I have seen Bitcoin ATM machines lately. Can someone explain why I would

[doc03]

want to buy Bitcoins rather than just use a debit or credit card. I don't understand what the purpose of them is.

[msongs]

1. seperate you from your actual money? nt

[doc03]

2. What I am seeing is another bubble like the 2000 .com bubble and the 2008 derivatives

or whatever they called them. I am thinking that maybe they are the next damn Wall Street scam to bilk
Americans out of trillions of dollars because it's too big to fail. It appears some people have made lots of money from
them so far..

[5X]

3. A nice convenient way to rid yourself of your money.

[unblock]

4. It's just another currency. Why exchange dollars for euro or pesos?

You exchange dollars for euro or pesos if you want to buy something from someone who prefers to be paid in that other currency.

So you exchange dollars for bitcoin if you want to buy something from someone who prefers being paid in bitcoin.

That could be a merchant who wants to avoid high credit/debit card merchant fees, or it could be someone who wants a bit more privacy.

Or it could be simple currency speculation.

[doc03]

5. More privacy like money laundering and tax evasion? nt

[unblock]

6. Possibly, but I think people make too much of that.

Authorities can see when you buy crypto and when you convert it back to dollars, and they can inspect the whole blockchain. It takes more work than with dollar transactions, but it's not as private as people think.

And privacy doesn't necessarily mean criminal.

[masmdu]

7. For many BTC is not used for transactions

It is seen as a store of value similar to gold. It has already increased 12× since March. ETH is a second generation BTC and is following a similar trajectory. And there is ADA which is third generation. It is still only pennies per coin like BTC was when it was first introduced. I have been buying ADA since it was .04 ¢.
The ATMs are to buy BTC not to use for purchase of goods so much as to use for purchase of other crypto currency like ETH and ADA.

[progree]

8. Apparently nobody is worrying about the enormous amount of electricity

that bitcoin and other cybercurrency mining uses. Much of that electricity comes from fossil-fueled generating plants (think greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions).

[masmdu]

9. Not true with ADA as it is proof of "stake"

vs. proof of "work" as is BTC. It is the "work" that requires electricity.

[bucolic_frolic]

10. I've seen videos of respectable older and prominent investors

that pooh-pooh the whole Bitcoin idea. One said it was not an actual investment because it doesn't yield a future income stream, one criticized it for not being readily convertible to any actual currency, and another said it is not viable because governments are not mandating its use by - their word - "fiat", in other words compulsion or law. Not actual currency in other words, and it's not like gold. If people stop using it, it's .... And it's very volatile.

[progree]

11. To get around sanctions, Iran embraced Bitcoin. Now with polluted skies and grid failures,

Iran has been closing even previously authorized Bitcoin miners.

Iran, pressured by blackouts and pollution, targets Bitcoin, AP, 1/22/21

.... For Iran, anonymous online transactions made in cryptocurrencies allow individuals and companies to bypass banking sanctions that have crippled the economy. Bitcoin offers an alternative to cash printed by sovereign governments and central banks — and in the case of Iran and other countries under sanctions like Venezuela, a more stable place to park money than the local currency.

... Iran’s generously subsidized electricity has put the country on the crypto-mining map, given the operation's enormous electricity consumption. Electricity goes for around 4 cents per kilowatt-hour in Iran, compared to an average of 13 cents in the United States. Iran is among the top 10 countries with the most Bitcoin mining capacity in the world — 450 megawatts a day. The U.S. network has a daily capacity of more than 1,100 megawatts.

... Iran's government has sent mixed messages about Bitcoin. On one hand, it wants to capitalize on the soaring popularity of digital currency and sees value in legitimizing transactions that fly under Washington’s radar. It authorized 24 Bitcoin processing centers that consume an estimated 300 megawatts of energy a day, attracted tech-savvy Chinese entrepreneurs to tax-free zones in the country's south and permitted imports of computers for mining.

... On the other hand, the government worries about limiting how much money is sent abroad and controlling money laundering, drug sales and internet criminal groups.

More: https://www.yahoo.com/news/iran-pressured-blackouts-pollution-targets-060359269.html

For perspective, however: "The telecommunications ministry estimates that Bitcoin consumes less than 2% of Iran's total energy production." Still, since it apparently all comes from fossil fuels, this nonsense contributes to global warming and other pollution.