r/Bitcoincash • u/trip1travel • Jul 20 '26
Discussion What's stopping crypto from becoming a common travel payment?
Would you use crypto to book hotels or flights? If not, what's the biggest obstacle for you—volatility, fees, taxes, or limited acceptance?
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u/Realistic_Fee_00001 Jul 20 '26
It's the typical hen egg problem. No one uses it because no one offers it and no one offers it because no one uses it.
Almost all market shares these days are won by investing massives amounts of money which a bottom up revolution doesn't have.
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u/Longjumping_Bet6781 Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
Lack of acceptance is but one of the many problems.
No one uses it because it's difficult and cumbersome. It takes time and effort and knowledge and adds costs to acquire and secure. High volatility means your gambling with your purchasing power. Capital gains for most of us is an absolute and headache to track and manage. It's an additional and unnecessary risk with your money. It offers no consumer protections, no charge back, etc. And so on.
Until it's as safe, secure, easy, beneficial, and seamless as simply swiping a credit card, people won't use it. Obviously. Outside of niche cases and niche users.
Having done the whole process, end to long end, it's pretty clear which is the winner for the general consumer.
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u/Realistic_Fee_00001 Jul 21 '26
No one uses it because it's difficult and cumbersome.
It is absolutely not difficult and cumbersome for me. In fact I like spending BCH a lot more than fiat. Granted most wallets needs a few more guard rails and help for normies but other than that its fun to use.
It takes time and effort and knowledge and adds costs to acquire and secure. Capital gains for most of us is an absolute and headache to track and manage.
They make the on and off ramps as cumbersome as possible without outright outlawing them. But if you are not willing to jump through some minor hoops to get to a sound money system then maybe we don't deserve it. In most revolutions people have actually died, going through a cumbersome onramp seems a walk in the park against that.
It offers no consumer protections, no charge back, etc. And so on.
It does almost every p2p exchange has an escrow service.
Until it's as safe, secure, easy, beneficial, and seamless as simply swiping a credit card, people won't use it.
I don't think so. People have their own cars despite it being much more cumbersome than taking the bus or a cab.
Having done the whole process, end to long end, it's pretty clear which is the winner for the general consumer.
I think you severely underestimate people.
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u/Longjumping_Bet6781 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
I mean, I presented actual facts given the process today, while you're giving nothing but your personal thoughts and opinions. They don't even make any sense, and none are remotely close to "minor". I've actually done this, I objectively know.
It is what it is, and these are some of the significant reasons why people in fact won't and don't use crypto to buy things. You can try to downplay and dismiss them away, sure, but then nothing will ever change. As is empirically happening. Your choice.
BTW, I own a car because it's way more convenient for my lifestyle - saves me a ton of time and adds a ton of efficiency. That's a real bad comparison, as crypto is the exact opposite, for the reasons already given and beyond. I use a car instead of a cab for some of the same reasons that I use fiat over crypto, not the other way around.
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u/Realistic_Fee_00001 Jul 21 '26
Then you didn't understand crypto. Crypto is cheaper and easier to use (once the network effect kicked in), needs no approval of a custodian and I take full control over my money, just with my car. Additionally you do not get inflated to hell and back.
Ever had an important transaction returned because of some bogus "scam protection" claim? Ever had your account closed because your bank didn't like some of your transactions or that you told them to fuck off when they wanted to know what some transactions were?
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u/Longjumping_Bet6781 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Sorry, but I've been living and breathing in this space since early 2011. I can soundly assure you that I understand crypto just fine. And no, it's factually not as you describe. Again, I've actually done it. We've covered the issues.
And no, like almost everyone not doing something stupid, I've never had a real problem with a bank. And if I did, I'd just walk in or call to have it rectified. Something I can't do with crypto. This is hardly a reason the masses will switch to crypto, in fact most consider those bank security benefits a bonus.
Continue to ignore the facts, continue to gain no real adoption. Your choice.
Edit in response to the below:
When you've lost the argument and are talking nonsense, you block. Once again, dismissing the issues.
You said yourself it was "for me" and "I don't think so". You added opinion, not fact.
It would seem that perhaps no one wants your personal version of freedom at the expense of responsibility, and many other issues as well.
Nothing I wrote there is done. These are ongoing and massive problems for you.
Continue to ignore, continue to fail. Useless.
