First U.S. bitcoin ATMs to open soon in Seattle, Austin

Yahoo News ^ | Phil Wahba

[djf]

Robocoin said on Tuesday that later this month it will install the first automated teller machines in the United States that let users buy and sell bitcoin, the latest step into the mainstream for the digital currency.

The kiosks, to be installed in Seattle, and Austin, Texas, are similar to ATMs but have scanners to read government-issued identification such as a driver's license or a passport to confirm users' identities.

[catnipman]

New BitCoin ATM machines:

[mmichaels1970]

It’s easier for the Feds to track this than to track cash. Even easier than credit card transaction

I agree that it's easier than tracking cash. Not so sure that it's easier than credit card transactions though.

Credit cards require verifiable identity information for the cardholder. I believe you can start a bitcoin wallet with no identification whatsoever. You can move coins in and out of it without any id. You simply need to have personal control over your wallet.

The bitcoin would be easier than cash to track because the transactions could possibly be traced back to the source ip address possibly proving that the transaction came from your computer.

With one handshake with a credit card company, millions of users' card data can be turned over. With bitcoin, the feds would have to individually trace and track down each user separately.

Export your wallet to a USB drive, throw your computer away, and say "what wallet?" and you may throw up a few roadblocks. Take your laptop to a public wifi network so your IP address can't be traced to you, and perform your transactions there. They might come up with your MAC address, but their level of difficulty in tracing has gone up (and there's ways around that too).

[Cementjungle]

The appeal is simply to have currency that won’t depreciate.

Bitcoins were worth over $1200 in December, and now they're below $600. I guess the idea is to get a bunch of suckers to buy and drive up the price, then quick dump them before they vanish into thin air.

BTW... what's the FDIC limit on insurance for them? Ah... right... $0.

[palmer]

There are a few fluctuations due to speculation. Most people are just accumulating and not spending, slow velocity of money means deflation which jacks up the value of bitcoin. That should start to even out as more vendors accept them.

[palmer]

The chain contains a record of all transactions and various statistical techniques can be used to group buyers and sellers and that gives the feds lots of interesting info considering they are probably also buyers and sellers.

[Cementjungle]

So I’m not sure the FED has any jurisdiction. I mean I could go on Amazon and sell single hairs off the top of my head and the FED wouldn’t have power to stop it.

Any gains you make from Bitcoins would be taxable just like barter gains, or anything else. They just haven't yet hammered out the details (capital gains vs. ordinary income, etc.).

The IRS has the power to look into your safe deposit box, so I don't see why they wouldn't have the power to look inside your digital wallet if they have probable cause.

[NormsRevenge]

I’ve developed a new currency.. It’s called CheezBit.

You can order as many as you like, the currency consists of 100 kilo chunks of swiss chee$e.

I currently have multiple restaurants, pizza parlors and fondue shoppes eager to embrace the cheese and trade in same.

You can even , Yes, cut the cheese. .. and make every smile.. as you leave a big tip.

[TsonicTsunami08]

Hey Norm... Semper Fi,

I see in your signature a revolution brewin. I beleive it was one of the Rothchilds who said ( I paraphrase) he cared not who makes the laws as long as he controlled the money.

It is clear to me that you use humor as a defense mechanism for a lack of understanding of what Bitcoin and it’s underlying protocol is. It is truly a revolution that will and is changing everything.

Did anyone see the practical value of watching a box with pictures and sound in your home? Every home now has a television.

The great Paul Krugman /s said that the internet would have the same economic impact as the fax machine. He was dead wrong as usual.

Bitcoin is a new invention and as such it is hard to get our minds around it. It is not unicorn money, fairy dust or cheese.

If you don’t want to get left behind economically I suggest you ramp up your brain housing unit and learn as much as you can and most importantly take action. This technology is here to stay and can not be uninvented.
Semper Fi Teufel Hunden!