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Stripe: Bitcoin

stripe.com

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Re: Stripe: Bitcoin

#111

Post by derefr »

thesimon wrote: post #68
ihodes wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the linked page: > Fluctuation-resistant > Avoid exchange rate hassles—specify amounts in USD and we’ll send you dollars.

He's probably more referring to the customers side. Why should I buy bitcoins for let's say $300 and risk them being worth $200 in a few weeks (which would cost me 33%) instead of keeping my money and paying directly (maybe 3% fees for the seller)?

It's a much more nuanced question if you don't hold USD in the first place. Here I have a choice between holding BTC and holding CAD. Both fluctuate compared to the prices of stuff I want to buy from US retailers.

Re: Stripe: Bitcoin

#112

Post by BryanB55 »

grubles wrote: post #105
patrickaljord wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the crutch now is not that it's hard to acquire bitcoins (thanks to coinbase and friends) or pay with bitcoin (thanks to stripe and friends), no, the only crutch is why should I buy bitcoins with my dollars when I can just pay with my dollars directly? It can be useful for people who either don't have access to credit cards but have access to bitcoins, people who already have a lot of bitcoins and curious tec…

>when I can just pay with my dollars directly? Credit card transactions take something like 180 days to confirm. Within those 180 days one can issue a chargeback. Bitcoin transactions take ~10-60 minutes (depending on the required number of confirmations) and cannot be clawed back.

Those all sound like good reasons for a seller to take bitcoin but not for the buyer to use it.

Re: Stripe: Bitcoin

#113

Post by zdrummond »

grubles wrote: post #105
patrickaljord wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the crutch now is not that it's hard to acquire bitcoins (thanks to coinbase and friends) or pay with bitcoin (thanks to stripe and friends), no, the only crutch is why should I buy bitcoins with my dollars when I can just pay with my dollars directly? It can be useful for people who either don't have access to credit cards but have access to bitcoins, people who already have a lot of bitcoins and curious tec…

>when I can just pay with my dollars directly? Credit card transactions take something like 180 days to confirm. Within those 180 days one can issue a chargeback. Bitcoin transactions take ~10-60 minutes (depending on the required number of confirmations) and cannot be clawed back.

That, and the 0.5% transaction fee are great for the vendor. But why should I, the consumer, be interested?

Re: Stripe: Bitcoin

#114

Post by grubles »

BryanB55 wrote: post #112
grubles wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>when I can just pay with my dollars directly? Credit card transactions take something like 180 days to confirm. Within those 180 days one can issue a chargeback. Bitcoin transactions take ~10-60 minutes (depending on the required number of confirmations) and cannot be clawed back.

Those all sound like good reasons for a seller to take bitcoin but not for the buyer to use it.

As a buyer, you can use multi-signature transactions.

Re: Stripe: Bitcoin

#116

Post by ikeboy »

Retra wrote: post #108
ikeboy wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you tell us who hacked BTER or Bitstamp then? Since it's so easy to deanonymize people, you know. Just look at the addresses the stolen bitcoins were sent to.

Sounds to me like you just explained why you shouldn't want anonymity in your transaction.

There are benefits to anonymity, which arguably outweigh disadvantages.

I was just pointing out that bitcoin is anonymous when used by someone with a brain. (I.e not Ross Ulbricht, who apparently sent money to an assassin from his personal wallet, without using a mixer.)

Re: Stripe: Bitcoin

#117

Post by esMazer »

pakled_engineer wrote: post #69
Someone1234 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the last 24 hours, Bitcoin has been worth between $232 and $238, so that could be called a 3% fee on top of the 0.5% fee, and that 3% is just from the last 24 hours. If you look at the last week, the fee could be considered even higher (more than double or quad that). The problem with Bitcoin is that it is extreme volatile. So you may gain or lose money. So while a 2.9% free on dollars is fairly predictable, you r…

It works like Bitpay where you are guaranteed that amount in USD after user pays with Bitcoin. They assume all price fluctuation risk.

I think they were referring to the buyers view, where you are referring to the sellers

Re: Stripe: Bitcoin

#118

Post by logicallee »

why do we - normal people - want to handle a currency free of any legal oversight or reversibility/traceability even in the case of outright theft?

see this story of ours just from the past month -

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9053621

they know exactly who did it and why/how it happened...

what advantage is there to the coins themselves being completely untraceable, transactions completely irreversible?

suppose your net worth is largely a matter of the value of your startup at its last valuation. would you prefer to just have that many hundred thousand dollars in cash in your home? But with the added benefit that it can disappear at a distance without anyone visiting your home?

Bitcoin is great but isn't it about time to put a sane banking layer on top of it?

Note: like all sane people I believe in a mix of government oversight and personal freedom, maybe 90% the latter. But having an untraceable currency doesn't make me any more free. Unlike every tech luminary, Satoshi can't even identify himself.

Re: Stripe: Bitcoin

#119

Post by pepr »

StavrosK wrote: post #103
venaoy wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The world's simplest reasons why you might pay something using bitcoins is simply when this is the only way, or cheapest way, or safest way to make a transaction. Example #1: some merchants are hit really hard with fraud, such as intangible goods paid by international credit card transactions. So hard that they decided to stop selling internationally. These merchants discover that Bitcoin re-enables them to sell inte…

It took me no less than one hour to pay for a flight the other day, because of various cc-related problems, not the least of which being the train wreck that is Verified by Visa. I so, so wished for a Bitcoin option...

This. I tried buying a pair of flight tickets from a German airline Condor with a US credit card. What a hassle, in the end I had to call the bank, get redirected and verified 4 times (because they don't pass the verification along when they redirect your call) and I was finally able to pay for the damn tickets when they "pre-authorized" the transaction.

Re: Stripe: Bitcoin

#120

Post by Joeboy »

jusben1369 wrote: post #85
ssharp wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While this may be helpful, I can't see it being a game-changer at all. Have retailers like NewEgg or Overstock seen any sort of drastic revenue increases or activity from accepting Bitcoin? The problems with Bitcoin are almost entirely on the acquiring -side and not spending side. Getting a Bitcoin is a PITA and I don't think the demand from most consumers is there to overcome the pain. The game-changer for Bitcoin w…

I think Bitcoin is the Linux of payments. Everyone always talked about the potential to completely change the desktop (consumer use) but the real impact was the network/backend (Sun/NT machines) So Bitcoin is exciting to me but not as a payment method. But as a backbone it gets really interesting.

I like the analogy, but not being a finance person I have no idea - is Bitcoin particularly compelling "as a backbone"?
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