[bisq-network/proposals] Removal of money orders (#75)

[rainysam]

I would strongly recommend keeping money orders as an option of payment. It has been, and is, the only payment method I've used when making fiat BTC purchases through Bisq. I would prefer face-to-face (F2F), but I don't live in a populated enough area that other Bisq users are near me. I've made a dozen or so purchases throughout 2018 via MOs without any issues. However, my most recent purchase (January) is still under arbitration, and I believe is the impetus for this proposal.

Among all of the options to purchase with fiat, MOs are the most private. They don't require any ID to purchase and are purchased with cash (or maybe debit cards, although I haven't used them for this purpose). I've never cashed a MO myself, and I am unaware of KYC requirements on that end. I'd imagine that there isn't much scrutiny when someone's cashing a postal MO, as they're valid for $1000 US max and there's no default risk on the person who's cashing it (unlike a personal check, which will bounce if there's not enough money in the account). They're kind of like a cashier's check, backed by the issuer (USPS, Western Union, et al) rather than someone's personal or business account. MO's are probably the financial instrument most closely related to physical cash, as they're well recognized, difficult to counterfeit, and act as bearer bond essentially. When sent in the mail, it's sort of like sending cash, but with the added safeguard of being able to be replaced if it's lost (and not cashed by someone else). The USPS won't do anything for you if it is cashed by someone else, and will suggest that you pursue remedies through the legal system. 

I would definitely be in favor of more clearly defining the risks, so that potential future users are aware. I was aware of the risks when I started making MO purchases, and figured that it was a matter of time before someone tried to pull a fast one on me. That's the risk of using such a system. If I didn't care about supporting lousy companies or my privacy, I could make my purchases on Coinbase and save money on fees (fees being cost of shipping MO's and potential fraud risk) and hassle (going to post office and potential fraud), but I feel the extra cost in terms of fees and hassle factor are preferable to using other services.

 I'd say it's still less risky than F2F, when you consider the risk potential for violence.

Thanks for all of your great work, devs. Keep it up!

-- 
You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub:
https://github.com/bisq-network/proposals/issues/75#issuecomment-474473389
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.bisq.network/pipermail/bisq-github/attachments/20190319/4ccebe84/attachment.html>