Please stop comparing Bitcoin to VISA

I keep seeing people argue against Bitcoin based on the fact that VISA can process 24 000 transactions per second. Bitcoin obviously does a lot less and hence the argument is that it doesn’t scale and is useless as a means of payment.

There are so many things wrong with that comparison, but I’ll point out the two most obvious problems.

• VISA doesn’t actually settle transactions but merely approve them, promising payment some time in the future. Money doesn’t magically leave my bank account when I swipe my card. Bitcoin actually offers final settlement. That’s a huge difference.
• Bitcoin provides a layer 1 solution offering unparalleled security and decentralization. Scalability does not happen at this level. It’s like comparing VISA to bank wire transfers. However, look at the Lightning network which preserves the security and decentralization of the Bitcoin network while providing unprecedented scale. The Lightning network can easily handle hundreds of thousands of transactions per second for (practically) free. VISA charges merchants a 2% fee! Imagine how much money a big company could save if they ditched the card companies and just integrated with Lightning instead. VISA and others will have to evolve and renew or they will die.

People should read up on what Strike is doing and understand the difference between Bitcoin the asset and Bitcoin the network. It will do to VISA what Linux ended up doing to Microsoft imo.