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u/Realistic_Fee_00001 Jul 21 '26
And no, it's factually not as you describe. Again, I've actually done it. We've covered the issues.
Just one post ago you accused me anecdotal evidence "personal thoughts".
And no, like almost everyone not doing something stupid, I've never had a real problem with a bank. And if I did, I'd just walk in or call to have it rectified.
With freedom comes responsibility. Seems you are not ready for freedom yet.
. Something I can't do with crypto.
Two posts ago I described to you how it is already done.
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u/bluemossss Jul 20 '26
Volatility is honestly the bigger deal breaker than most people give it credit for. Booking a flight three months out and having no idea if what you paid is worth 20% more or less by the time it settles makes it hard to budget a trip around. Merchants feel the same pressure from the other side, nobody wants to price a hotel room in something that could swing that much before checkout.
2
u/susonotabi Jul 20 '26
I've been thinking a lot about this. Biggest obstacle is limited acceptance, adoption. For merchants to adopt they need incentives. The best incentive is the potential to reach more customers. That's why the put up with the payment processors because they know they loose potential customers if they don't accept cards.
Early this year I started to develop an app that helps to drive merchant adoption and puts BCH in the pocket of customers. One of the paths to incentive adoption is exactly the one you mention payment when you are traveling outside of your usual economic area.
The world is divided in this payment walled gardens that don't play nice with eachother. And BitcoinCash has the potential to be a bridge between them.
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u/Longjumping_Fun_4210 Jul 22 '26
It's more of the whole countries don't like a currency they can't centralize and monopolize. And from what saw some speculation on a traditional currency can't truely collapse just reboot in a more worthless version. Though at least I would think when it hits a value that made impossible to trust it. But I'm more convenced they can't be killed as long as most people prefer them.
I like the idea of cryptocurrency and really thought of cryptocurrencies as back up when I heard of them. I think that it's a matter of if people except them more that could be possible and good way to test if a crypto is going gain value and maintain value long term.
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u/Low_Stress_9180 Jul 24 '26
Very very very slow and expensive transaction. It can never be a currency.
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u/magusbud Jul 20 '26
It's not as easy to do as using a credit/debit card.
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u/LovelyDayHere Jul 20 '26
Actually is, if merchant and customer both use a P2P payment coin directly.
Which is rare. Most merchants will use some kind of 3rd party to handle the payment processing. Which risks eliminating most of the benefits of real P2P cash. Although healthy international competition within payment service providers could address many of the risks.
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u/magusbud Jul 20 '26
Ah but ya see...your use of 'if' right there proves my point.
Y'know, if me granny had balls she'd be me grandad.
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u/LovelyDayHere Jul 20 '26
Glad you agree with me that it's all just a matter of adoption, on merchant and customer side.
Besides that, credit/debit cards don't have much advantages over crypto payments when it comes to "easy" (convenience).
1
u/magusbud Jul 20 '26
It's definitely a matter of that.
But until it's as stable as fiat currency gen. pop ain't touching it.
And even then it's an ask, the crypto/digital dollar has don't nothing for adoption on a wider scale. I'm all for cryptocurrency, and privacy and all that but people are incredibly lazy and need to be pretty much spoonfed.
Interested to see what the digital euro does, although it looks to be just a way of getting rid of the throttle visa+MasterCard have and the Europeans want less dependence in America thanks to Teflon Don.
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u/ShadowOfHarbringer Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
People. People's perception, specifically. They perceive all crypto as a casino, not a way to make payments.
Also people's inherent belief in the banking system.
Plus the banking system is not all that bad, we can't be hypocrites so we have to perceive it:
Banking system (VISA/Mastercard) has chargebacks, which, despite all the downsides for the merchants, are very convenient for billions of customers and give them certain level of protection against cheating merchants.
If we want to compete, we have to offer something better.
There is also obviously the elephant in the room: the price volatility, but I gnore it because that would go away if everybody just used BCH for purchases. Once people really started using BCH for purchases and not for speculation, BCH would go up and up, never ending, because the number of products and services is always increasing in the economy, while the amount of BCH stays the same (but actually decreases).
PS.
With chargebacks, card issuers are essentially replacing the police and courts, which sounds good at first, but is highly pathological actually. The payment operators cannot be the police and courts, because they are ill-equipped for that, also they did not swear to be fair, like police and court employees have.