0.99 Bitcoin = 0.99 Bitcoin + freedom (I)

“Incoming transaction” That was the notification that woke me up this morning. It was a notification of an incoming Bitcoin transaction in my wallet. I clicked on the transaction ID link to find out more about the transaction. I was able to see the number of confirmations on the blockchain for the transaction, the address it was coming from, and the list of other transactions in the same block including the fee to process the transaction deducted from the source. That is quite a lot of real-time information. Shortly afterward, I received another message which read “transaction confirmed.”

I immediately checked my bank mobile app if a transaction I’d been expecting for 72 hours had finally arrived, the mobile app was still down as it had been in the last 48 hours. In the banking hall, when compared to the typical blockchain transaction, a lot of processes are manually done, and few are automated processes. A banking building can represent the mobile application or a central source where blockchain explorers’ usual details can be obtained after a long waiting and stressful period. In there, you can confirm your account balances, verify incoming/outgoing transactions and check on delayed transactions among others and you can be provided with details such as time, amount, and bank account numbers.

The security officials at the entrance and in the banking hall, including the bank vault and the software installed on the server, represent the complex security system. It is very complex that even the cashiers can be shut out of the system occasionally, and the security men can be coerced or influenced into a compromised bank robbery. The computer systems represent centrally connected ledgers allowing centrally provided information to be relayed to the customers and providing the cashier easy access to the customer’s account although each log is recorded. The walls of the banks are just so important that the bank cannot possibly survive without the current structure. And of course, you can imagine the lengthy spreadsheet data of salaries deducted from customers’ savings or made from investing customers’ funds that go into these pockets and many more.

A typical bank transaction is anything but transparent but has similarities to a blockchain-based transaction especially if initiated from a mobile application. From initiating the transaction, the customer is allowed to verify the details of the recipient before authorization. Then comes the expensive, evasive, hidden prolonged stages termed “Processing and Clearing”. This process can take a couple of minutes if same the sender and recipients are the same banks, and hours to days if they are not. In the processing stage, the bank will deduct the funds from the sender’s account and process the transfer. The second process where the requested amount is verified to be present in the sender’s account before sending to the receiving account is called clearing. All these are centrally done and not transparent before the notification of debit or credit alert is sent to the customer.

As opposed to a Bitcoin transaction, when you receive a bank transaction, seeing your account balance doesn’t make it usable or spendable. The sender can freeze the transaction which often can’t be reversed even if it was a mistake till the sender visits the banking hall to approve the release. The bank is also liable to freeze your account, denying access to the funds regardless of the pressing needs. The centralized server of the bank can be down for hours, days, or even weeks leaving you helpless. These and many more are services every customer pays for monthly.

So, then we all know the difference between “Debit/Credit Alert” and “Transaction Confirmed” asides from one being faster and affordable but the freedom without intermediaries that comes with it. So, when you send 0.99 bitcoin from your wallet to someone’s wallet, the value just doesn’t remain the same, you are giving out freedom as well at almost no cost.