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Title: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: solex on October 31, 2013, 12:31:51 AM Bitcoin is displacing the core business of Western Union, the international money transmitter.
Although the loss of WU business to BTC right now is a trickle the markets can see this becoming a flood in the near future. Oct 30, 2013 equities.com "Money transmitter Western Union (WU) posted its third quarter earnings after the bell on Tuesday, and while the company beat EPS forecasts they provided bleak guidance as a result of expected increased regulatory costs. Money transmitters across the board, including classic competitor Monerygram International (MGI) face a tough future, as more people needing to transfer money have been utilizing the popular virtual currency bitcoin. However, bitcoin itself cannot be blamed for Western Union’s decline, and may not long last as a cheap, regulatory-free alternative to traditional money transmitters. The major digital cryptocurrency exchanges might soon be facing the same constraints as its traditional currency counterparts, severely undermining the appeal of bitcoin in America. Western Union raised compliance-related cost guidance from 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent in 2013, up from 2.5 percent last year. Contrasted with bitcoin exchanges like Mt. Gox, Bitstamp, and Coinbase, who currently pay zero, Western Union is finding it harder and harder to compete. The bitcoin exchange’s status as a tax-free, regulatory-exempt money transfer apparatus might not last long in the States – that is, if regulators have their way. On Oct. 1 the New York Department of Financial Services subpoenaed several bitcoin startups, stating that “regulations need to be in place,” and if regulation killed bitcoin’s viability as a liquid value transfer vehicle, “so be it.” At the same time, bitcoin has attracted mainstream interest from big players like the Winklevoss Twins of Facebook Inc. (FB) fame. The Winklevii are currently seeking to set up the first Bitcoin ETF, which would allow Wall Streeters to speculate on the digital currency with American dollars. Whether bitcoin survives, dies, or thrives, the fact remains that Western Union is in trouble, and investors are spooked. Following the pessimistic guidance, the company’s shares shed over 12 percent amid exceedingly heavy trading." http://www.equities.com/editors-desk/stocks/financials/western-union-tanks-on-poor-guidance-as-bitcoin-gains-prominence (my emphasis) WU is in the same position as the Kodak film business when it first faced digital technology. The only option for Kodak was to use its massive size to embrace the new tech, adapt and ride the change ahead of everyone else. They failed to do so and the rest is history. Perhaps WU could integrate bitcoin into its business model and become like localbitcoins.com (but leverage their branch network & install ATMs in them too), or use all its MSB licences in the US to set up a professional exchange. This is a real test of their management. WU is the very first domino in a whole series with Paypal, Mastercard, VISA, retail banks, the fiat currencies and Central Banks lined up afterwards. It will be interesting to see which ones adapt best and which ones die hardest. http://elie.im/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/dominos-falling.png Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: BitAddict on October 31, 2013, 12:59:29 AM I totally agree.
Recently I had the bad luck to deal with western union... For limit reasons my friend couldn't pick they money but they still charged the fee (120€) when I picked back my money.... I also lost 2 hours for sending money and 2 hours for picking money. I really want Western Union to go bankrupt because of bitcoin. Nothing will make me more happy :-* Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: Carlton Banks on October 31, 2013, 01:01:19 AM Slightly extreme article, seems like a reaction piece to the WU stock oscillations. And even if the US authorities end up imposing the more extreme outcomes, Bitcoin will still survive in the US without a doubt, and it will continue to get used for remittance. It'll just be a huge advertisement for Bitcoin's international transfer advantages ("So dangerous to WU they tried to shut it down" etc). I think we all know that it's not disappearing from TCP/IP traffic anytime soon, whether or not it needs to be secreted in an encrypted sub-layer of the internet in the authoritarian US.
WU investors are right to be concerned long term though, it's dead in the water before the end of the 2010's. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: goxed on October 31, 2013, 01:23:27 AM Slightly extreme article, seems like a reaction piece to the WU stock oscillations. And even if the US authorities end up imposing the more extreme outcomes, Bitcoin will still survive in the US without a doubt, and it will continue to get used for remittance. It'll just be a huge advertisement for Bitcoin's international transfer advantages ("So dangerous to WU they tried to shut it down" etc). I think we all know that it's not disappearing from TCP/IP traffic anytime soon, whether or not it needs to be secreted in an encrypted sub-layer of the internet in the authoritarian US. WU investors are right to be concerned long term though, it's dead in the water before the end of the 2010's. The speed at which USD is getting irrelevant is no joke. The end to petrodollar is being invented right here in the US, thanks to Tesla ;) Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: ekiro on October 31, 2013, 05:30:04 AM Yeah... isn't that a great thing?
