Posted on 05/26/2013 7:55:25 AM PDT by Errant
Last week, bitcoin payment processor BitPay announced a deal with Gyft, a seven-month-old Google Ventures-backed software app that lets users buy and upload retail gift cards to Android-based smartphones.
The partnership will allow customers to use bitcoins to buy gift cards for stores such as Gap (GPS, Fortune 500), Lowe's (LOW, Fortune 500), Sephora, GameStop (GME, Fortune 500), Burger King (BKW) and over 200 other retailers.
While those stores won't handle the bitcoin transactions themselves -- that's done by Gyft and BitPay -- it brings the number of locations where customers can effectively pay with bitcoins from around 8,000 nationwide to over 50,000, according to BitPay co-founder and CEO Tony Gallippi.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
This article was posted on the 16th. The following came out on the 14th: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/05/feds-seize-money-from-top-bitcoin-exchange-mt-gox/
A currency that governments can’t control or manipulate would save lives and raise the standards of living of everyone except government bureaucrats, who would hopefully either starve or find honest work.
:)
Totally
Maybe a free market is the best means for price discovery?
Published on May 24, 2013
This video advocates for a return to a Gold standard by http://www.soundmoneycampaign.com. IMO, both crypto currencies and precious metals, each have their pros an cons.
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One touted advantage of BitCoin is maximizing anonymity. If Google is involved tracking is involved. "Do more evil.®"
IMO, utility due to speed, convenience and low cost per transaction, as well as a finite quantity (unlike fiat) are a crypto-currency's primary advantages.
It would be even easier to conduct transactions using bitcoins if everyone had a chip inserted under their skin that could be scanned each time a transaction took place. However, one drawback would be that you couldn't buy or sell unless you had the mark of.......HEY! WAIT A MINUTE!!!
sounds good
Is it crypto or isn't it? As I understand it, coins and wallets are encrypted and anonymous but transactions will inevitably be tagged with the transactor's identity.
Don't get me wrong. I'd love to see BitCoin succeed as touted. I almost jumped in when it was younger. Now I'm holding off to see how the infrastructure develops and how it survives the growing pains of having drawn the attention of TPTB.
LOL, I've wondered the same, but the same can be said for our current fiat/debt money system.
It is, but the public key can be traced back to the originator by various means, unless elaborate and sophisticated means are used. Same as with any other currency transaction.
Trouble at the Laundromat?
I have my own washer and dryer. ;)
I bought a few just to see how it works. They still sit there. The good thing is they are “worth” more today than when I bought them. I am just not sure what to do with them.
That's not right; cash, bartering, or anything not recorded, is the best means of ensuring anonymity.
Do you launder by hand or by Botnet?
Either way, enjoy it while it lasts.
{ Ponzi, Dr. Ponzi - please come to the nearest coin operated courtesy phone... }
Can the Communist Chinese buy petroleum from OPEC using bot-coins yet, or are they (and others) still stuck trading in currency-X for Petro-Dollars?
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