities like money laundering, buying and selling of illegal drugs, weapons, and goods, buying and selling of confidential government documents, buying and selling of black property, etcetera (like in the Silk Road).
Due to the high risk of misuse of Bitcoins by criminals and criminal organizations, Bitcoins cannot be implemented on a global scale presently. The founders of Bitcoin have to come up with a solution for the misuse of Bitcoins before Bitcoins can be used globally. So, think before you invest or trade in Bitcoins.
