Bitcoin Forum

http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2013/04/18/bitcoin-buzz-draws-western-union-moneygram/


Yeah I'm not exactly sure but I have the slightest hunch this news may be kinda bullish.

I think it's awesome Bitcoin is at least on the radar of companies like this. When the price stabilises more (at $1000 ;), and as adoption keeps growing, it's only a matter of time until one of these companies adopts BTC and the market cap soars.

Last time they were just talking about digital currencies in general but now they named Bitcoin. When executives talk like that in public it usually means that huge steps are already taken. This is really bullish.

Since when shooting oneself in the foot is a good business strategy? Any kind of strategy for that matter?

If they provided physical locations worldwide (Western Union offices) where people can buy and sell Bitcoins in person, and send them to another BTC wallet (like a family member on the other side of the world), if they wanted to as well. There are plenty of ways they could integrate BTC into their busines model.

In fact I'd say the first business to enable walk in purchases of Bitcoin at physical in-store locations around the globe (making BTC far more accessible to all) will make a killing.

I'm not so sure the shooting your own foot analogy applies. Bitcoin could save WU millions in infrastructure (if they discarded their incredibly antiquated network and switched over to the blockchain, for instance). And the overwhelming majority of the population of the planet does not have access to the items necessary to obtain bitcoins themselves (access to the internet, the ability to transfer money into and out of an exchange, a way to securely hold the coins and so on).

If you assume that Bitcoin isn't going to die any time soon, piggybacking onto it might just be the smartest thing Western Union and Moneygram could do.

Yes it would be a way to future proof themselves for sure.

This. By integrating Bitcoin WU is saving itself from going to obsolete. Adapt or die. Bitcoin is here to stay.

They have a worldwide network of offices where money can be changed, compliant with all local and international laws. If they would add Bitcoin to the list of currencies their customers would be able to buy, they could easily become the market leader in exchanging Bitcoins.

This was my first thought.

The only way it would work is if they helped fund exchanges, and made it considerably less of a bitch than it is now.  I think they'll try to cater to the Bitcoin crowd, but wouldn't necessarily adopt Bitcoin itself.

Grr.. Removed my post by mistake.

This is defintelly a great win for BTC but for them it the "last gasp for air". (better analogy needed) Like Mike said if anything happens they are going to cater to the coin users. Feel priviledged. :3

They could charge fees for exchanging money between BTC and local currencies. Also WU spends huge amounts of money on anti fraud procedures to comply with their licensing agreements. If they became a Bitcoin exchanger and encouraged customers to bypass their proprietary payment network and use the blockchain instead they could absolve themselves of policing payments and save loads of money.   

- Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2013/04/18/bitcoin-buzz-draws-western-union-moneygram/#ixzz2QqtZN0Rb

Yup.  But instead of having to go down to the Western Union agent location to pick some pesos up, you send a text to your friend's sister who buys bitcoins and pays pesos in exchange.   That person makes a little from each transaction.  Western Union gets about $8 + a vig on the exchange rate, so for a remittance transfer valued  at $100 the remittance recipient might get just $88.      With the person providing independently money exchange, that same transaction might deliver $94 worth and the person providing the exchange makes at least $5.  Sure that's not a lot of money but six of those a day and that person would be making more with this side job than from other employment options.

Ouch.  All the more reason to adopt Bitcoin in all its naked glory ;D

Greatest news of all time.

Bitcoin network structure that is completely independent of the banks gives MoneyGram and Western Union options to completely route around the banking networks, fiat currency and the arcane AML/KYC regulatory capture hurdles for their remittance businesses.

Bitcoin gives them a network tool to beat the banks at their own games. They would be great ally for bitcoin. Western Union transfers only become such a pain in the ass to deal with after the banks imposed the rules via their bought and paid for congress critters.

I tend not to believe WU/MG are seriously considering this.


It would be like painting a big 'bureaucrats, please rape me in the arse' target on their back.


Granted, I need to do more research on this topic, but I have a distinct feeling that govt would not like WU/MG piggybacking on Bitcoin for their remittance network.

But but but progress and innovation :(  What's with the government and hating anything which can help them succeed?

Agreed.

Bitcoin is a typical case of so-called disruptive technology (you should read The Innovator's Dilemma). So if current financial market leaders don't offer Bitcoin services to customers, someone else will and this someone else will eat their market anyway.

So the only way they can survive is to adopt Bitcoin, even though it will probably reduce their overall profit margins.

WU could literally decide to make all of their places into the equivalent of Bitcoin atms in a single day if it wanted to. All it would take is them deciding to serve as an exchange. They already do it through a ton of other currencies, they wouldn't even have to make any new software other than a Bitcoind wrapper.

Exactly. If someone from WU is reading this you are in the enviable position to create the first, global, walk in, BTC purchasing network on Earth!

Right... Because they have unlimited bitcoin reserves...

Dude, they would just add a commission on walk-in BTC buy and BTC sells like any other service doing this (of which most are currently online). It really wouldn't be that difficult for them to implement - I'm sure WU (well established international financial business) could afford to buy any BTC they'd need to get started - if they didn't have a system in place with trading bots on some of the exchanges to buy the coins in real time or something else just as clever :)

The more I think of it, the more obvious would it be for Western Union and Moneygram to accept Bitcoin. Just from a marketing / PR perspective this makes a lot of sense. All they need to do is get a few of their offices in California to start selling bitcoins, add a payment option on their site (Bitpay could help them with that) and get a few nerds from SF or LA to buy a few coins in front of the media.
 
For WU or MG this would mean tremendous free publicity and an image of being technologically saffy and exploring new frontiers. They don't even have to make money selling bitcoins, just the PR stunt is enough. Once there's enough demand, they could gradually expand the number of offices which sell bitcoins.

Either Western Union embraces cryptocurrencies or it goes bankrupt in 5-10 years.

Western Union is roughly in the same position now as Blockbuster was in 10 years ago. The fact that Blockbuster failed to embrace the Internet early on, even though the warning signs were crystal clear, was their downfall. Western Union, take heed.

Exactly.  It isn't that blockbuster couldn't rent a movie at a profit, but that they had to get a lot of customers through the door so that little bit of profit per-movie multiplied many times was sufficient to pay the lease on the retail space, the staff, utilities, etc.

Western Union's model is tied to a two-step process by one company ...    Western Union receives money in one location and pays out that money (less fee and conversion costs) to someone in another location.    Bitcoin obliterates that model as there are now to independent actions that occur.  One party buys bitcoins in one location.   A different party sells bitcoins in some other location.     This means there is no reliance on a trusted party in the middle. 

This eliminates all the hawalders as well.   Well, not eliminates, it simply allows them to work independently.  They simply become bitcoin exchangers.  It is much easier for them to not need to deal with both sides of a money transfer.

Since money transfer is a business with an 8% to 20% vig (depending on where from and where to), there will be a lot of people who will welcome Bitcoin's arrival in this space.