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Posted on 01/10/2014 6:06:49 AM PST by Errant
Newegg, the online electronics retailer worth at least $2bn in annual revenue, has tweeted yet another hint that it will begin accepting bitcoin payments in the near future. The California-based company posted this teaser today:
"Still waiting for an update, but will let you all know as soon as we receive word! RT @TheIanMerrill: @Newegg do you take #bitcoin yet?"
There has been much online speculation over the past month as to what Newegg might be planning. A company of this size accepting bitcoin would be one of the biggest gestures toward mainstream bitcoin acceptance yet.
What is often considered a very large flaw in the design of Bitcoin is that hypothetically, if a single entity contributed the majority of the network’s mining hashrate, they would have full control of the network and would be able to manipulate the public ledger (blockchain) at will.
It is an interesting concept because it is theoretically possible; the network is free and open, so if someone were to have enough computational power (which would cost a huge amount by itself), there is no bitcoin authority to stop them from doing so. In the event that such an attack successfully takes place, it is likely confidence in the currency would be lost and it’s value as a currency would decline rapidly.
“Wait, they’d have complete control of the network? They could do anything?”
Not quite. There’s only a couple things someone with 51% of the network hashrate could do. They could prevent transactions of their choosing from gaining any confirmations, thus making them invalid, potentially preventing people from sending Bitcoins between addresses. They could also reverse transactions they send during the time they are in control (allowing double spend transactions), and they could potentially prevent other miners from finding any blocks for a short period of time. That’s really about it – enough power to cause some serious mayhem (as that’s all stuff that isn’t supposed to be able to happen) but nothing that would seriously cripple the network – at least not immediately. They couldn’t reverse transactions from long ago, create new coins out of thin air (besides through regular mining), or steal coins from other people’s wallets.
In reality a 51% attack is feasible – especially with the rise of mining pools (groups of people mining together as a single unit). However the potential damage one could cause is small – though enough that it cause a panic that would seriously threaten bitcoin’s use as an online currency. At current network mining difficulty levels, not even large-scale governments could easily mount a 51% attack.
http://learncryptography.com/51-attack/
It’s pretty far down the list of threats. More likely a group of large governments attempt to dissuade its use by making it illegal.
I opened my Bitcoin wallet; went to send; pasted in the address; entered the amount in Bitcoin; and hit send. The wallet application asked if I was sure I wanted to send XXX amount to the address. I clicked yes, and the application then asked for my private passphrase, which I entered and clicked ok.
So I go back to Overstock's webpage and hit the confirmed sent button and I get a message telling me my Bitcoin payment was received and I it gives me a confirmation number showing that my order was completed.
It was very easy to do. A pleasant and secure feeling that I don't get when entering credit card information to make a purchase online. I also don't like having to check my credit card statement every month, looking for a fraudulent charge and etc., of which I've had a few over the years. I've even had to cancel more than one card and had to wait days for another to arrive - stressful!
Even the CC companies are looking at ways of implementing the "push" technology that Bitcoin uses.
I can imagine Newegg doing this.
When I need anything electronic, Newegg is the place I’ll look first, and rarely will I need to look anywhere else. Newegg rocks!!
Which exchanges have you worked with, and are there any you prefer?
I forgot to tell you what was really cool; right after I bought the first watch from Overstock, I get an email from the mining pool telling me that my little “miner” had earned another 0.1 Bitcoin. :)
I know several people who do trade them and they seem to prefer Btc-e.com. It might be fun to do some of that later, as mining is becoming more and more difficult. The transactions fees paid to the miners do help offset that some though.
For computer related items, Ditto.
Amazon for all my other "tinkering" needs. Amazon Prime is a heck of a value for $79 a year, if you order online and watch TV over the internet.
GREAT movie!!!!!!!
As far as personal information.
Where Bitcoin isn't as secure for the purchaser, is in reversing charges or if they are stolen. From a vendor's point of view, chargebacks cost them time, money, and bookkeeping headaches, so they like it that all transactions are final (and hopefully pass on the savings). That doesn't mean they won't offer refunds, it just means a payment can't be reversed by a CC company or bank.
No word yet on how successful Overstock's rollout was, but I suspect it was pretty big!
Has Overstock actually rolled it out yet? I poked my head in there and looked. Didn't see anything about bitcoin. (Nor, anything I wanted to buy.)
Yep, Used it myself to buy a couple of watches just last night.
Target says stolen info in data breach almost doubles to 70 million
Excellent info! Thanks very much!
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Yep, Newegg does indeed rock! I picked up many parts for the new miner I built with them. I’m not pushing it at all and I’m getting on average 3600 KH/s.
By the end of 2014 every retailer will accept Bitcoin. Corporate profits come in at around 3 to 4% and companies have the opportunity to double their profits just by using Bitcoin for remittence, shareholders will demand this.
It’s been a real pleasure getting up to speed and learning about cryptocurrency although it is exhausting but there is so much to learn.
We are still in the very early stages of adoption and future growth is unlimited, this is powerful technology and it won’t be long before the adoption curve goes parabolic.
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