(This is a fairly long email -- in my opinion the most interesting part is at the very end where I address JP's gold credit card idea. Scan down if your time is limited.)
At 11:55 AM 10/23/2002 -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I've failed to see throughout this thread how e-gold spends aren't reversible. Wanna reverse a spend? Spend it back to the spender! Presto! Your spend is reversed, and each party is only out the low spend fees.that's an outstanding point Jim!!!!!!!! *doh* !
Yes, but the reversal is the merchant's decision, not the purchaser's.
Good word. So a repudiable payment is one that can be reversed by a purchaser's decision.What we're talking about instead is *repudiable* payments.
Right ... a system like "credit cards" offers this ability.Sure. Just PayPal away and flash your plastic. Then pay it off in e-gold using existing market makers.
Since "credit cards" work perfectoly and there's no need to reinvent the wheel, I believe eventually credit cards will just add "e-gold" to the currencies they handle.
This easy answer does of course avoid Danny's central point, which is to attack the barriers to entry to DGCs. Problem is, this collides head-on with the May Scale of Monetary Hardness.
I suppose a DGC could conceivably implement a repudiable transaction if they put their minds to it. But what would it gain them? Would it gain them customers? Maybe. Would it gain them trouble? Probably. I'm not sure.
But Danny is correct to question why a purchaser would be motivated to pay a premium to a market maker to purchase hard money just for the privilege of making payments that he cannot repudiate. :-)
Perhaps a DGC would be wise to stick to its role as a final settlement vehicle, and just say tough cookies to the, uh, kitty cat customers that JP describes.
The benefits of using a DGC are then limited and clear. Anybody who has used the traditional banking and checking system to transfer "final" funds will see the advantage immediately.
For example, if there were no credit card system and every purchase had to be funded by bank wire or mailed check, millions of purchasers would immediately migrate lock stock and barrel into the DGC world.
But there is a credit card system, so the kitty cats stay away from DGCs in droves.
JP nails the problem squarely on the head when he talks about credit card companies accepting payment in e-gold. The reason that example is so brilliant is that it's a perfect case of where final settlement is DEMANDED and only hard money will suffice. Generally speaking you cannot pay your credit card bill with a credit card. The only exception is balance transfers, but that just defers the time of final settlement. All credit card debts must eventually be resolved in one of two ways:
1. A final nonrepudiable payment.
2. Default through bankruptcy or refusal to pay
SO, it is conceivable that someone could start a credit card company TOMORROW that took payment in NOTHING BUT e-gold. Their expenses would be lower because they would not have to accept any mailed payments, wait for checks to clear, etc. They would also have NO mailed statements. Therefore, they would not have to hire or create a giant clearing house to handle all that paper. Their paperwork and risk would be ENORMOUSLY reduced.
That gives the company a HUGE competitive edge. They can now charge MUCH LOWER interest rates than Mastercard etc.
The result? People flocking to e-gold in DROVES.
But before that happens, WalMart has gotta price things in ounces (or atoms!) of gold...
Screw WalMart. Do the gold credit card. -- Patrick --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use e-gold's Secure Randomized Keyboard (SRK) when accessing your e-gold account(s) via the web and shopping cart interfaces to help thwart keystroke loggers and common viruses.
