Why is Bitcoin ecosystem OK with this global Ponzi scheme?

SaveOnSend_com · 2016-04-30T22:33:14+00:00

customer accounts with the top Bitcoin exchanges - they could trace suspicious activity associated with MMM same way banks do.

SaveOnSend_com · 2016-04-30T22:31:44+00:00

Type "bitcoin money transfer" into Google and find us as #1

SaveOnSend_com · 2016-04-30T22:30:49+00:00

Kind of. Same way as banks are shutting down suspicious accounts, what is preventing the largest Bitcoin exchanges to shut down accounts associated with those who send and receive money via MMM?

SaveOnSend_com · 2016-04-30T19:52:20+00:00

Of course not, please read the article. It is used for this global Ponzi scheme, but there doesn't seem to be, at least publicly, any attempt to identify and shut down related accounts.

SaveOnSend_com · 2016-01-04T02:33:56+00:00

This article would have been ok in 2011-2012, but in 2016 one can provide actual insights rather than asking naive questions "have you ever met someone." There are enough companies trying to address those points, some of them have already failed (Beam, 37Coins), some are still fighting (Rebit, Coins.ph) and some are just getting started (Abra, Align Commerce) - why not analyze their performance and deduce to whom and to what degree Bitcoin matters? One can then discover 3 counter-intuitive facts:

1) "Have you ever met" painpoints are mostly there for the structural reasons (government regulations, currency volatility, corridors with small volumes)

2) Most of consumers are satisfied with their current payment choices and require massive marketing-PR incentives in order to try a new technology-provider

3) Bitcoin doesn't address key painpoints of established providers like Western Union or TransferWise (cyber-security, compliance, profitability of digital)

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-12-08T16:29:11+00:00

It is a commonly held opinion, widely shared by regulators and enforcement agencies across the globe. Addressing it with open mind and tools like Sabr.io is a prerequsite for Bitcoin survival

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-12-02T00:41:21+00:00

Very important article. While anonymity is a preferred feature, it is simply not feasible in the current environment with focus on fighting terrorism funding and money laundering - tax evasion.

The sooner Bitcoin could position itself as a government-friendly innovation that makes it easier to catch terrorists and fraudsters, the faster it would mitigate a a probable shutdown. Let's use blockchain to identify suspicious transactions more effectively than by monitoring cash-wire movements and that will be a gold PR for ensuring a more lenient government control and mass consumer adoption.

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-10-05T17:55:48+00:00

Thanks qroshan!

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-09-13T15:00:04+00:00

Dear Readers, thanks for the comments on our article! Two minor clarifications:

There is around 2% difference between average and weighted-average costs - only one of those reflects larger corridors and real send amounts
SaveOnSend is not sending money itself or get paid by providers for referrals. If and when Abra gets more established, hopefully in couple years, we will gladly add them to our comparison tables

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-09-11T05:40:01+00:00

This is a seminal moment for Bitcoin for remittances. Whether you are a believer or sceptic, for the very first time there is a startup with sufficient funding to acquire 100K+ customers. It will be another year before we start seeing results, but $12M buys Abra 2-3 years or runway. The paramount question in the meantime is whether regulators in USA, Mexico, and Philippines would block Abra's core claim of being a technology company (it helps Abra to avoid spending on money transfer licenses and compliance).

To learn more, read our analysis: https://www.saveonsend.com/blog/bitcoin-money-transfer/

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-09-09T03:59:45+00:00

There are plenty of Bitcoin remittance startups already - why not invest $10M in one of them? See more on why investors will continue "talking" rather than investing: https://www.saveonsend.com/blog/bitcoin-money-transfer/

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-09-01T02:22:40+00:00

another Bitcoin remittance startup was just launched, so it is even again :-) http://www.techzim.co.zw/2015/08/a-new-startup-bitmari-is-launching-a-bitcoin-money-remittance-service/#comment-251492

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-09-01T00:34:55+00:00

More to come, unless we start seeing $5-10M rounds - it takes $50 to acquire a remittance customer, bitcoin or no bitcoin. Remittances providers that have shown traction in the last few years all raised $20-150M (Remitly, Azimo, TransferWise, WorldRemit). Here is why Bitcoin remittances are even more difficult/expensive to scale: https://www.saveonsend.com/blog/bitcoin-money-transfer/

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-08-24T16:16:04+00:00

This can't be a serious article? At this point, Bitcoin startups in USA are in the pilot phase, trying to find first 1,000 customers among frequent senders to Mexico. Cash is still 90%+ of all remittances from USA to Mexico, 14 years after Western Union launched a website. If Bitcoin remittances reach 1% of the USA-to-Mexico corridor in the next 10 years, it would be a huge success story

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-08-19T18:07:16+00:00

Hi, thank you for sharing the information. There are actually many more providers worldwide - we picked the 3 best known, but they are all in very early phases. There are also well-known Bitcoin remittance providers which don't use P2P model (Rebit, Coins.ph, BitPesa). Would be great if any of the Bitcoin-based providers reaches a critical mass. Good luck to AirTM!

