[1] http://siliconangle.com/blog/2013/03/21/bitcoin-value-hits-7...
Yes. It's not gonna happen. What currency to turn your money into is irrelevant if you have the money. There have been alternatives to the official currency for millenia.
Not to mention when it's a matter of life and death to have access to that money, the slowness of Bitcoin exchange, as well as the volatility of the currency, are not benefits at all. What happens when it drops 20% or 80%, as could very well happen? It's neither established enough nor stable enough to give any guarantees. Better turn to the us dollar or other options.
Here's how easy it is, even from TFA:
>[Argentina] is the only place we know where you get better banking services out on the sidewalk than in the bank. Every time we go we take a big wad of green pieces of paper with Ben Franklin's picture on them. Driving directly to the town square in Salta (close to the family ranch), we then simply stop the truck and beckon over one of the many black-market moneychangers standing in front of the bank.
P.S As for the "Cyprus savings confiscations in 2013 provoking a previously unseen rally on bitcoin", that didn't happen by Cypriots. The kind of people who buy gold (light survavivalists) decided to ramp up on it -- still an insignificant amount, not even to the global economy but even to Cyprus' economy.
The points that you overlook are: [1] The USD is currently being deflated like never before and could potentially collapse without warning. Thus making it increasingly unattractive to hold over long periods. [2] Argentina's online economy has recently suffered a huge blow with taxes for online purchases outside of the country. BTC is already becoming the international 'money of the internet'. [3] Most importantly, Bitcoin volatility has been decreasing over time as the price & adoption increases. This is something that shouldn't be overlooked as it has huge implications for the pricing of goods and services in BTC. [4] Finally, there are many ways to do fast transactions in BTC. Have you ever tried sending BTC from one android wallet to another? It comes through instantly. Granted that larger BTC transfers would still require more confirmations though. Off-blockchain transaction services could also kickoff soon. [1] http://mises.ca/posts/blog/murdoch-tweets-about-money-printi... [2] http://www.npr.org/2014/01/23/265195791/argentina-imposes-he... [3] http://elidourado.com/blog/bitcoin-volatility/ [4] http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/11602/how-does-bi...
That cannot happen. The USD is tied to the Yuan to the Euro to the Yen and all. If it goes, everything goes.
In case that happens, and we're talking about a situation that could trigger something like WW III, BTC will be perhaps the least safe place. One of the first concerns of big governments would be to squash those alternate currencies, and BTC just has some bits and bytes, they have the police, SWAT teams, and international agreements.
>Finally, there are many ways to do fast transactions in BTC. Have you ever tried sending BTC from one android wallet to another? It comes through instantly.
Yes, but I was talking more about the transaction to convert your BTC to "some currency I can actually use for my actual buying needs".
(That you can use BTC with a "list of vendors that accept it" doesn't count. I don't want to buy novelty items from fringe vendors experimenting with alternative methods of payment. I want to buy a house from the realtor I want, I want to buy food from McDonalds down the corner, I want to pay my utility bill, etc...).
EDIT: surprised that someone downvoted this comment.
Basically Argentinians love dollars and we are not rational. Also bitcoin fluctuations and the difficulty to buy and sell bitcoins with a local bank account makes the innitiative very limited.
Even if that's true (there are ways, though) that doesn't somehow negate the idea that it would be better for the normal person on the street to be able to use a currency that -- while volatile -- retains its value better than the peso.
The idea isn't that the US Government will step in there and say "Here's some bitcoins use these instead" but rather that the people will decide to end up using them on their own, irrespective of policy.
Argentinians love dollars because compared to the peso they're a "safe" store of value that's not under the control of their government, and because so many people will accept them. Dollars are the de-facto secondary currency not because of policy but because of people. There's nothing that would prevent the people from deciding to use bitcoin or dogecoin or litecoin or argecoin if they so decided in the future.
[1] http://mises.ca/posts/blog/murdoch-tweets-about-money-printi...
At the end I can bet you $ 5000 that the bitcoin will be marginal in Argentina in the next 5 years. Do you accept?