Seriously, screw WU and their fees! Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: augustocroppo on October 31, 2013, 12:11:12 PM That is one of the main problems with Bitcoin at the moment. It attracted people which like to spread misinformation without any care for the consequences. As you can read from the article, Bitcoins has nothing to do with the issues Western Union is facing at the moment. However, solex is advertising that "Bitcoin is killing Western Union!". He begins the topic with a misleading title, but he do not stop there:
Quote Bitcoin is displacing the core business of Western Union, the international money transmitter. Another plain lie. As anyone can read the article, Bitcoin is not "displacing the core business of Western Union". Then more follows: Quote Although the loss of WU business to BTC right now is a trickle the markets can see this becoming a flood in the near future. First solex admits that "Bitcoin is displacing the core business of Western Union", but now it is just "a trickle the markets can see this becoming a flood in the near future". But that it is not enough for solex, he needs to revolve his lies with more words to give the appearance of truth: Quote WU is in the same position as the Kodak film business when it first faced digital technology. The only option for Kodak was to use its massive size to embrace the new tech, adapt and ride the change ahead of everyone else. They failed to do so and the rest is history. Perhaps WU could integrate bitcoin into its business model and become like localbitcoins.com (but leverage their branch network & install ATMs in them too), or use all its MSB licences in the US to set up a professional exchange. This is a real test of their management. Here solex compares Kodak with Western Union. This is like to compare apples and oranges... Then, after the inappropriate comparison, he state that Western Union could solve their issues by "integrate bitcoin into its business model". Quote WU is the very first domino in a whole series with Paypal, Mastercard, VISA, retail banks, the fiat currencies and Central Banks lined up afterwards. It will be interesting to see which ones adapt best and which ones die hardest. Finally, the grand finale used by scaremongers and sophists. Here solex try to give a hint of fear by transforming his lie in a prophecy. It is not just Western Union having issues caused by Bitcoins, but the whole financial system as we know. Solex, tell us, why do you like to spread lies and misinformation about something you appear have no understanding? Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: augustocroppo on October 31, 2013, 12:14:11 PM Bitcoin will be killing WU and the likes of it. It might not be happening now as OP stated incorrectly, but it will happen one day. Oh really? How that will happen? What information lead you to believe that will happen? Or this is just something you expect to happen, although there is no evidence which indicates that will happen? Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: panck4beer on October 31, 2013, 12:18:58 PM They've been around a long time and survived a lot of changes, I'd put better odds on western union offices trading coins within the next few years. I doubt WU will go Bitcoin way, they will stick with their business. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: augustocroppo on October 31, 2013, 12:34:34 PM They've been around a long time and survived a lot of changes, I'd put better odds on western union offices trading coins within the next few years. I doubt WU will go Bitcoin way, they will stick with their business. Well said. Short words with a great load of coherence. "Stick with their business" is what really matter for Western Union. Why would Western Union adopt one more complicated layer of money transmission if they already have a business model which does that? Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: Liquid on October 31, 2013, 12:35:40 PM Nice to know :)
Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: wachtwoord on October 31, 2013, 12:37:35 PM This has nothing to do with Bitcoin being competitive but with governments being increasingly retarded.
I think WU will survive and be the first big company to leverage Bitcoin. I own shares of WU since the beginning of this year. Yes shares have gone up 20% since then (even with the recent cliff). Before the Bitcoin adoption though they cyclically remove all competitors by lowering their margin by as much needed to kill them. This year ty started another round and are strangling MoneyGram. When they are the only king on the hill again they'll up the fees again and rinse and repeat. Don't you guys love monopoly? ;) Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: balanghai on October 31, 2013, 12:39:01 PM And paypal too! Include it here please!!! ;D
Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: ElectricMucus on October 31, 2013, 12:46:46 PM Quote Jacob Harper About Jacob Harper is the Senior Editor at Equities. Hailing from Springfield, Missouri, Jacob received his BA from the University of Missouri in 2005, and his MA in Writing from Missouri State in 2009. He's written for American Express, Wisebread, LA Foodie, and Fox Digital, and he served as a Writer & Editor for the 2013 Los Angeles edition of the guidebook series Not For Tourists. At various points in time Jacob has been a clothing store owner, an English teacher, and a chef that seemed to burn himself a lot. He enjoys travel, watching movies, and performing comedy. Jacob currently lives in Los Angeles. LOL why are the people writing these articles always of THAT kind? He's gonna burned pretty badly I guess. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: ElectricMucus on October 31, 2013, 12:54:56 PM That site is freakin hilarious.