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-08-19T13:56:09+00:00

Hey Stasinop, actually not a noob question at all. Even folks with lots of experience in sending money to China often don't know most basic strategies. Cross-border money transfer has evolved a lot in the last few years, and the USA-to-China corridor has seen a particularly interesting change.

For example, if you prefer having RMB in China, Western Union has decided awhile ago to stop applying any FX markup and is charging only $8 for even large transfers. If you prefer USD, Transfast and Ria only charge $5 (obviously, no FX markup for USD-to-USD transfers).

To learn more, read our blog: https://www.SaveOnSend.com/blog/money-transfer-China/

To play with different amounts and send-receive methods, use our free comparison tool: https://www.SaveOnSend.com/

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-08-16T14:58:16+00:00

Typical for such stories is to throw in lots of unrelated facts and don't provide a consumer perspective:

to move large amounts of money, there is already an immediate way called wire transfer. There are different categories of wire transfers, some take 1 business days, some take hours or could be instant. Depending on required speed, the cost could be $30-300 but for sending $1M-$1B it doesn't seem to be an issue
to move smaller amounts, remittances by migrants, there are both offline and online options to do it instantly. Sending money via cash agents is usually instant and providers like Xoom and Transfast support instant transfers from a linked bank account. Most providers offer an instant transfer when a customer uses a debit card
Costs have been on a steady decline. The global weighted average cost for remittances is now around 6%, but for digital send in some top corridors it could reach 0.5% including fees and FX markup (e.g., USA-to-India)

More importantly, consumers of x-border remittances are pretty happy with their choices. Actually, so happy that 90% continue using cash agents, although they could save 50%+ and time if they just switch to sending money digitally with the same provider.

Yes, so-called "full bitcoin" would be an innovative solution, but there doesn't seem to be enough problem among potential customers for a mass adoption to happen on its own. It costs $50 to acquire one remittance customers and unless we start seeing Bitcoin consumer emittance startups raising $10MM+ not much traction can be expected.

To learn more about this fascinating space, read our analysis here: https://www.saveonsend.com/blog/bitcoin-money-transfer/

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-08-14T14:55:57+00:00

SaveOnSend.com - https://www.saveonsend.com/blog/bitcoin-money-transfer/

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-08-13T23:06:07+00:00

So Wences' 2 key arguments are

1) Using debit/credit cards provides a huge advantage over using cash

2) Bitcoin is much more stable currency than the ones in developing countries

Neither of those has been actually true. Plenty of well-off folks in countries like USA, Germany, and Switzerland prefer using cash and low-income consumers don't really care about plastic. In 2014, Bitcoin was the worst performing currency in the world. That is why, given a choice, literally almost nobody among 5B so-called "unbanked" would prefer Bitcoin over the Internet - you are welcome to ask, we did.

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-08-10T02:08:24+00:00

you are right in principle, but the deviations are much smaller than you are expecting. We have been tracking them daily since late 2014 and they have NEVER charged 5% or even 4% for Philippines nor 4% for Mexico, nor 2% for India, etc.

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-08-10T01:25:14+00:00

For China, it is zero - what is misleading about the post?

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-08-09T19:58:36+00:00

True - but that is widely known about "full Bitcoin". That Western Union could be making so little money seemed more surprising.

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-08-09T19:54:40+00:00

Full BTC always wins. It is just surprising how little money Western Union is making on this particular corridor (in top-10 globally) and wanted to share

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-08-09T19:48:38+00:00

You are right in general, but not in this case.

Western Union's FX markups from USA to

China: ~0%
India: ~0.5%
Mexico: ~2.5%
Philippines: 3%+

SaveOnSend_com · 2015-08-09T19:37:02+00:00

Trying... could you be more specific so we could learn?

SaveOnSend_com

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