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Bitcoin is just a terrible currency

View of stickers against bitcoin in an ice cream vendor’s cart in San Salvador on September 1, 2021.
View of stickers against bitcoin in an ice cream vendor’s cart in San Salvador on September 1, 2021. Photo: Marvin Recinos/AFP (Getty Images)

Bitcoin’s volatility makes it extremely bad as a currency, but there are countless other problems with the idea of trying to make bitcoin something that people use for everyday purchases. The bitcoin blockchain can only handle about 7 transactions per second at its very best. But Visa can handle about 24,000 transactions per second.