6-8 Weeks Until Bitcoin Debit/Credit Card, says BitInstant • Hacker News Board

Re: 6-8 Weeks Until Bitcoin Debit/Credit Card, says BitInstant

#11

Post by enmaku » Mon, Aug 20, 2012, 4:45 AM UTC

grakic wrote: post #10

It would be more fun to have card balance in BTC. I do not know how fast will it be to load the card with new BTC.

Card balance can be kept in BTC, according to the IRC logs at least. It's an international card so it can apparently hold balances in multiple currencies at once. Also, according to the logs, BTC transactions < $1,000 USD will be accepted on the first confirmation, so about 10 minutes to load the card.

Re: 6-8 Weeks Until Bitcoin Debit/Credit Card, says BitInstant

#12

Post by grakic » Mon, Aug 20, 2012, 4:50 AM UTC

enmaku wrote: post #11

grakic wrote: post #10

It would be more fun to have card balance in BTC. I do not know how fast will it be to load the card with new BTC.

Card balance can be kept in BTC, according to the IRC logs at least. It's an international card so it can apparently hold balances in multiple currencies at once. Also, according to the logs, BTC transactions < $1,000 USD will be accepted on the first confirmation, so about 10 minutes to load the card.

Can you quote user bitinstant from the IRC log on this. I see only the following:

> JimN, the card is denominated in USD, EUR, GBP so far

Re: 6-8 Weeks Until Bitcoin Debit/Credit Card, says BitInstant

#13

Post by brianwillis » Mon, Aug 20, 2012, 4:51 AM UTC

>6-8 Weeks

After Stack Overflow, we should really start referring to this as an "Atwood period".

Re: 6-8 Weeks Until Bitcoin Debit/Credit Card, says BitInstant

#14

Post by enmaku » Mon, Aug 20, 2012, 4:54 AM UTC

brianwillis wrote: post #13

>6-8 Weeks After Stack Overflow, we should really start referring to this as an "Atwood period".

LMAO I thought the exact same thing, actually...

Re: 6-8 Weeks Until Bitcoin Debit/Credit Card, says BitInstant

#15

Post by enmaku » Mon, Aug 20, 2012, 4:56 AM UTC

grakic wrote: post #12

enmaku wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Card balance can be kept in BTC, according to the IRC logs at least. It's an international card so it can apparently hold balances in multiple currencies at once. Also, according to the logs, BTC transactions < $1,000 USD will be accepted on the first confirmation, so about 10 minutes to load the card.

Can you quote user bitinstant from the IRC log on this. I see only the following: > JimN, the card is denominated in USD, EUR, GBP so far

bitinstant: is there an option to keep the deposit as BTC until the card is used to make a payment or withdrawal?

ThomasV, yes

Then later...

so the card can have fiat and btc on it concurrently presumably

sharpfocus, yes precisly

Extra lines redacted to reduce noise :)

Re: 6-8 Weeks Until Bitcoin Debit/Credit Card, says BitInstant

#16

Post by vijayboyapati » Mon, Aug 20, 2012, 5:04 AM UTC

This will be a huge factor in increasing demand for bitcoin if it comes through. The biggest problem with bitcoin now is that it's not widely accepted for payment (i.e., it's not yet a medium of exchange). A debit/credit card is a big step in allowing people the ability to exchange their bitcoins for real goods. What will be really exciting is the day when you can actually see goods priced in bitcoin. E.g., that cupcake is going to cost you 0.1 bitcoins.

Re: 6-8 Weeks Until Bitcoin Debit/Credit Card, says BitInstant

#17

Post by femto » Mon, Aug 20, 2012, 5:16 AM UTC

pkulak wrote: post #5

paulhauggis wrote: post #2

It's interesting how Bitcoin is now becoming exactly what Bitcoin was always against: a centralized bank. A bad and unreliable one at that. It kind of shows you the evolution of our banking systems and why we need one.

Kind of how Gmail has turned email into a centralized communications system? The existence of a bank based on Bitcoin doesn't remove your ability to store your wallet on a flash drive any more than Gmail removes your ability to run your own mail server.

Keep in mind that every transaction, whether it be email or bitcoin, has to involve two parties. If the centralised solution become widespread, it becomes difficult to avoid it because the chances are that the other party is centralised, even if you're not.

Re: 6-8 Weeks Until Bitcoin Debit/Credit Card, says BitInstant

#18

Post by paulsutter » Mon, Aug 20, 2012, 5:18 AM UTC

I hope it's for real.

I was just looking for a backup debit card for international travel. This would give me a low-risk but high-utility reason to finally try bitcoin. And avoid opening another damn bank account

Re: 6-8 Weeks Until Bitcoin Debit/Credit Card, says BitInstant

#19

Post by enmaku » Mon, Aug 20, 2012, 5:24 AM UTC

paulsutter wrote: post #18

I hope it's for real. I was just looking for a backup debit card for international travel. This would give me a low-risk but high-utility reason to finally try bitcoin. And avoid opening another damn bank account

These are exactly the kind of thoughts I like to see people having about Bitcoin.

Re: 6-8 Weeks Until Bitcoin Debit/Credit Card, says BitInstant

#20

Post by zokier » Mon, Aug 20, 2012, 5:47 AM UTC

> You own the address on the card, though BitInstant has not yet determined the best way to hand over your private keys, or whether they should even offer such an option

Sounds like trouble.