Shops to accept Bitcoin/Litecoin?

[SnipeCube]

Apparently Bitcoins just fell below $100 on Mt. Gox. This kind of thing just shows that it's not (yet?) usable as a long-term store of value.

Their numbers fall and jump up all the time. It's just like the stock market.

 

[Logical101]

Apparently Bitcoins just fell below $100 on Mt. Gox. This kind of thing just shows that it's not (yet?) usable as a long-term store of value.

There having problems with their software, so you cant withdraw bitcoin from them atm but they say it will be soon fixed

 

[teller]

Apparently Bitcoins just fell below $100 on Mt. Gox. This kind of thing just shows that it's not (yet?) usable as a long-term store of value.

MtGox is not Bitcoin. MtGox is an exchange that is having issues with their software, just ONE exchange of many worldwide. The media often confuses MtGox, a website, with Bitcoin, a decentralized protocol, probably because MtGox was the first exchange and ignorant media sources often access old and outdated information. In fact, Bitcoin is about $580 as of this writing, regardless of what MtGox says.

It IS volatile, though. That is because it is young and illiquid. It is less volatile than it has been in the past as liquidity has increased. It is in the process of bootstrapping.

 

[pjk]

I actually planned to implement BitPay (Bitcoin payment system) into the puzzle shop here, but since I'm living in Thailand at the moment, it is easier said than done to get my account approved. With that said, I do still plan to implement some sort of Bitcoin payment system into the shop soon, speedpuzzles.com.

Honestly, for most businesses, Bitcoins are just way too unstable to use as currency. They are more useful as an investment than a store of value, because if Bitcoin loses 20% of its value (or more!) in a day then anyone who has stored all their money in Bitcoins has literally lost 20% of their money. There are other factors which worry me too, like the association with illegal activities, the mining system, and the fact that your money can be stolen/lost irrevocably just based on what happens to digital files.

So yeah, for shops, the big problem is that it's hard to be sure about the value of Bitcoins, and it's also hard to quickly convert them into normal money. Take a look at the price of the same cube on different sites - a lot of shops (especially the Chinese ones) sell cubes for pretty close to their cost, and make relatively little profit on each one. Bitcoins would just make it harder to stay afloat, since what you think is a profit now may turn out to be a big loss when you turn the coins back into $ or Yuan. It's true that some non-cube shops already do accept Bitcoin, but I think the situations there are different - either they don't sell a tangible product (e.g. adult websites), or the shop owners want to invest in Bitcoins by holding onto them and hoping the price will go up, or it's a gimmick to attract the kind of people who use Bitcoins.

PS: I can't believe Dogecoins are worth actual money. Wow.

Zarxraz already responded to this, but it is important to note there are tremendous benefits to Bitcoin. It isn't so much the "investment" into the currency, but what can be done with this technology. I'd encourage you to read into it more. I think you'd find it much more interesting if you did that - and with your background I think you could heavily contribute to Bitcoin-related projects (or even start some sort of project on your own). If you're interested, here is a good read.

 

[teller]

I thought these videos from the Khan academy were extremely interesting--how it works is actually brilliant:

Nerdy tech stuff about Bitcoin cryptography

 

[Stefan]

Bitcoin is about $580 as of this writing

Where can I see that?

 

[Deleted member 19792]

Where can I see that?

The link is right here

Also, about PayPal being weird, the biggest lie in the universe is "I accept the terms and conditions"

Also, BitCoin is good, but can be unstable. It jumps waaaaaay to much, and and get quite a bit crazy.

PS Anyone want to generate me some bitcoin go to my website and activate the javascript

 

[pjk]

You can now pay with Bitcoin on speedpuzzles.com. To anyone who pays with Bitcoin in the next month, post in the SpeedPuzzles thread here after placing your order, and you'll get 15% reimbursed on your order.

Paying with Bitcoin is just as easy as any other method, and payments are processed via BitPay.

 

[Lchu613]

The link is right here

Also, about PayPal being weird, the biggest lie in the universe is "I accept the terms and conditions"

Also, BitCoin is good, but can be unstable. It jumps waaaaaay to much, and and get quite a bit crazy.

PS Anyone want to generate me some bitcoin go to my website and activate the javascript

What's your website?

 

[Logical101]

You can now pay with Bitcoin on speedpuzzles.com. To anyone who pays with Bitcoin in the next month, post in the SpeedPuzzles thread here after placing your order, and you'll get 15% reimbursed on your order.

Paying with Bitcoin is just as easy as any other method, and payments are processed via BitPay.

next month as in rest of February or next 30 days

 

[plusCubed]

Their numbers fall and jump up all the time. It's just like the stock market.

I think you make a great point here. BitCoin is kind of like company shares that are used to buy and trade, except with a lot more fluctuations. I'm not sure if I'm making a correct comparison, but basically in terms of stability, it would be real currencies > stock market > BitCoin/cryptocurrency.

Where can I see that?

Here's a website with trading values at various exchanges: http://bitcoincharts.com/markets/


Anyway, on topic, I think cube shops shouldn't accept BitCoin just yet, reason being its instability. For shops, they wouldn't lose much if they implement a system that automatically trades BitCoin into real currency and updates prices in BitCoins based on real currency value. However, customers who don't know better can lose their money to BitCoin price decreases. If parents give their children BitCoins to spend, the problem is that they can increase in value rapidly one day, and the next day be worth 2 times less. Shops shouldn't promote usage of an unstable currency that can cause customers to lose money.

 

[stoic]

Bitcoin is about $580 as of this writing

Where can I see that?

The link is right here

Showing $629 now - 24 hours later. Volatile indeed

 

[pjk]

next month as in rest of February or next 30 days

The next 30 days.

Showing $629 now - 24 hours later. Volatile indeed

It is volatile, no doubt, but it has been much more volatile in the past. Look at the price over the last 6 months, or even the last 2 years. There have been peaks, like when the bank in Cyprus closed down, and then when the Chinese exchanges started to take off, etc.

As for utilizing it as a currency: there is no point in not doing it as a merchant. As a seller you'd save a lot on transactions fees, and as a result, you can have either higher profits or you'd pass the profit onto the consumers and reduce your prices. As a buyer, it makes sense to use Bitcoin to support this idea. I think Bitcoin will become a major part of the currency market in the world. With that said, expect US regulation sometime this year.

 

[stoic]

As for utilizing it as a currency: there is no point in not doing it as a merchant. As a seller you'd save a lot on transactions fees, and as a result, you can have either higher profits or you'd pass the profit onto the consumers and reduce your prices. As a buyer, it makes sense to use Bitcoin to support this idea.

My bold: I'm not sure you've made that case very clearly. Why? Especially given the downside risks.