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Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

blog.bitpay.com

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Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#151

Post by echelon »

stegosaurus wrote: post #141

I find the vitriol towards Bitcoin kind of odd. If I posted an article about Linux 4.1 or something, I wouldn't expect to see comments saying 'meanwhile, I used Windows yesterday, and played GTA5, and it was good'. What gives? Are there forums in which people have this sort of reaction to, I dunno, HTML5? From some of the posts here you would think that it's IED control software.

I have no stake or interest in Bitcoin, and I wrote it off some years ago. I find it kind of annoying when there are stories about it or altcoins in my news feed (in lieu of other things). It's noise in my signal. This is just my own personal feeling; I wouldn't go as far as to describe my feeling towards Bitcoin as hate.

I can't explain the feelings or motivations of those who actively detract from the technology. It's probably similar to Apple "hate". Or inverse "fanboyism".

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#152

Post by wyldfire »

stegosaurus wrote: post #141

I find the vitriol towards Bitcoin kind of odd. If I posted an article about Linux 4.1 or something, I wouldn't expect to see comments saying 'meanwhile, I used Windows yesterday, and played GTA5, and it was good'. What gives? Are there forums in which people have this sort of reaction to, I dunno, HTML5? From some of the posts here you would think that it's IED control software.

It's really polarizing because it forces us to question what we think of as currency. Is it sufficient for it to be scarce, durable, verifyable and fungible or should it have some independent utility or backing?

Some of the vitriol is backlash against the zealots who feel that Bitcoin can/should enable elements of anarchy.

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#153

Post by jerf »

stegosaurus wrote: post #141

I find the vitriol towards Bitcoin kind of odd. If I posted an article about Linux 4.1 or something, I wouldn't expect to see comments saying 'meanwhile, I used Windows yesterday, and played GTA5, and it was good'. What gives? Are there forums in which people have this sort of reaction to, I dunno, HTML5? From some of the posts here you would think that it's IED control software.

Actually, I'd suggest you do sometimes see people saying that about Linux, especially when Linux "on the desktop" comes up. And the reason is that neither project is simply a neutral software development project, but are politically charged. Linux at this point really just has a political "tinge" to it with the free software stuff, but Bitcoin is drenched in politics. So people are responding with their political brains rather than their raw technical brains.

I am not trying to imply this is bad. The politics are intrinsically worthy of thought and discussion. I could wish for a higher level of discourse on political matters, but humans have been doing that for lo these many thousands of years and I doubt this is the year that's going to change. Our "political brains" are complicated, messy things, tied into tribal instincts, personal identity, and all sorts of other messy things that make it difficult.

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#154

Post by ObeyTheGuts »

coldtea wrote: post #48
clemensley wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

It's because it's not just comprised of tech people, who are excited about its theoretical underpinnings, but also by business savvy people, who know that it will hardly fly for numerous reasons (and if a similar technology ever catches up, it will have so many government imposed regulations as to be totally different), plus old jaded tech persons who know a marginal at best tech and/or snake oil when they see it. As…

i am homeless and can not use banks or paypal, bitcoin is only option for me to pay stuff on internet. For me personaly bitcoin is best currency. It is absolutely vital in my lifestyle, and if unbanked people of world(vast majority) would also be as tech savy as me it would be biggest currency.

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#155

Post by brighton36 »

CaptainZapp wrote: post #127
arca_vorago wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can tell you my personal issues with bitcoin. 1) I'm still bitter I threw all mine away. I had a few hundred in the early days and thought, "this isnt going anywhere".... 2) I'm one of HN's resident conspiracy theorists, for lack of a better term, and bitcoin can be seen as a threat to freedom because for all the awesome things it is, it is not anonymous . This may seem innocuous at first, but if you subscribe to t…

Can you recommend a good introductory book into the blockchain?

There are no efficiencies to blockchain. That technology is 100% hype

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#156

Post by pauletienney »

ZenoArrow wrote: post #94
ssharp wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what Bitcoin equivalent of "leaving cash on the street" you're inferring. It might be helpful if you elaborated on that. Bitcoin's non-physical nature (as compared to paper and coin currencies), I think, makes it more of a metaphor to a bank account or debit/credit card than a currency. This likely is a UX flaw, as you state, but it's a pretty big flaw. And credit cards, in most jurisdictions, have lots…

> "I'm not sure what Bitcoin equivalent of "leaving cash on the street" you're inferring. It might be helpful if you elaborated on that." Bitcoins are a form of digital cash. You store Bitcoins in a wallet. If you lose your Bitcoin wallet you lose your bitcoins. In a similar sense, if you lose your wallet containing notes/coins, you lose your notes/coins. The security risk is the same.

But the digital form of bitcoin change things. A good hacker might check for thousands of computer a day to find private keys but he can't walk along kilometers to find coins on the ground.

