This article assumes that things like transaction costs are fixed, and customer support is legally required.
If you removed those two assumptions, micropayments make sense.
Crypto currency actually can solve those problems elegantly. You can have low transaction costs. And, transactions can be anonymous and irreversible (depending on the currency).
Critics will rightly point out those promises are not always kept (ethereum gas prices, for example), but they are the goals. Lower transaction fees, I would assert, are not the goals of PayPal.
The problem is not technical. It's that there isn't mass adoption. If a well funded startup did a "Fresno Drop" they might be able to overcome that. That would be interesting and could be very effective.
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-fresno-drop/
Full disclosure: I'm working on such a system and have a patent pending on the process.
If you removed those two assumptions, micropayments make sense.
Crypto currency actually can solve those problems elegantly. You can have low transaction costs. And, transactions can be anonymous and irreversible (depending on the currency).
Critics will rightly point out those promises are not always kept (ethereum gas prices, for example), but they are the goals. Lower transaction fees, I would assert, are not the goals of PayPal.
The problem is not technical. It's that there isn't mass adoption. If a well funded startup did a "Fresno Drop" they might be able to overcome that. That would be interesting and could be very effective.
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-fresno-drop/
Full disclosure: I'm working on such a system and have a patent pending on the process.