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Posted on 03/17/2014 12:53:04 PM PDT by Errant
Bitcoin is coming soon to a town near you. Or, more likely, it's already there.
The five-year-old digital currency is increasingly being adopted by brick-and mortar businesses, including dentists, pet boutiques -- even a small honey business in Utah.
In 2012, about 1,000 businesses used BitPay, the largest processor of Bitcoin payments. Today, more than 26,000 businesses worldwide use BitPay, said Tony Gallippi, its cofounder and CEO.
The majority of those firms are small businesses -- about half are in the U.S. and the rest are international. And while a majority are online sellers, Gallippi said 20% are merchants with storefronts.
Most prominent in tech hubs like San Francisco, New York and Atlanta, the shops range from bakeries and wine stores to car dealers and mattress sellers.
BitPay estimates that there are currently about 5 million active digital wallets, or Bitcoin accounts, worldwide. But the currency has had its fair share of negative headlines lately for the volatile price, underground drug market busts, high-profile hacks and calls for regulation.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
•Man Named by Newsweek Issues Denial on Bitcoin Claim
•http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/20k54g/1000_btc_bet_that_bitcoin_will_outperform/
•Indonesia to Add Full Bitcoin Exchange as Merchant Network Grows
•Enters into MOU with Top Bitcoin ATM Manufacturer InterWallet
•Bitcoin the buzz at South by Southwest
•China’s Temporary QR Code Ban Could Have Implications for Bitcoin’s Future
I accept Alf Pogs.
And beanie babies!
How would a Judge rule in a Bitcoin value dispute?
I will accept gold, silver, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds (especially dark green ones), lead, brass, aluminum, titanium, platinum, rhodium, uranium or plutonium, and even unobtanium, but I will NOT accept ‘bitCoins’.........................
From the article: “More than half of BitPay’s merchants convert the Bitcoins immediately into cash. That’s what Kerr opts for, since it’s a way for him to mitigate the risk.”
Hmmm...so Bitcoins are risky; cash (the good ol’ dollar) is not? Interesting.
Let’s see....
Bitcoins were selling for $1,100 about a year ago, now the same coin sells for $700. Ouch.
What backs Bitcoin?
A large Bitcoin outlet, Mt. Gox, went broke under suspicious circumstances.
The CEO recently committed suicide.
The originator claims not to have any to do with the product, so who is the originator and where is the transparency?
Hmmm. I’ll pass.
“Bitcoins were selling for $1,100 about a year ago, now the same coin sells for $700. Ouch.”
Slightly off on your numbers, a year ago February, Bitcoin was at about $17.00, seventeen.
Last year it was in the teens. A few months ago, it was briefly at $1,200. And now it’s north of $600.
I would say your opinion is probably based upon some severe ignorance ... :-) ...
What did y'all do to piss 'em off, while I was away??? lol
It is uncanny how often the Bitcoin alarmists are so dead wrong on the facts.
They should realize that unlike Federal Reserve notes, no one is forcing anyone to use Bitcoin. Every individual that is using them is doing so of his own free will because he thinks that unregulated, electronic fiat money is a better medium of exchange than state controlled electronic fiat money.
I’m beating myself up not getting into it a year ago, like I was seriously contemplating. I knew it was going to go up, and it did. I let inertia get in the way of me jumping with about ten Bitcoins. I would have sold out at around $1,000. It actually went to $1,200.
I would have about $9,000 to $10,000 more in my pocket right now.
Oh well ... I guess I can get in again. I’m still wondering if I’ll ever be able to pick it up again for a mere $200 or $300.
At first glance the ARScoin is just another joke like dogecoin. "Recently, I became the first person in the history of Ars Technica to have a gold—rather than black—user name. How did I get this blinged-out honor? I bought it for the low, low price of 500 Arscoins—the latest digital cryptocurrency to hit the Internet. Arscoin is one of around 100 or so "altcoins," or alternative bitcoins, derived from the same source code as the original cryptocurrency." http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/03/behold-arscoin-our-own-custom-cryptocurrency/
But others will follow and will innovate at selling small amounts of value for small amounts of money. It will never be enough to buy dinner, that's why back in the food world it doesn't make much sense for merchants to accept any such coins, But it will become the foundation for all online interaction, except for the backwaters which some of the commenters on this thread will find themselves in.
In September of 2012 Apple stock was $700 and in April of 2014 it dropped below $400. Ouch. If you have any worthless AAPL please give it to me.
I wouldn’t worry about speculating on bitcoin with your hard earned plant fiber money. It is much better to maintain an awareness of the crypto currency markets and figure out how to offer some service to get people to click and send you their bitcoins or their “worthless” alt coins that you can trade into bitcoins.
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