* You don't need a bank's permission. There are many unbanked people in the world.
Do we imagine those unbanked people being likely to have bitcoin wallets?
* Eliminates credit charge back fraud, which is a very big problem
That a problem, for sure, but in exchange consumers have no recourse if they legitimately need to chargeback a vendor. This is an anti-consumer feature of bitcoin.
* Nobody can freeze your accounts, like PayPal has done on numerous occasions
Unless you can somehow always keep your money in bitcoin until you exchange it for goods and services, you'll need an exchange to your currency of choice, at which point governments have all the ability in the world to effectively freeze your assets.
* Any business can accept money digitally, for example porn sites and marijuana businesses have had a lot of problems accepting credit cards
There isn't any technical reason that websites can't accept bitcoin today, and yet the number of websites that are offering bitcoin payments is shrinking, for well discussed reasons. I feel it's fair to say that that business have had more (and different) problems accepting bitcoins.
Yes, mobile phones far outnumber bank accounts in much of the developing world.
Also unbanked people exist in the developed countries. Ex convicts, immigrants and homeless for example.
> That a problem, for sure, but in exchange consumers have no recourse if they legitimately need to chargeback a vendor. This is an anti-consumer feature of bitcoin.
Yes it's one of the drawbacks.
You could argue that it's easier to have recourse against a business than against an individual.
> you'll need an exchange to your currency of choice, at which point governments have all the ability in the world to effectively freeze your assets.
You're imagining a world-wide all powerful and all knowing government which can freeze your funds. There are exchanges all over the world and you can even sell your coins for physical cash. Also you need to be able to trace all coins and then try to freeze them, which isn't practical if you use Monero or a good mixing service.
That's assuming you actually sell your coins for fiat instead of buying things or services instead. Or if you just hold the coins.
This is very different from holding the actual wallet and being able to freeze it at any time.
> yet the number of websites that are offering bitcoin payments is shrinking
Do you have any source that the number of porn websites are accepting cryptocurrencies less?
Cause that doesn't seem to be the case at all. Pornhub for example has partnered with other cryptocurrencies (bad move IMO but still). Playboy was working on it but apparently got screwed by their contractor. There are other smaller sites that have begun accepting cryptocurrencies recently.
This is also not a technical argument against cryptocurrencies. With time adoption will increase since the technology is here.
Here are some reasons why cryptocurrencies is a superior payment system, even for the consumer:
* The fees are lower (VISA and PayPal fees are priced into the cost, and they are much higher)
* It's anonymous (see Monero for example)
* You can send money easily to anywhere in the world (lookup EatBCH which is a charity providing food in Venezuela)
* You don't need a bank's permission. There are many unbanked people in the world.
Here are some reasons why it's a superior payment system for the merchant:
* Eliminates credit charge back fraud, which is a very big problem
* The fees are lower, especially important for low margin businesses
* Nobody can freeze your accounts, like PayPal has done on numerous occasions
* Any business can accept money digitally, for example porn sites and marijuana businesses have had a lot of problems accepting credit cards
A permissionless and trustless digital payment system has so obvious benefits I really wonder why people have trouble seeing them.
Is it ready yet? No. Are there problems? Yes. But the benefits are there.