This was among the staff picks: Quote Mobile-gaming company Glu Mobile (GLUU) continued to rise on Tuesday, with shares spiking over 3.5 percent in early trading on heavy volume. This comes during a month that has been extremely kind to Glu, with shares rising over 40 percent in the last month and four different analysts coming in with upgrades over the same period. While many may be in the habit of seeing Zynga (ZNGA) as the only real player in the market, and it’s tempting given Zynga’s market cap is almost ten times what Glu’s is. But Glu is starting to make waves in a way that has investors taking note. Deer Hunter 2014 and…Profit Hunter 2014? Glu’s October has been bolstered by the release of Deer Hunter 2014, one of its most popular titles. Released on September 20, the game quickly rose to the top spot for free games for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and the Android platform. It had over 5 million downloads within its first week of release, it reached 1 million downloads in a single day, reached the #1 free app ranking in 19 countries and the #1 free game ranking in 78 countries. Now, the company expects to make over $250,000 a day from the game’s premium users, with nearly 280,000 new downloads a day. The success of Deer Hunter 2014 appears to have helped analysts see a future for Glu, despite the fact that it’s still failing to turn a profit consistently. On October 14, B. Riley & Co. upgraded Glu from neutral to buy and increased its price target from $2.75 a share to $3.75. The day after that, Northland Capital reiterated its outperform rating and increased its price target from $3.50 a share to $4 a share (essentially reversing their August 7 cut to Glu’s price target). Then the day after that, it was Canaccord Genuity (CCORF) reiterating its buy with an increase in the price target from $3 a share to $4. The Benchmark Company (MHFI) opted to wait another week before jumping on the bandwagon on October 22 when it reiterated a buy rating and increased the price target from $2.42 to $3.07. Clearly, the belief from many on Wall Street is that Glu’s model of free mobile games with premium services means profits are in the company’s future. Optimism for the Future Glu’s rapid rise appears to have the potential for staying power as it may have landed on a way to monetize a popular model. As the growth of mobile devices continues unchecked, in the United States and abroad, Glu’s simple business plan could prove a valuable one in the long run. “We believe we are just scratching the surface of the organization's performance potential and look forward to launching a strong portfolio of titles in Q4 and beyond,” said CEO Niccolo De Masi in the company’s Q3 earnings report. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: augustocroppo on October 31, 2013, 12:57:20 PM And paypal too! Include it here please!!! ;D It is more like the other way around: Bitcoin is being affected by Paypal. Paypal has already a very stable application for mobile phones, while Bitcoin software developers are struggling to create a secure wallet for mobile phones. If money transmitters like Western Union follow the same path, they will be one more step ahead of your "Bitcoin Dream". Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: augustocroppo on October 31, 2013, 01:00:05 PM Simple: because Bitcoin is the future. ::) Ripple "is the future" as well and it is much more appropriate than Bitcoin to be used as protocol to transmit money. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: wachtwoord on October 31, 2013, 01:02:32 PM Simple: because Bitcoin is the future. ::) Ripple "is the future" as well and it is much more appropriate than Bitcoin to be used as protocol to transmit money. No, Ripple is a scam. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: ElectricMucus on October 31, 2013, 01:08:00 PM Simple: because Bitcoin is the future. ::) Ripple "is the future" as well and it is much more appropriate than Bitcoin to be used as protocol to transmit money. No, Ripple is a scam. Its not. You parrot that because you are afraid your Bitcoin investment would fail. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: wachtwoord on October 31, 2013, 01:12:42 PM Simple: because Bitcoin is the future. ::) Ripple "is the future" as well and it is much more appropriate than Bitcoin to be used as protocol to transmit money. No, Ripple is a scam. Its not. You parrot that because you are afraid your Bitcoin investment would fail. No, otherwise I would have kept the free Ripples (and/or bough more). XRP is a centralized scheme much like fiat only the central organization "distributing" the currency is even less trustworthy. Good luck with that. I'll keep repeating it's a scam to at least inform new members sufficiently to do their own due diligence. