HACKER Q&A
📣 john_zettler

Survey] Why do/don't you buy with crypto?


Hi HN! I'm doing research to learn why people do/don't buy with crypto (incl. stablecoins).

Mind participating in this quick, 3min Typeform survey?

https://rareart.typeform.com/to/ziER4c


  👤 psv1 Accepted Answer ✓
To pay with my credit card online I just need to fill in the card details (which are often stored on the website anyway, or auto-filled by my browser). To pay with card in person, I just need to touch in my phone (at worst take out my card and enter the PIN if they don't accept contactless, which is exceptionally rare in the UK).

To pay with a cryptocurrency I need to:

1. Be using a service which accepts crypto. This immediately rules out the overwhelming majority of services people use, live or online.

2. Own the same cryptocurrency which the service accepts.

3. To have it, I need to register to a cryptocurrency exchange.

4. To do that I need to go through identity checks and often message support a couple of times for one thing or another.

5. Now I can use a payment method to deposit money from my bank account to the exchange. NOTE: This step alone is slower than the entire process of just paying real money with my credit card.

6. I need to wait a couple of days for the bank transfer to the exchange to clear. The transfer also comes with fees.

7. While I'm doing this the price of the cryptocurrency is fluctuating and I have no way to know which way it will go next and by how much.

8. Now I need to transfer the cryptocurrency from the exchange to my wallet - this process is different for each coin and each exchange.

9. A few minutes later, if I've followed the instructions correctly I may have the privilege to pay with a cryptocurrency from my wallet. I will pay a fee for this and the payment won't be received immediately.

And I'm capable of doing all of this because I'm a somewhat technical person who's used to following instructions written by other people and has a basic understanding of cryptocurrency. Neither the older members of my family, nor the younger ones who don't spend their entire day in front a computer will have the ability or interest to go through this.


👤 verdverm
Cryptos aren't currency, they are speculative stores of value.

Too much volatility, losing key means losing money, inability to reverse transactions.


👤 makach
My impression is that people are holding on for dear life, just in case its value would increase. To me crypto value seems extremely volatile, there is a perceived high risk associated with owning it. Today it is valuable, tomorrow it is zero. I believe it needs to become a little bit more mature before it is mainstream enough for everyone to relax and use it the way it is intended.

👤 CM30
Partly convenience (cards/cash work fine for most things I want to buy, and without needing another account/any sort of wallet setup), and partly support (most sites/services don't get enough people buying with cryptocurrencies, so they have no incentive to support them).

👤 quickthrower2
A couple of survey tips:

Explains what a NFT is.

With the answer where the answers are drugs and porn, you won’t be able to distinguish between people who don’t pay for porn (or too embarrassed to admit) and those who don’t use crypto to do it. So you need a different survey structure to make the difference.

A 4 way choice for each category:

1. Crypto

2. Non crypto

3. Don’t purchase

4. Rather not say

Might be better


👤 Antoninus
I've been remote for 4 years, having some crypto is like having a free international checking account. Sure its not accepted by some vendors, but its getting better as time goes on.