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

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

#61

Post by swalsh »

taligent wrote: post #23
vijayboyapati wrote: post #16

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 cupc…

Really you think THAT is the biggest problem with Bitcoin. Not the fact that its value fluctuates so wildly ?

That's mostly a volume problem I think, granted one of the problems with Bitcoin is it was specifically designed with no levers. Stability can never be manipulated, so we're at the whim of nature.

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

#62

Post by AdmiralBeotch »

quotemstr wrote: post #32
enmaku wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if I concede the point that Bitcoin is becoming a centralized bank - which I don't - how exactly is it "bad and unreliable"? At least this bank is run algorithmically by the crowd/cloud and can't rape pillage or otherwise screw you out of your money on the whim of a handful of rich white men... Perhaps I'm showing my politics too clearly here, but I do honestly believe that math is a better tool for deciding wha…

Bitcoin has deflation baked into the system. Deflation is _terrible_ for the economy because it encourages people to hide cash under mattresses instead of spending it on useful projects. (Or in more abstract terms, deflation raises the minimum viable rate of return on investment.) We've learned this lesson well. All the really terrible depressions --- the 1870s, the 1930s --- featured crippling deflation that kicked…

Ridiculous argument. I've got old coin (purchased at a lower price) and every time I spend it, it's like getting a discount. It's a built in incentive to spend them.

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

#63

Post by freehunter »

maayank wrote: post #35
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

An honest question: assuming you have more than 1 credit card, aren't all/most of them international? Are local-only credit cards the norm in the U.S.? And do you really need a bank account per credit/debit card? I'd assume you have "external" credit/debit cards, where the only connection to the account is that it is charged monthly.

A friend from Finland came to the US for a mutual friend's wedding. He did some shopping at the mall while we were out together, and his Finnish credit card wouldn't read at Abercrombie, so they had to pull out the old slider to copy the card.

Using cards internationally can be hit or miss.

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

#64

Post by dohko »

jerguismi wrote: post #26
taligent wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really you think THAT is the biggest problem with Bitcoin. Not the fact that its value fluctuates so wildly ?

> Not the fact that its value fluctuates so wildly ? This does not worry me at all, since the value has been mostly fluctuating upwards. The positive risk outweights the negative. With this card, people can invest in to bitcoin small amount each month, and they still can use their bitcoin reserves when they need.

You understand how currencies work, right? On one end of the trade there is a person that buys and the other a person that sells.

Even if what you said were true (That bitcoin has mainly being flunctating upwards), then the people selling things in bitcoins are actually losing on the trade.

What do you think the result of that is going to be?

Goods sold in bitcoins are going to be really unstable and sellers are going to be disincetived in selling them (or they'll just charge a premium for them - making them more expensive than if you paid for them in dollars).

The point is, that a currency flunctating a lot, even if mainly upwards, is not a really good thing. From a speculator perspective, volatility is a great thing, but not for everyone else.

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

#65

Post by enmaku »

brianwillis wrote: post #54
kolinko wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain?:)

When asked how long version 1.0 of Stack Overflow would take to produce, Jeff Atwood famously replied "six to eight weeks" without any sort of serious planning or consideration. It took quite a bit longer. Listeners of the Stack Exchange podcast got to hear Joel Spolsky make fun of Jeff for this many times.

And since then, nearly every major upgrade, feature request, etc. has been scheduled as "6 to 8 weeks" or occasionally some variant like "6 to 8 months"

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

#66

Post by hammersend »

anologwintermut wrote: post #22
enmaku wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if I concede the point that Bitcoin is becoming a centralized bank - which I don't - how exactly is it "bad and unreliable"? At least this bank is run algorithmically by the crowd/cloud and can't rape pillage or otherwise screw you out of your money on the whim of a handful of rich white men... Perhaps I'm showing my politics too clearly here, but I do honestly believe that math is a better tool for deciding wha…

I may or may not subscribe to your politics, but you are sorely mistaken if you think bitcoin stops most of the problems with the worlds financial system( unless you consider how Central Banks handle the money supply such a problem). Using BTC instead of USD or GBP changes nothing for Goldman-Sachs or Barclays but the denomination used to value the financial instruments they manipulate ( oh and maybe who's tax laws t…

You had me up until the "very little regulation and no legal recourse" part at the end. Theft is theft and believe me, there are regulations against that.

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

#67

Post by anologwintermut »

hammersend wrote: post #66
anologwintermut wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I may or may not subscribe to your politics, but you are sorely mistaken if you think bitcoin stops most of the problems with the worlds financial system( unless you consider how Central Banks handle the money supply such a problem). Using BTC instead of USD or GBP changes nothing for Goldman-Sachs or Barclays but the denomination used to value the financial instruments they manipulate ( oh and maybe who's tax laws t…

You had me up until the "very little regulation and no legal recourse" part at the end. Theft is theft and believe me, there are regulations against that.

There is regulation against theft( though does any legal authority investigate bitcoin thefts?) . I meant regulations dealing what bitcoin exchanges can do with your money or what steps they have to take to protect it. For example, although I don't think any bitcoin exchanges loan out money yet, if they did, there is no amount they are required to keep as a minimum balance to cover withdrawals (unless the government legally deems them a bank, in which case my entire post is irrelevant)

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

#68

Post by kybernetikos »

shell0x wrote: post #21

Anyone of you got more bitcoins then me?(0) ;) I tried to get a single bitcoin for multiple times, but it never worked out ;) I guess my hardware is too bad.

It amazes me that the initial bitcoin set up was basically a pyramid scheme and this doesn't seem to put anyone off.

Not to mention the fact that all that computing work is wasted doing nothing useful.

I'd much rather see grid computing networks offer signed certificates proving that you did a certain amount of work for them in place of money, but also allow you to swap them for cash.

That way, the computing power did something useful. Sure every grid computing network would be it's own 'central authority', but as long as they all adhere to a common api, I don't think that's a problem.

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

#70

Post by enmaku »

sgornick wrote: post #33
taligent wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really you think THAT is the biggest problem with Bitcoin. Not the fact that its value fluctuates so wildly ?

Miners are receiving nearly $100K USD per day but the share to the smaller operators is often just small amounts, oftentimes $20 or so per month. The cost for them to cash out using the bank system is often expensive. This provides an economic method to cash out small amounts without incurring high fees.

More to the point, they won't actually have to cash out until they're ready to make a purchase with their proceeds. This means more money kept in Bitcoin for longer instead of being cashed out to sit in a USD/EUR/GBP bank account somewhere.
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