Bitcoins. Has anyone thought of using bitcoins ...

[ElisabethWhispers]

I'm VERY interested in the concept of bitcoins. So much that I've wondered how it would be to accept bitcoins for .... well, you know.

There are some other legal issues with the alternative currency but I think that we have an interesting opportunity here.

I would appreciate thoughts and comments.

If anyone has any personal thoughts about bitcoins that they don't wish to share here, please feel free to call me or send me an e-mail. My contact information is in my showcase area.

This could be something that would provide another layer of protection in some fashion. The world is changing, isn't it?

(And yes, I know about that other site. Let's not discuss that here! Just bitcoins for commerce. Thx!)

Elisabeth

[Sir Lancehernot]

Got a link so I can remedy my ignorance as to what bitcoins are?

[ElisabethWhispers]

http://www.weusecoins.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin

http://bitcoincharts.com

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Main_Page

http://www.pcworld.com/article/20142...-bitcoins.html

http://bitcoinme.com/

Here are a few. I learned about bitcoins several months back and have just put the idea on the back burner for awhile. And frankly, I thought that this group would be more interesting for a conversation about it than the national area.

Bitcoins are intriguing to me and there is a lot of confusion. There is also theft with this currency and there is NO refunds of products purchased with bitcoins.

If you haven't heard of it, you might wish to read up on it.

It could affect our industry if it ever takes off.

I find the whole idea of it to be fantastical and almost unbelievable and let me be the first gal in Dallas to accept bitcoins. (Although I haven't set anything up yet!!!)

Watch out, though. I might just be the first to try this!!!

EW

P.S. If anyone is interested in exploring this idea further, please contact me. I'd love to kick around this idea with a few people!

[MickeyBlue]

You might also want to read up on the Silk Road.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_(marketplace)

[ElisabethWhispers]

Originally Posted by MickeyBlue

You might also want to read up on the Silk Road.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_(marketplace)

That was the website that I was referring to with my first post. That site is something that shouldn't be discussed on Eccie, or any site really.

Maybe one of the mods in this area could augment the reference?

I do believe that the concept of an alternative payment method is something that is relevant and very much a possibility. Hopefully, maybe there will be a few folks who wish to discuss it.

Thanks, Mickey, for sharing!

[voyeuristicallyspeaking]

http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?...light=bitcoins

http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?...light=bitcoins

http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?...light=bitcoins

Frankly, I don't think it's a good idea.

[FishGuy13]

I'm interested, but being half asleep I won't post my thoughts at this time. IF as I understand it to be sorta like buying gift cards or a pre-paid CC, it sounds good.

[ElisabethWhispers]

Guess that I should have done a search on this topic before posting it. However, two of the above topics were from last year. Bitcoins are becoming a bit more well known.

It's alright if some find the concept to be a bit scary or difficult to conceive using. There are still options out there for those of us who might consider it.

Finding the mining bombs associated with it would be the most problematic thing.

And you can exchange bitcoins for silver and gold.

[MickeyBlue]

Bitcoins are getting more and more popular. Even Forbes is writing about Bitcoins:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmaton...ss-the-planet/

[ElisabethWhispers]

Thanks, Mickey!

In this world of ours, different alternatives for payment should be considered. Always, cash is king. I understand that.

But those thinking that bitcoins (or an equivalent that might pop up) is something out of a science fiction novel lack imagination.

I would seriously think that the younger crowd in this group (I probably won't live long enough to see currency change significantly) would be interested in currency from all over the world, and alternative options such as bitcoins.

I'm positive that in the next several years, or decades, this is going to be more mainstream even if this option (bitcoins) ends up not working out.

[HoneyRose]

I'm so out of the loop I assumed you were talking about 1/8th of a dollar

My grandfather always referred to a quarter as two bits.

My daughter used to have an "American Girl" doll (I think it was Felicity from the colonial period) that came with a bit. It was a little pie-slice piece of metal from a pretend silver dollar.

I apologize for thinking you were so old-fashioned. LOL! you're totally up-to-date!

Two bits! Four bits! Six bits! A dollar! All for Elisabeth, stand up and holler!

[ElisabethWhispers]

Honey,

Your sweet and very thoughtful! I'm smiling!

Thanks,
Elisabeth

[ftango4]

Bitcoin is for shit boys and girls. Goldman Sachs etal trade billions a day. Unless you are a currency trader or need to make or receive non trace, non dollar payments for illegal goods ala Silk Road there is zero reason to use unless you are doing a PR stunt(Tesla). Anything you can pay cash for, there is no reason to bit. Plus generally speaking you don't want to hold bit(volatile). And its not really designed for $200 transactions. One more note: bit just like the us dollar is not finite. More can be created hence effecting the value.
its an interesting concept, but away from the Silks not that useful.

sorry got interrupted by a big trade there. I think bit was invented by CNBC as some bullshit pr alternative to gold. they like to throw those two charts up against each other every morning. So all you sleepy heads out there...stay away from the bit until the next silk road rolls around and you see something big you need to buy....

[Roothead]

Maybe 12 months back, there was a poster here on the DFW board that had a long thread on the emerging bitcoin phenomena....

Because my work is focused on mobile, big data, analytics and security, as it related to banks, currency, trading and payments, I have "acquired" bitcoins and use them to procure that which is of low risk to me....

I understand that there are a number of people/firms making markets in this pseudo currency - and maybe, just maybe, given that the it is a virtual currency, it may just ride the wave of 'mobile" and actually become more mainstream, as an alternative "store of value" for virtual payment needs

From a currency arbitrage perspective, I know firms are "playing around with it", but their total exposure is but a tiny % of their mainstream currency trading

Given that the global economy is still run by central banks and their respective "fiat money" and given that since bitcoin is an arbitrary store of value, the real risk now is that there really isn't anything out there to prevent someone from starting up "coinbit" as an alternative, and so-on....

Another risk is that the speed of change in this area is like the technology itself, agile, always reinventing and always competing with numerous other payment approaches, that are also very quickly leapfrogged by another approaches

[donuts]

bitcoin is good if you're providing a service online, like webcams. otherwise, in real life, i'd say cash is better, because it's more anonymous and easier to use. fyi, bitcoins aren't totally anonymous. they can be tracked. and it doesn't offer anything better than cash anyway. but it is more anonymous than credit card. if you accept credit cards, and you're looking for an alternative (in case they shut down your account, more anonymous), then bitcoin is a good alternative. another reason to accept bitcoin is it's just another way for people to pay you, all you need is a free app on your phone, and bitcoin users like to spend their bitcoins, so accepting bitcoins won't hurt you and could provide an extra source of income. just don't expect it to replace cash.