Bitcoin may provide fraud free transactions through the blockchain, but only if you wait, with guidelines suggesting a day, and “common sense” suggesting maybe three blocks in the blockchain showing the transaction in question.
For most purposes a single block is enough. I think there only one case in bitcoin history where it wasn’t and the victim was a gambling service that was considered to be hostile to the bitcoin network for spamming it.
But would I want to pay for a meal in a restaurant and be physically restrained from leaving for 30 minutes while we waited for blocks including my transaction to come in?
In many places restaurant these days accepts checks. There no real reason for a restaurant not to trust a person to not double spent.
In many places restaurant these days accepts checks. There no real reason for a restaurant not to trust a person to not double spent.
Trusting a check implies that you can trace it to a bank account, which, thanks to the Know Your Customer regulations, in most cases can be linked to a specific person. Trusting a bitcoin payment implies that you trust a disposable number.
For most purposes a single block is enough. I think there only one case in bitcoin history where it wasn’t and the victim was a gambling service that was considered to be hostile to the bitcoin network for spamming it.
In many places restaurant these days accepts checks. There no real reason for a restaurant not to trust a person to not double spent.
Trusting a check implies that you can trace it to a bank account, which, thanks to the Know Your Customer regulations, in most cases can be linked to a specific person. Trusting a bitcoin payment implies that you trust a disposable number.