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Bitcoin Island, Philippines community update
1021 sats \ 14 comments \ @BitcoinIslandPH 18 Aug 2022 bitcoin
The Bitcoin Island community project now has:
http://pouch.ph (map in the middle of the page)
25 Food and drink venues 12 Retail and services 5 Grocery stores/sari sari stores 6 Hotels Several e-trikes for transportation
There are 20 more businesses going through their internal processes to sign up.
Pouch.ph office has opened since the last update. As far as we know, this is the highest density of bitcoin acceptance outside of El Salvador.
We are hoping some brave bitcoin pioneers will come and try to have their entire vacation using only bitcoin. If you want to be that pioneer e-mail us bitcoinIsland@pouch.ph for support.
The most up to date map is always at http://pouch.ph in the middle of the page.
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16 sats \ 0 replies \ @mary_imasuen 18 Aug 2022
This is so awesome! I'm half-filipino and it makes me so happy to see this update. You guys are doing great! Salamat! 🧡
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15 sats \ 0 replies \ @boltobserver 18 Aug 2022 freebie
Great stuff! We need to hear more often about adoption in Asia :)
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @allark 18 Aug 2022
(= Its so nice to see this =)
Tommy from https://allark.io
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Wil 18 Aug 2022
Good luck!!
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @satup 18 Aug 2022
Can you share more visual evidence of the usage?
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @BitcoinIslandPH OP 18 Aug 2022
Like a transaction ID on a global, immutable ledger? :)
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @satup 18 Aug 2022
yes, or maybe some live people's testimony?
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0 sats \ 6 replies \ @taxd 18 Aug 2022
Is there a single business where the workers get paid in Bitcoin? If not, this will fail.
If payments are done using Qr-code scanning it will also fail, since the UX of scanning is so horrible. Bolt-card payments might work though.
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50 sats \ 0 replies \ @ethanrose 18 Aug 2022 freebie
I've been to the Philippines recently and QR payments are the norm actually (well, aside from physical paper monopoly money)
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50 sats \ 0 replies \ @om 18 Aug 2022
No, I want to see the sum of a transfer on my hardware. This is why I'd rather scan a qr than wave a card. Also the card gives away an identifying URL while scanning an LN invoice preserves my privacy.
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @taxd 18 Aug 2022
It doesn't matter if QR payments are the norm or not. It is still bad UX with plenty of buttons to press. Any NFC card solution is far better, except for the 0.01% who value utmost privacy. In my country Visa prevails and no buttons are usually pressed. Bitcoin with QR will have a hard time here, I can assure you.
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121 sats \ 1 reply \ @BitcoinIslandPH OP 18 Aug 2022
Have you been here in Philippines? I ask that because it is fairly rare for many people to carry a wallet, ID or any cards. But they all carry their phones.
Have you used Pouch's UI and specifically the QR reader. When I scan the QR for demos it is so fast that often the user does not even see the QR was in frame.
Adoption is a ladder. We are putting the bottom rung very low: "have a possitive feeling towards bitcoin" This hapoens because they see our big office sign, see "bitcoin adopted here" on more and more local business. They might see a demo of me moving value from a US bank to their wallet instantly instead of waiting 3 days and paying 7% in fees.
This project is getting them on the ladder. You quickly said we will fail because you want to be on a rung of the ladder that is three meters up.
We want to be there too. There are many tiny steps to get there.
Do not criticize the sappling because it is not coming out of the acorn fully formed as a mighty oak.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @taxd 19 Aug 2022
I certainly do want to see this initiative to succeed. However the previous trials to establish Bitcoin cities have failed.
Arnheim City has seen a decrease in the number of Bitcoin transactions after an initial hype, despite all the efforts of BitKassa. Who has heard about Gent Bitcoinstad? Amsterdam as a Bitcoin City? Barcelona and Madrid Bitcoin Streets?
These things did not work because there was no positive feedback and no incentives for the people there to use Bitcoin. Only efforts by Bitcoin buffs who have no idea about how normal people live and work.
If Phillippinos use phones and scan Qr-codes normally to pay then Bitcoin is not at a disadvantage from start. In my country I prefer cash to Qr-code scanning every day of the week.
The second necessary step will be to get enough incentives that workers spontaneously want to get paid in Bitcoin, but I expect this to be very difficult.
Anyhow, good luck, and maybe the huge remittance market in the Phillippines will push normal people over the edge.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @0260378aef 18 Aug 2022
If payments are done using Qr-code scanning it will also fail, since the UX of scanning is so horrible.
This is clearly not true, as it's the norm in China for example.
It has to be said that the quality of QR scanning software varies quite a bit; it's possible to have a pretty bad experience with it.
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