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Western Union [0] charges $8 to send $200-600 from the US.

So if you’re sending the minimum amount that’s 4%, but that goes down to 1.5% if you send $600.

So it’s not very expensive and in many situations the transaction fee is less than Bitcoin.

[0] https://www.westernunion.com/us/en/send-money-to-latin-ameri...

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Much cheaper if using the Lightning network, which El Salvador is.

Giving an envelope of cash to your cousin that is visiting the family is also cheaper than Western Union.

We are talking about Bitcoin transaction cost, Lighting network has its own issues and tradeoffs.

How is the implementation of the lightning protocol used locally by El Salvador (if any) is of any help when transferring money from the US to El Salvador ?

Yes, 8 USD each time. Do you actually know how often people send remittances? Sometimes every day

Do you see the problem or not?

It's not as if bitcoin was free either … There's transaction fees, the exchange's margin, and the local broker's margin (because yes, many of these people can't just use an exchange by themselves to cash-out their bitcoins).

Also, I'd be curious if you had source about the “every day” part, because I find it pretty unlikely, since it's costly, time consuming (the cheapest way to send money is going in physical stores), and people aren't usually earning money every day …

> since it's costly, time consuming (the cheapest way to send money is going in physical stores)

DING DING DING we got a winner boys!

I don’t know anyone who sends remittances daily. Most send a portion of their paycheck so weekly or biweekly. And many people I know batch those payments to reduce fees so they send monthly.

The problem is that sending in Bitcoin is more expensive than WU.

Thats because its not economically viable not because they wouldnt want to....

Ever heard of the LN?

And because no one gets paid daily and wants to use it.

Yes, I’m familiar with LN.

Classic privileged american that cant see beyond his own backyard

"No one gets paid daily", srsly, you ever been to another country outisde US/Europe?

I see the problem with you just making stuff up.

The question is not whether there is a fee, but whether bitcoin represents a significant reduction of that fee.

This is what I’ve never understood about Bitcoin evangelists. Generally, I’m anti-crypto. But I’m very anti-BTC on the merits. It’s a bad crypto.

You've just posted an opinion about bitcoin without backing it up with facts. I'll happily engage if you post credible, verifiable facts that backup your claims about Bitcoin.

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