Everyone was an exaggeration, obviously. WhatsApp is still very prominent and the primary messaging service in large parts of Europe.

I know Apple aren’t perfect but they are the only major tech company that even try to seem like they take privacy seriously. Obviously, we don’t know how much data they actually harvest but at least they say it’s all private and on device. They make a believable case for their product actually being their hardware. You even pay extra for that. Meta, Google, Microsoft & Co. are pretty open, that all they want is your data and that you are the product. So, unless you want to go the extra mile and actively pursue privacy (get ungoogled android or a Linux phone, and only use open source software, etc.), Apple seems to be your best bet, imo

I trust them a bit more than meta or google. Meta‘s main business model is selling data/ads. Apple’s main business model is selling hardware.

In Europe everyone uses WhatsApp and I‘d rather use iMessage than sell my soul to meta… (Which I am. And Signal and Telegram. Only using WhatsApp for work)

That’s not uncommon here, though, unless you pay for your bank account.

I can send money for free but only within 2-3 business days or to accounts at the same bank. Instant transfer to different banks costs 49ct

Once Linux is up and running it’s up and running. If I want to use crypto I have to go out of my way to use it for every transaction. I switched to Linux once Windows got more annoying than Linux was.

Fair. That’s partially why I use Linux while most people are still stuck with Microsoft.

Don’t get me wrong, crypto definitely has its uses. But other than national or international transactions that I‘d prefer to be untraceable, from a European perspective, it seems to be too unwieldy for day to day use. At least for the foreseeable future.

I use PayPal because it quicker and easier than grabbing cash from an ATM or to pay online. I use Apple Pay, because it’s quicker and easier than searching my wallet. Crypto would ad at least a step or two to any of those processes. It’s neither quicker nor easier.

That is legitimately great. Doesn’t make it a good or even viable PayPal alternative for me, a European, though. Or even a viable alternative for the Euro.

They don’t. They could maybe. But I want an easy solution to transfer money to people and pay online. Crypto is not that solution because I cannot pay with it in most online shops and I cannot send money directly to other people. The money has to be exchanged to some arbitrary other currency.

Unless everybody used crypto as their main currency and everybody used the same cryptocurrency at that, it’ll always be an extra step, subject to fluctuations in exchange rate and possibly fees/taxes. As long as that’s not the case, it’s not an alternative. So yes, it’s an adoption problem but one that isn’t realistically solvable any time soon

And then, who says what crypto will be used? Bitcoin, Etherium, Monero, Dogecoin, any of the other dozens?

then you would be an early adopter and very likely end up very wealthy

So it is speculative.

You can buy anything from anyone, anywhere, in the world at any time without permission

And should I feel the need to buy something from somewhere I need permission for, I will consider getting some crypto. Haven’t had a situation yet where cash didn’t suffice though.

It’s an extra step. Two extra steps actually. I can go to the store and pay or I can exchange official currency to crypto and then exchange it again to giftcards. It’s good that the possibility exists, since it’s de facto untraceable but it’s inconvenient, slower and frankly unnecessary for most people.

I don’t think I could buy my groceries with crypto if I wanted to. What supermarket takes crypto? My phone provider wouldn’t either and my insurance is deducted directly from my paycheque because that’s just how it works here.

But why should I base my shopping habits around a currency/platform when I could just use one that almost everyone takes. When I want to order off a random online shop, I do not want to think about whether they’ll even take the money I have.

I know one person who owns crypto, no shops that take it and I know of too many people who speculate with it. If it is the future of finance, that future is still fairly far away.

Still, I don’t know any non-shady online shop that takes crypto.

So, crypto?

Instant bank transfers cost me 49ct each and for most people I know it’s similar. PayPal is free. And I already use Apple pay, why would I use Google pay on top?