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Ending Bitcoin Support

stripe.com

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Re: Ending Bitcoin Support

#21

Post by nvk »

cortesoft wrote: post #19
nvk wrote: post #8

They should have replaced it with Lightning Network, is amazingly fast and cheap and works on top of Bitcoin. I'm running a test node, this stuff really works! > Lightning is a decentralized network using smart contract functionality in the blockchain to enable instant payments across a network of participants. In case you are curious https://lightning.network and another good resource here https://www.reddit.com/r/B…

They mention in the post that they are interested in lightning.

Yes, maybe wishful-thinking but could have waited until a alternative was in place or at least have linked to a test implementation or something.

Re: Ending Bitcoin Support

#22

Post by Mithorium »

Stellar isn't a direct replacement per-se, it's fast and has near zero transaction fees, but the lumens themselves were not intended to be used as a medium of transaction, only to have a token amount to pay the miniscule fees with.

To use the stellar network as intended, there needs to be an anchor that issues USD/EUR/whatever tokens on the stellar network, and then have stripe accept those tokens (issued by anchors they trust to convert the tokens back into real money)

XRB would be another good candidate for low fees, but that one has no fiat pair to value against, so it's hard to pay a USD invoice with it when the value is indeterminate.

Re: Ending Bitcoin Support

#23

Post by almost_usual »

Seems to be a well written argument for ending their support while still maintaining a positive cryptocurrency stance. This will still cause many people to be upset because the state of cryptocurrency right now is a hot topic and changing quickly. Why didn't they switch to X? What about Y? etc. All of it requires development work and many of these currencies are still growing up. Seems like a reasonable approach.

Re: Ending Bitcoin Support

#24

Post by eropple »

nvk wrote: post #8

They should have replaced it with Lightning Network, is amazingly fast and cheap and works on top of Bitcoin. I'm running a test node, this stuff really works! > Lightning is a decentralized network using smart contract functionality in the blockchain to enable instant payments across a network of participants. In case you are curious https://lightning.network and another good resource here https://www.reddit.com/r/B…

They could also replace it with money, which one can readily and easily, through systems with well-understood protocols that are agreed upon by participants in those systems, exchange for goods and services.

(Even the Lightning Network people don't think you should use it with money. Not that that's likely to be a problem, what with it being for Bitcoin and all. Stripe also doesn't support any other commodities as method of payment, and frankly if they did I'd hope they'd choose cattle before Bitcoin because we know that cattle is actually worth something.)

Re: Ending Bitcoin Support

#25

Post by gizmo385 »

glesperance wrote: post #3

Given that bitcoin isn't a medium of transaction anymore and a store of value this makes a lot of sense. Too bad they aren't replacing this with another cryptocurrency at the moment.

> Given that bitcoin isn't a medium of transaction anymore and a store of value this makes a lot of sense.

Can someone bother explaining what this actually means? 3 weeks ago everyone is hype about how Bitcoin is going to be the future of currency and now that it's tanking and vendors are dropping it like a hot potato, its no longer a transactional currency and it's now a "store of value".

Re: Ending Bitcoin Support

#27

Post by [deleted] »

montrose wrote: post #15

This reads a bit like the sort of things people say when breaking up so as not to upset the other person too much. You're a great person, but you're just more of an asset than a medium of exchange, and what I need in my life right now is a medium of exchange. What future does an asset have if people don't actually buy stuff with it? That is not a purely rhetorical question; cryptocurrencies change things a lot. But t…

[deleted]

Re: Ending Bitcoin Support

#28

Post by wyldfire »

nvk wrote: post #8

They should have replaced it with Lightning Network, is amazingly fast and cheap and works on top of Bitcoin. I'm running a test node, this stuff really works! > Lightning is a decentralized network using smart contract functionality in the blockchain to enable instant payments across a network of participants. In case you are curious https://lightning.network and another good resource here https://www.reddit.com/r/B…

The article does mention it.

> We’re interested in what’s happening with Lightning and other proposals to enable faster payments.

Please be careful about promoting LN. It's great tech, yes.

> this stuff really works!

* yes, but please don't actually use it with money yet. [1]

[1] https://github.com/ElementsProject/lightning#project-status

Re: Ending Bitcoin Support

#29

Post by makomk »

glesperance wrote: post #3

Given that bitcoin isn't a medium of transaction anymore and a store of value this makes a lot of sense. Too bad they aren't replacing this with another cryptocurrency at the moment.

Well, there was about a month or two when Bitcoin looked more like a store of value than a medium of transaction at any rate. Fees are starting to look increasingly more reasonable now that the insane growth and massive speculation has stopped. (There's reason to suspect that during the worst of that period, a rather large proportion of transactions were to and from Coinbase/GDAX - not helped by the fact they don't batch withdrawals and have enough revenue to just throw money at transaction fees, which of course drove up fees for everyone.)

Re: Ending Bitcoin Support

#30

Post by blueprint »

I don't have any place to criticize at all but this seems pretty short-sighted. The primary criticism is low tps and fees… but that's exactly what lightning was invented to solve (edit: as I now see someone else mentioned)… and it's already working, in testing phase. Isn't it more effort to remove support then add it back again soon than just to wait a few months? So it /seems/ either something else is going on or they just didn't know and weren't told.
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