Bitcoin Core developer Jimmy Song has caused controversy by suggesting that bitcoin enthusiasts would be better off using credit cards as a means of payment. He described this strategy as being "more rational and convenient" than making multiple onchain transactions. His advice flies in the face of the rationale behind Bitcoin and has provoked a strong response.

Jimmy Song Sings the Praises of Fiat Currency

Bitcoin Core developers are expected to advocate the use of the cryptocurrency protocol they help to maintain. Jimmy Song's invocation to use credit cards, where possible, has thus been greeted with incredulity in some quarters. "If you want to use bitcoin as a method of payment," he began his tweet, implying that there was something odd about wanting to make payments with a cryptocurrency whose whitepaper is titled "a peer-to-peer electronic cash system."

Song went on to describe his proposal for using credit cards to fund day-to-day payments and then paying off monthly bills in bitcoin. The justification for doing so was that such a mechanism would entail performing a single onchain transaction, rather than multiple ones for each purchase. Song's tweet, liked by various Bitcoin Core developers and assorted cheerleaders, is not uncharacteristic. Blockstream CSO Samson Mow has previously opined that bitcoin "isn't for people that live on less than $2 a day," and asserted that such individuals may not even be computer literate enough to safely transact with cryptocurrencies.