
Bitcoin Available at 10,000 Indomaret Stores in Indonesia - sidko
http://www.coinsetter.com/bitcoin-news/2014/09/03/bitcoin-available-at-10000-indomaret-stores-in-indonesia-1455
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philipn
I'm living in Indonesia currently and I haven't seen anything being sold in
bitcoin or any bitcoin-related advertising anywhere.

This also seems like a big drawback:

"There is currently no offline way to purchase Bitcoin through the Indomaret
stores, however, since the users will need to log into their accounts and get
a code."

That said, it's interesting how many essential services are a la carte here.
You buy phone minutes by finding pretty much any seller on the street, handing
them some cash, and they punch in some codes into their phone for you. You
then use your phone minutes ("pulsa") to buy other phone credits (different
tiers of 3G service, text service, etc). When your power goes out you wander
down to the market and give them cash and your meter number.

This is probably a byproduct of a lack of banking and consumer credit
infrastructure for most people here. Can bitcoin / other cryptocurrencies
change that? I'm skeptical because bitcoin/etc don't solve the consumer credit
problem. And if someone's going to go through the ropes to set up an account
on a bitcoin wallet service and deposit money into it at the market, they're
also likely to be able to do the same with a banking service.

So there's the credit problem (everything must be paid up front) but then
there's the deposit problem. If the phone company or the electrical company
just had my <whatever> ID and could withdraw from it, I wouldn't have to pay
them every time the thing ran out. And I'm not really sure bitcoin/etc really
solves the deposit problem here, either.

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tinkerrr
> bitcoin/etc don't solve the consumer credit problem.

True. Bitcoin should be compared to debit cards instead of credit cards. It
isn't a credit-based system. The things Bitcoin is good for though (in its
current stage) are more specialized, like paying someone the equivalent of $5
in Nicaragua.

> And if someone's going to go through the ropes to set up an account on a
> bitcoin wallet service and deposit money into it at the market, they're also
> likely to be able to do the same with a banking service.

Bitcoin wallets are far easier to create than bank accounts. It's by design
that so few people in the world have a bank account, but anyone with an
internet connection can get a Bitcoin wallet.

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jarek
> Bitcoin wallets are far easier to create than bank accounts.

That might be so, but transferring real-world money into one (a requirement
until value stabilizes †) is not nearly as simple.

> It's by design that so few people in the world have a bank account, but
> anyone with an internet connection can get a Bitcoin wallet.

This reads a little funny when you remember that far fewer people in the world
have a Bitcoin wallet. Could this be a mere matter of implementation of the
design?

† IDR-USD moved 1.6% in the past month, Bitcoin-USD moved 19%

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GigabyteCoin
> far fewer people in the world have a Bitcoin wallet. Could this be a mere
> matter of implementation of the design?

imho it has more to do with the fact that banks have been around for hundreds
of years and Bitcoin is brand new.

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jarek
What is the rate of Bitcoin wallet creation, compared with rate of de-
unbanking?

~~~
markburns
That sounds like a fair question but could equally be disingenuous.

Is the rate of lack of use of bank accounts ever likely to be public
knowledge? There's zero incentive on the banks' side to publicise that kind of
information.

If it's not publicly available then your question sounds quite loaded.

~~~
jarek
> Is the rate of lack of use of bank accounts ever likely to be public
> knowledge? There's zero incentive on the banks' side to publicise that kind
> of information.

Public authorities can estimate this (FDIC in the U.S. has done so) and
general trends should be evident (if half of previously unbanked Indians get
bank accounts we won't need banks to tell us).

But fair - just the rate of Bitcoin wallet creation then? Maybe compare to
global/country population growth.

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Andrew_Quentin
Bitcoin wallet creation went from 1 million to 5 million since last year and
it keeps increasing.

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jarek
Thanks! For comparison, Indonesia's population has grown by around 2-3 million
people per year over the last two decades; India's by around 17 million people
per year; and the world's rate as a whole is about 70 million per year.

~~~
Andrew_Quentin
Those are absolute numbers. From 1 million to 5 million is a 500% increase. I
doubt any nation has seen anywhere close to a 500% increase in their
population numbers.

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jacquesm
Interesting. What is the path for redemption?

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Ad_Nauseam
Alfamart jangan mau kalah dah, hahaha!

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bhavinsw
nice to know that. i will soon check that.

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zapperen
Sweet. I will check this out later this month.