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#157

Post by stegosaurus »

jerf wrote: post #153
stegosaurus wrote: post #141

I find the vitriol towards Bitcoin kind of odd. If I posted an article about Linux 4.1 or something, I wouldn't expect to see comments saying 'meanwhile, I used Windows yesterday, and played GTA5, and it was good'. What gives? Are there forums in which people have this sort of reaction to, I dunno, HTML5? From some of the posts here you would think that it's IED control software.

Actually, I'd suggest you do sometimes see people saying that about Linux, especially when Linux "on the desktop" comes up. And the reason is that neither project is simply a neutral software development project, but are politically charged. Linux at this point really just has a political "tinge" to it with the free software stuff, but Bitcoin is drenched in politics. So people are responding with their political bra…

I think you're spot on with this.

The general quality of discourse on any thread seems to drop hugely whenever politics comes up.

We seem to be able to leave each other alone when it comes to using vi vs. emacs - the odd joke comes up, but that's about it.

But politics? There seems to be this attitude of conversion, missionaries, convincing, it's kind of frustrating. I think it's healthy to question one's views sometimes, but not to face a constant onslaught.

Looking a bit harder, the language people use here is quite clearly politicized and strange - people use past tense, which I find difficult to interpret as anything other than trolling. No-one would say 'Linux was a good OS', because it currently exists and is used daily...?

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#158

Post by lsadam0 »

goldbrick wrote: post #121
lsadam0 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I leave cash on the street should I expect it to be safe? Is that a deep security issue? You implied there were deep fundamental flaws in BTC security, but your response shows nothing of the sort. Your 'deep flaw' is 'you have to protect your private keys'. You are describing a UX flaw, and I would agree with that. Objectively, you have exposed no 'deep security issues'.

No, it's deeply flawed. Witness all the exchanges that absconded with their users' funds.

The previous commenter asserted that there are deep security flaws within bitcoin itself. There are not. An exchange disappearing with user's BTC is not reflective of flaws within bitcoin. Users deposited fiat as well as BTC. When said exchanges vanished, they ran off with the fiat as well. By your broken reasoning the USD has the same fundamental flaw as BTC.

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#159

Post by Cyph0n »

germanier wrote: post #142
Cyph0n wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, it's quite risky and can easily be shut down by the authorities if they catch wind of it. I think the simplest way to avoid the risk is to setup a decentralized exchange that connects buyers to sellers. But that means it becomes much more difficult to take a cut, as people will just meet face-to-face.

Yes, but why can't you just connect TND sellers and EUR sellers? Why insert all the complexity and risk BTC provides? The end result for both parties would be exactly the same.

The current "low-tech" solution used by Tunisians to transfer money abroad is to get in contact with someone who has a relative living say in France. You give the person living in Tunisia the money, and the relative in France will transfer that same amount to the person of interest.

The key selling point for BTC is that it is completely digital. Think of it this way: if I have TND and would like to buy some EUR, how do I "store" the EUR I get? I only have a Tunisian bank account, so the EUR I receive from say a German account will still be stuck inside Tunisia. And if I receive cash, it won't do me much good. Not to mention the inherent risk involved in doing bank transfers.

But if I use my TND to buy BTC, I can store that BTC in an online wallet, or completely offline. I can easily transfer it to anyone anywhere in the world, or use it buy goods online. The simple act of getting your hands on BTC means that currency controls, transfer fees, etc. are completely circumvented. As for security and accountability, it becomes much easier to control given Bitcoin's digital nature.

Re: Steam now accepts Bitcoin for purchases

#160

Post by ssharp »

ZenoArrow wrote: post #94
ssharp wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what Bitcoin equivalent of "leaving cash on the street" you're inferring. It might be helpful if you elaborated on that. Bitcoin's non-physical nature (as compared to paper and coin currencies), I think, makes it more of a metaphor to a bank account or debit/credit card than a currency. This likely is a UX flaw, as you state, but it's a pretty big flaw. And credit cards, in most jurisdictions, have lots…

> "I'm not sure what Bitcoin equivalent of "leaving cash on the street" you're inferring. It might be helpful if you elaborated on that." Bitcoins are a form of digital cash. You store Bitcoins in a wallet. If you lose your Bitcoin wallet you lose your bitcoins. In a similar sense, if you lose your wallet containing notes/coins, you lose your notes/coins. The security risk is the same.

The security risk is not remotely the same because in order to do anything other that store your Bitcoins (e.g. spend, transfer), you have to expose your money online. My dollar bills are never out there on the internet, so my only risk of loss is physical loss or physical theft.

Because of this, it's better to compare Bitcoin to other forms of "digital/virtual representations of currency", like debit cards and credit cards. And that's where Bitcoin's mass-adoption-type use-cases tend to fall apart.

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