Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases • Hacker News Board

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#111

Post by clemensley » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 1:29 PM UTC

mbmott wrote: post #93

I could see this as Steam testing the Bitcoin waters. Steam games created an entirely new market of digital items changing hands for real world money, and this is done globally across all currencies--bitcoin would be an ideal fit. I could also see value in using bitcoin to reward content creators (modders). Obviously this is crazy speculation, but seem to be solid use cases.

> could also see value in using bitcoin to reward content creators

Me too. That's basically the mission of yours.network btw. Best way to keep in touch is the slack channel https://yours-slackin.herokuapp.com/

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#112

Post by vesinisa » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 1:30 PM UTC

mbmott wrote: post #87

aliakhtar wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because a lot of us understand the underlying tech, and how bullshit it is that a $100 cell phone has a higher TPS rate than the entire bitcoin network, which consumes more electricity than a small country (and all the CO2 emissions that go with it)

A $100 cellphone isn't a decentralized peer to peer network. You are comparing apples to nose-hairs. Bitcoin will scale in the same way the internet scaled... slowly and then suddenly.

For me the largest put off with Bitcoin is the community. They seem to be very intolerant of criticism, to the appearance of a cult or ideology.[1] The problem lies in that unlike most open source projects, a sizeable portion of the community stands to make huge profits, giving rise to a permanent conflict of interest. Time and time again, the financial interest of the early adopters continue to stifle actual development of the technology.[2]

[1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/49osb4/examples_of_rbi...

[2]: https://medium.com/@octskyward/the-resolution-of-the-bitcoin...

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#113

Post by flatline » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 1:32 PM UTC

StavrosK wrote: post #12

I was really surprised that the announcement that Steam may support Bitcoin made waves a while ago, yet the announcement that it actually does did not. I used it to buy a (horrible) game last night, and it worked beautifully. Contrast with PayPal, with which Steam is always confused about where I am and whether it should charge me in GBP or EUR. I'm never not using Bitcoin again.

They don't accept bitcoin directly, they instead accept fiat from Bitpay on behalf of people who wish to pay in bitcoin. It is an important distinction. On the one hand this makes a lot of sense for Steam, it reduces the up-front overhead and risk of accepting digital currencies and I would imagine it offloads the onus of AML/KYC compliance to Bitpay. On the other hand it is hardly a ringing endorsement of bitcoin itself.

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#114

Post by Cyph0n » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 1:33 PM UTC

forgetsusername wrote: post #84

Cyph0n wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry, but you're looking at Bitcoin from a narrow viewpoint. There are in fact people who actually need Bitcoin in their day-to-day. My home country Tunisia for example has very strict currency controls in place, which means that it is impossible to purchase any goods from outside the country or even transfer money overseas. The government now provides rechargeable card with a 1000 TND (~500 USD) limit that can…

That's a wonderful use case for BTC. But the overwhelming majority of bitcoin investment, marketing and ownership isn't coming from Tunisia. It's coming from the West (and China), where most people have no problems spending or obtaining currency (maybe China does). Why are Westerners so eager to make money off of people's inability to move money around poor countries, and why is it supported?

It's actually virtually unknown in Tunisia as far as I can tell. I'm hoping that with an easy-to-use service and some marketing and advertising, it can become a bigger thing.

As for why it's big in more developed countries, I guess it's because people are using it either as an investment device, or for purchasing goods anonymously.

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#115

Post by taesu » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 1:34 PM UTC

Oh man, this is really good. Have about 4 btc just sitting there. Won't have to spend money for games now.

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#116

Post by mbmott » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 1:34 PM UTC

clemensley wrote: post #111

mbmott wrote: post #93

I could see this as Steam testing the Bitcoin waters. Steam games created an entirely new market of digital items changing hands for real world money, and this is done globally across all currencies--bitcoin would be an ideal fit. I could also see value in using bitcoin to reward content creators (modders). Obviously this is crazy speculation, but seem to be solid use cases.

> could also see value in using bitcoin to reward content creators Me too. That's basically the mission of yours.network btw. Best way to keep in touch is the slack channel https://yours-slackin.herokuapp.com/

I follow you guys. Looking forward to trying yours out!

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#117

Post by jbmorgado » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 1:37 PM UTC

overcast wrote: post #67

hypron wrote: post #21

So many bitcoin haters in these comments... we'll see who's wrong in a decade or so.

Is this like the Linux on desktop prophecy?

It's more like the Segway prophecy.

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#118

Post by WJW » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 1:37 PM UTC

Flimm wrote: post #86

Cyph0n wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry, but you're looking at Bitcoin from a narrow viewpoint. There are in fact people who actually need Bitcoin in their day-to-day. My home country Tunisia for example has very strict currency controls in place, which means that it is impossible to purchase any goods from outside the country or even transfer money overseas. The government now provides rechargeable card with a 1000 TND (~500 USD) limit that can…

How do you convert TND to BTC?

I can't reply to Cyphons coment for some reason, but there seems to be a problem with setting up the trade he describes. If it's succesful, he will then be stuck with a large amount of TND, which he has no use for and, due to the currency controls, can't convert to a currency that is useful for him.

That is leaving out the point that both the operators and the clients are willfully circumventing the law, which most governments don't appreciate.

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#119

Post by clemensley » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 1:38 PM UTC

mbmott wrote: post #116

clemensley wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> could also see value in using bitcoin to reward content creators Me too. That's basically the mission of yours.network btw. Best way to keep in touch is the slack channel https://yours-slackin.herokuapp.com/

I follow you guys. Looking forward to trying yours out!

Cool! Can't wait to try it myself tbh :)

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#120

Post by drcode » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 1:39 PM UTC

clemensley wrote: post #24

hypron wrote: post #21

So many bitcoin haters in these comments... we'll see who's wrong in a decade or so.

I've always wondered why hackernews hates bitcoin so much. Can someone explain?

As a big bitcoin supporter from the olden days my impression is that there have always been many quite open minded people commenting on stories, and most of the criticism has at least been reasonably informed.