> sending $40 [with MoneyGram] costs $10, which is, you know, crazy
Yes, that's crazy. Send $40 to your brother, and he only receives $30.
But it's even more crazy than that. On top of the $10 fee, MoneyGram then skims more money with an unfavorable currency exchange rate.
> if there’s only one guy in your town exchanging Bitcoin for regular cash, he can gouge you worse than MoneyGram
If this one guy gives you a Bitcoin rate worse than MoneyGram, then you'll just use MoneyGram.
The local MoneyGram agent only keeps a small slice of the 25% fee. If a Bitcoin entrepreneur could make more profit with a 10% fee than he would with MoneyGram, the recipient could keep $36 of the transfer instead of $30.
Eliminate the rapacious middleman, everybody wins.
Yes, that's crazy. Send $40 to your brother, and he only receives $30.
But it's even more crazy than that. On top of the $10 fee, MoneyGram then skims more money with an unfavorable currency exchange rate.
> if there’s only one guy in your town exchanging Bitcoin for regular cash, he can gouge you worse than MoneyGram
If this one guy gives you a Bitcoin rate worse than MoneyGram, then you'll just use MoneyGram.
The local MoneyGram agent only keeps a small slice of the 25% fee. If a Bitcoin entrepreneur could make more profit with a 10% fee than he would with MoneyGram, the recipient could keep $36 of the transfer instead of $30.
Eliminate the rapacious middleman, everybody wins.