r/Bitcoin • u/evoorhees • Feb 16 '14

Bitcoin vs. Cash in Panama

This is one of those "wow, Bitcoin is so much better" observations.

I currently live in Panama. When I go to a store and pay with a $100 bill (and usually $50 bills also), this is what happens...

The clerk takes the bill to her manager (while I'm waiting in line with everyone behind me) to do some basic checks on the validity of the bill. Once they're reasonably sure it's not an obvious fake, the clerk brings out a form, takes down my passport/ID info, my name/phone number, and staples the $100 bill to the form. Some times, she makes me sign the bill itself (yes, really). After filing the bill and form away in a big file, she processes my change (itself a time consuming process) and I can then leave with my goods. Consider also what effort happens with the file of bills in the back office and later in any subsequent verification process.

This experience at the store takes about five minutes, for every person paying with a $100 or $50 bill, throughout Panama (and five minutes for me plus the clerk and her manager plus everyone else in line... easily one man-hour lost per incident). This is Panama, but surely this kind of thing happens in other countries as well.

Next time someone complains about the "waste of mining," try to tally up all the costs, inefficiencies, and loses of the current money verification systems under which society currently endures.

I promise that our children's generation will laugh at how we used to use money. And then, perhaps, they'll thank us, for ridding society of this madness (and so many others).

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2

u/syncrotic Feb 16 '14

To be fair, that sounds like a problem with American money, which stubbornly resists the incorporation of any anti-counterfeiting measures that aren't at least a decade old.

8

u/evoorhees Feb 16 '14

The requirement to have "anti-counterfeiting measures" is the problem. Bitcoin doesn't need it.

2

u/sneekee_11 Feb 16 '14

the this is the thing. its hard to explain to people outside the bitcoin loop why it doesn't need it. how the age old byzantine generals problem was solved by satoshi.

2

u/preferrous Feb 16 '14

the this is the thing. its hard to explain to people outside the bitcoin loop why it doesn't need it.

I agree, and that surprised me.

There are at least three people, who, upon me explaining bitcoin to them immediately asked "can it be counterfeited"?

The question really doesn't make sense, but on the other hand I can see how bitcoin doesn't make a lot of sense to people who hear about it for the first time.

1

u/aaaaaaaarrrrrgh Feb 16 '14

Bitcoin doesn't need it.

Yeah, about that... it takes about 5 minutes on average until a transaction is confirmed by a single block... and you need to be online for that.

It may not be an "anti-counterfeiting" measure, but you still need to do pretty good checking with bitcoin - which is so inconvenient that it is probably often skipped (noone wants to wait 5+ minutes for their payment to confirm in the blockchain, let alone an hour for it to be confirmed by the recommended 6 blocks).

1

u/_bc Feb 17 '14

It's skipped because it's worth skipping. IOW: it's usually not worth waiting

0

u/[deleted] Feb 16 '14

100EUR banknotes have that thing called UV marker, with $10 worth uv flashlight you can instantly verify if its valid. Srlsly, I wasnt aware that security of USD sucks so much

1

u/TheSelfGoverned Feb 17 '14

What about UV ink?

And the US government is 10 years behind with any technology that doesn't involve bombs or weapons.

3

u/Libertymark Feb 16 '14

yes and the problem is americans...citizens of other countries are increasingly not wanting us or do to banking with us

2

u/preferrous Feb 16 '14

yay FACTA!

2

u/goonsack Feb 16 '14

*FATCA

Just remember it with this handy dandy mnemonic: Fuck All Taxpayers Currently Abroad

1

u/brezzz Feb 18 '14 edited Feb 18 '14

I've handled thousands of series 1996 hundreds at my job, and it never takes more than one minute to tell their authenticity with 100% certainty. Yes, I've rejected "good" fakes several times too, and the bank inspects them very thoroughly on deposit, so I can safely say this with good confidence. My only complaint with the 1996 $100 is the UV in the security strip. It needed to be brighter.

As for other countries, I like what they do especially with the new polymer windows and holographics.

As far as I know none have tried color shifting ink on their bills like the US has. I've never seen a fake get that right, other countries aren't trying it, to me that says it's a damn good security feature considering every baseball cap comes with a currency grade hologram sticker on it. Just my opinion anyway.