Posted by madars 7 hours ago
This kind of thing is why I'm optimistic both about Bitcoin and fiat currencies in third world countries like Brazil and India.
This sounds more like a cross-EU unified payment system/mechanism rather than a "digital currency" (which already exists).
Is the buzzword just flying over my head?
European Parliament committee backs digital euro - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48645468 - June 2026
The boulder that is de-Americanization has rolled too far downhill now and gained too much momentum; it can no longer be stopped.
The two thirds of Americans who either voted for Trump or couldn't be bothered to vote against him because they aReN't PoLiTiCaL are going to have to come to terms with their new place in the world one way or another. The US is no longer seen as a stable military partner[0], nor a stable economic partner as evidenced by TFA. It's easy to blame Trump but he is merely a symptom of the root cause, which is the attitudes shared by a huge number of Americans.
America will cease to be (and in some cases already has ceased to be) the world's epicenter of geopolitical soft power, scientific innovation, and financial clout. Treaties to which the US is a signatory are not worth the paper they're printed on. The foundations have already been laid, and the de-Americanization trend can't be stopped. For a people so accustomed to feeling like a privileged special class of world citizens, I honestly wonder if the American psyche can handle it. Probably we'll see a wave of people who "never supported Trump in the first place", just like tons of Germans were "never Nazis in the first place" once it became socially unpalatable.
So, congrats, I guess. At least you guys got some people with brown skin deported.
[0] https://www.readtheline.ca/p/matt-gurney-we-will-never-fucki...
Trump moved overton window so much we will be fed story about how we shall be glad for the corrupted but not vulgar politicians that do barely minimum.
I don't think so. In fact I think you, like the American delegation in the article I linked to, are dramatically underestimating the degree to which a lot of US allies feel betrayed.
Because nothing speaks freedom more than a crazily centralized digital currency
/s
Boy, will you be pissed when you learn about non-digital currency!
I've always found credit cards stupid. You just want to pay for something, and then suddenly you have a debt. You shouldn't be in debt when you can clearly pay with money you have. Credit card companies advertise with "super easy payments" and "buy now pay later" but at the same time the government warns all the time that "lending money costs money". Also, if your credit card number and CVC get leaked, then anybody can steal any amount of money, and your only recourse is to regularly check your statements and warn the bank within a month. Whereas with Wero/iDEAL you must authorize the exact transaction at that exact amount.
Supposedly, Americans have these "credit card rewards" loyalty program things. Doesn't exist in Europe. You can only pay, you don't get any bonuses. Which makes the only reason to have a credit card is to be able to pay in web shops that don't accept Wero/iDEAL.
In addition I can deposit money on my credit card, so effectively I never have to be in debt if I don't want to. I just have to charge it up which is done in like 3 seconds in the banking app. It can even be automated.
Lastly credit cards with bonus programs definitely exist in Europe. Cashback variations are the most common ones, but all kinds of programs exist. E.g. Eurowings has one https://www.eurowings.com/de/ihre-vorteile/kreditkarten/uebe...
(I don’t think the fraud distinction you’re making is as stark in practice: in the US, you’re less exposed to fraud with credit since it’s the creditor’s money, not yours. Reversing a debit transaction in the US is somewhat more involved, albeit for not-good reasons concerning the US’s aging financial infrastructure.)
Wero, SEPA, and the digital euro are complementing each others
The liability model is completely different in the US from Europe w.r.t. merchant vs bank.
The interchange fees are much much higher in the US, which is what pays for the rewards. Europe has an artificial cap.
The only reasons to use a CC in EU are:
- online payments where CC is the only accepted form of payment
- delay payments until after receiving wage
- hotels, car rentals, and other places that lock an amount on your card
- extra insurance provided by some more premium cards (VISA Gold etc)
Ever since 3-D Secure (2FA for CC transactions, beyond the CCV code), you have been liable for any transaction that was validated by it. Your bank may still do a chargeback as a courtesy, but that's not guaranteed.
It's not fully unnecessary step in-between when fraud is involved.
If someone hacks you/deceives you and somehow they got $5000 from your debit card, then your bank account is $5000 smaller. That can impact your ability to pay rent, or whatever you needed those $5000 for.
If it's via credit card, you have a decent amount of time to contest and resolve the issue.
the disputed amount should effectively be removed from your balance or offset by a temporary provisional credit until the investigation is completed
That's a myth. I had my debit card cloned and some money stolen. The bank gave my money back. Debit cards are protected too.
Between the time [some money stolen] and [bank gave my money back] your checking account balance was lowered by the amount stolen.
With a credit card, your checking account isn't directly affected.
Both are protected, the difference is your effective checking account balance in the time window between the time the money is stolen and the money is recovered.
You're just raising the price for everyone for the sake of Visa & Mastercard's profit. Europe's cap makes a ton of sense.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_household...
But I guess it’s the same logic as the tipping point/ salary culture in the US.
Or the fact that sales tax is not always included in the price.
EU has low fees for transfer, USA has high fees for transfer but apparently its easier for an US Citizen to dispute something.
At least as far as i'm aware, if i send money to someone else, its gone.
Whats that artifical cap?
I've never understood this mentality. It's like walking through a dangerous neighborhood knowing that you have excellent health insurance. If you get stabbed, you'll probably recover very well, but why take the risk?
I can understand going into debt to buy a house, but I can't understand going into debt to buy a can of tuna. Why take an unnecessary risk?