Bitcoin Visa debit cards are cancelled • Hacker News Board

Re: Bitcoin Visa debit cards are cancelled

#51

Post by djsumdog » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 2:39 PM UTC

doktrin wrote: post #36

sametmax wrote: post #28

First bitcoin was insignificant. Then people made fun of it. Now current institutions will have to choose between embracing it and fighting it. Some of them do one thing, apparently VISA chose another.

VISA most likely cares above all else about making money for VISA. Likewise, Steam probably doesn't care how people pay for their games : they just want to be paid. If they move away from bitcoin, it's probably because they deem it unviable / unprofitable / too much of a pain in the ass. Not everything is a grand ideological battle, and there's no need to go looking for complicated explanations when the simple and na…

It's part of the general problem that bitcoin isn't really fungable for goods. Maybe it was back when the value was more stable or grew slowly, or the transaction fees were cheaper. But you're totally right. Currently it's barely worth the effort compared to traditional payment system in many contexts.

Re: Bitcoin Visa debit cards are cancelled

#52

Post by jpindar » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 2:40 PM UTC

dagw wrote: post #27

repomies691 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For online payments instant payments are actually not that important requirements. The process needs to happen just fluently from customers perspective. If the merchant is dispatching physical items, he can just wait for the transaction to confirm and dispatch the items after that. The customer won't see much difference because the biggest issue is the shipping time. For online payments bitcoin works quite well. Stil…

For online payments bitcoin works quite well Many people who tried to buy stuff on Steam with bitcoin seem to disagree. In fact Steam recently stopped accepting bitcoin since they apparently couldn't make it work.

I assume you mean recently. I used bitcoin on Steam a few years ago and it worked fine.

Re: Bitcoin Visa debit cards are cancelled

#53

Post by throwaway5752 » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 2:42 PM UTC

synthmeat wrote: post #45

Most interesting thing here is that this came without any prior notice to any parties in the process, effective immediately. Sure looks like someone pressed a panic button.

Seems like it was a very bad business idea in the first place, and I'm surprised it wasn't cancelled sooner. Before you downvote me consider the business model of credit card processors, and how volatility and rapidly deflating currency would effect their cash flow.

Re: Bitcoin Visa debit cards are cancelled

#54

Post by XnoiVeX » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 2:43 PM UTC

Just noticed WaveCrest is based out of Gibraltar. It seems quite easy to start a company based in Gibraltar. What are the advantages or disadvantages? Just curious.

Re: Bitcoin Visa debit cards are cancelled

#55

Post by ShabbosGoy » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 2:44 PM UTC

I wonder if this affects Monaco. I was interested in their value prop, especially the ability to receive a low foreign transaction fee while traveling.

Re: Bitcoin Visa debit cards are cancelled

#56

Post by jstanley » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 2:44 PM UTC

throwaway5752 wrote: post #53

synthmeat wrote: post #45

Most interesting thing here is that this came without any prior notice to any parties in the process, effective immediately. Sure looks like someone pressed a panic button.

Seems like it was a very bad business idea in the first place, and I'm surprised it wasn't cancelled sooner. Before you downvote me consider the business model of credit card processors, and how volatility and rapidly deflating currency would effect their cash flow.

> how volatility and rapidly deflating currency would effect their cash flow.

Not at all? You obviously don't understand what a bitcoin debit card is. It's just like a normal debit card, but you fund it with bitcoin. The company you get the card from sells your bitcoin for fiat currency at the time you make a purchase (or at the time you top up the card, depending on how they do it).

The properties of bitcoin are completely irrelevant to the mechanics of the card.

Re: Bitcoin Visa debit cards are cancelled

#57

Post by erazor42 » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 2:46 PM UTC

XnoiVeX wrote: post #54

Just noticed WaveCrest is based out of Gibraltar. It seems quite easy to start a company based in Gibraltar. What are the advantages or disadvantages? Just curious.

It's a fiscal paradise, like Bahamas + low taxes

Re: Bitcoin Visa debit cards are cancelled

#58

Post by jstanley » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 2:47 PM UTC

ablation wrote: post #49

> We're being oppressed! Oh dear. I hope that was said with tongue firmly in cheek, because anyone who truly believes that their Bitcoin Visa card being cancelled is a form of "oppression" needs a reality check.

On the spectrum of actions that goes from "supportive" on one side through "completely irrelevant" in the middle and "oppressive" on the other side, this action lies on the oppressive side.

Re: Bitcoin Visa debit cards are cancelled

#59

Post by Sebguer » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 2:49 PM UTC

ablation wrote: post #49

> We're being oppressed! Oh dear. I hope that was said with tongue firmly in cheek, because anyone who truly believes that their Bitcoin Visa card being cancelled is a form of "oppression" needs a reality check.

The guy calls someone saying it's not oppression a snowflake.

Re: Bitcoin Visa debit cards are cancelled

#60

Post by pmorici » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 2:52 PM UTC

empath75 wrote: post #12

turblety wrote: post #4

I think this will be good in the long run. If VISA (and Mastercard) end up allowing Bitcoin affiliated payments through their platform, then merchants will end up not providing native support for crypto payments, as they can just use their current infrastructure. If we want to destroy these payment monopolies in place of a (more, but I understand not completely) decentralized system, we need to encourage merchants to…

I can’t wait to wait 3 days and spend $30 in transaction fees to buy a Big Mac.

Bitcoin Cash fixes that.