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: augustocroppo on October 31, 2013, 01:23:47 PM Then instead of using gold, governments, utility etc. as a "what is it backed by?" argument it would be better to use trust as currency. Ripples stagnating because people don't trust it, Bitcoin keeps growing because no trust is required. How are Western Union's trust reserves doing? Trust cannot be used as currency and people trust in Ripple, otherwise the Ripple ledger number would not keep growing. By the way, you are confusing different meanings of trust. Trust is still required to use the Bitcoin protocol to transmit money. The only trust that the Bitcoin eliminates is the trust people grants to a third party to move money from one point to another. However, both parties participating in the transaction must trust each other. I do not know how much trust Western Union have into a digital currency with high price variation in the exchange markets... I would guess not much. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: ElectricMucus on October 31, 2013, 01:28:16 PM Simple: because Bitcoin is the future. ::) Ripple "is the future" as well and it is much more appropriate than Bitcoin to be used as protocol to transmit money. No, Ripple is a scam. Its not. You parrot that because you are afraid your Bitcoin investment would fail. No, otherwise I would have kept the free Ripples (and/or bough more). XRP is a centralized scheme much like fiat only the central organization "distributing" the currency is even less trustworthy. Good luck with that. I'll keep repeating it's a scam to at least inform new members sufficiently to do their own due diligence. You have sold your free shares of a company and because of that they are a scam. Striking logic, keep it up! They want to centralize their profits, big whoop is that what this is about? Or that Ripple uses a distributed client/server architecture ala Forex in contrast to the p2p architecture Bitcoin uses? Doesn't Bitcoin dream about having full nodes only at certain big entities? Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: ElectricMucus on October 31, 2013, 01:35:16 PM No, Ripple is a scam. Its not. You parrot that because you are afraid your Bitcoin investment would fail. Ok tell me how/why it is a scam. Is it because the idiots who scream the loudest here say so? Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: augustocroppo on October 31, 2013, 01:49:44 PM No, Ripple is a scam. I am sorry to disrupt your "Bitcoin Dream", but no, Ripple is not scam. Ripple is a well designed protocol to transmit IOU (I Own You) of fiat and digital currency. It is still being developed and adopted at a slow peace, as happened with the Bitcoin protocol in the past. Adoption of the Ripple protocol rather than the Bitcoin protocol would be much more advantageous to Western Union to improve their business model. The transactions are quicker than Bitcoin and the protocol allows use of scripts which could optimize the way people transmit money. The Ripple developers are working into something they call "Smart Contracts", which aims to automate process like escrow or auctions. This is indeed something cannot be done in the Bitcoin protocol without a drastic change in the original client developed by Satoshi Nakamoto. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: 600watt on October 31, 2013, 02:24:25 PM No, Ripple is a scam. Its not. You parrot that because you are afraid your Bitcoin investment would fail. it´s a scam and the ripple worshippers getting really fanatic about it. :-* Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: wachtwoord on October 31, 2013, 02:26:27 PM Simple: because Bitcoin is the future. ::) Ripple "is the future" as well and it is much more appropriate than Bitcoin to be used as protocol to transmit money. No, Ripple is a scam. Its not. You parrot that because you are afraid your Bitcoin investment would fail. No, otherwise I would have kept the free Ripples (and/or bough more). XRP is a centralized scheme much like fiat only the central organization "distributing" the currency is even less trustworthy. Good luck with that. I'll keep repeating it's a scam to at least inform new members sufficiently to do their own due diligence. You have sold your free shares of a company and because of that they are a scam. Striking logic, keep it up! They want to centralize their profits, big whoop is that what this is about? Or that Ripple uses a distributed client/server architecture ala Forex in contrast to the p2p architecture Bitcoin uses? Doesn't Bitcoin dream about having full nodes only at certain big entities? Your response proves you fail at logic because that wasn't my point at all. I was arguing against your "argument". It isn't that hard :) Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: ElectricMucus on October 31, 2013, 02:39:23 PM Circular logic never fails. So I don't have that kind of safety net you have.
Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: allthingsluxury on October 31, 2013, 03:13:01 PM Western Union is horrible. Their fee's are outrageous. Bitcoin does help eliminate the use of them.
Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: ElectricMucus on October 31, 2013, 03:16:13 PM I'm wondering, why the hostility towards western union?
Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: augustocroppo on October 31, 2013, 03:16:46 PM No, Ripple is a scam. Its not. You parrot that because you are afraid your Bitcoin investment would fail. it´s a scam and the ripple worshippers getting really fanatic about it. :-* The only digital currency which had literally attracted worshippers is Bitcoin. No other kind of digital monetary transmission attracts this peculiar kind of people, which advocates Bitcoin as kind of new religion, when in fact it is just a software produced by a mysterious Japanese character. This cult-like mindset is what generates plenty of misconceptions and misinformation in this forum, like "Bitcoin is killing Western Union". To say that "ripple is a scam" is not different than religious fundamentalists to say "their god is not the right one". But, of course, not all people which use or appreciate the advantages of the Bitcoin protocol are Bitcoin worshippers. There are plenty of people which could care less for this "Bitcoin Dream", they are busy building the real future and more than happy to use the Bitcoin protocol when that provides them certain benefits. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: Raize on October 31, 2013, 04:28:24 PM I've done plenty of remittances for people, using Bitcoin since 2011. It's pretty much the *only* business I've done in Bitcoin aside from mining. I think you guys underestimate the size of Western Union. They have been around forever and would likely adopt/integrate Bitcoin before failing. They essentially have a trust network that puts the OTC to shame. They do somewhere over 500,000 transactions per day compared to Bitcoin at 50,000 (which, let's be honest, are likely mostly internal instead of peer-to-peer).
Bitcoin might be making a dent in Western Union, I'm not going to lie. But I doubt it'll be replacing it anytime soon. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: bassclef on October 31, 2013, 05:11:40 PM The world is quickly going all digital and will leave behind those who lack the foresight to adapt.
First it was the digital photo business which sunk Kodak, now companies like Hewlett Packard are having a difficult time adapting in a world where people print less and less. My wife works directly with HP's upper management on advertising decisions, and she will be the first to tell you that the old executives are very staunch in their beliefs, opinionated, and the amount of waste that goes on is staggering. These huge companies are somewhat dysfunctional and don't always make logical decisions. They recently killed a $1 million project right before completion because one person lacked vision and pulled the plug. Money down the drain. They barely even had a Facebook presence before she started working with them last year. I give HP as an example of the corporate lumbering dinosaur that is struggling to stay relevant.. Now with Bitcoin threatening WU's business model I see the older, more stubborn executives sitting back in their leather-bound offices smelling of rich mohagony, smoking their hubris cigars. Bitcoin a threat? Ha! Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: AndrewWilliams on October 31, 2013, 07:04:01 PM The speed at which USD is getting irrelevant is no joke. The end to petrodollar is being invented right here in the US, thanks to Tesla ;) I like that :) When can I buy a Tesla with Bitcoin? :D Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: RodeoX on October 31, 2013, 07:11:24 PM ... And then you win.
8) Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: AndrewWilliams on October 31, 2013, 07:12:05 PM I've done plenty of remittances for people, using Bitcoin since 2011. It's pretty much the *only* business I've done in Bitcoin aside from mining. I think you guys underestimate the size of Western Union. They have been around forever and would likely adopt/integrate Bitcoin before failing. They essentially have a trust network that puts the OTC to shame. They do somewhere over 500,000 transactions per day compared to Bitcoin at 50,000 (which, let's be honest, are likely mostly internal instead of peer-to-peer). Bitcoin might be making a dent in Western Union, I'm not going to lie. But I doubt it'll be replacing it anytime soon. You're right. WU has a huge amount of investors in it that will not let it fail.... As you mention, they will most likely integrate Bitcoin before they lose a significant market share to it. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: mel2000 on October 31, 2013, 09:28:41 PM Quote Bitcoin might be making a dent in Western Union, I'm not going to lie. But I doubt it'll be replacing it anytime soon. I suspect that PayPal has had more of an impact on WU than Bitcoin since PP allows users to move money for free. Moving money by Bitcoin still requires too much complexity for the mainstream compared to WU, especially for American users. Keep in mind that WU appeals to low-end money movers. Businesses like WU are still the only way to move money without involving a money-handling account. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: operrajunk74 on October 31, 2013, 09:39:31 PM I see no reason WU using Bitcoin before there will be tens of thousand Bitcoin ATM all over world. Now they simply have no reason, Bitcoin is no big competitor to them
Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: BitchicksHusband on October 31, 2013, 10:03:53 PM Quote Bitcoin might be making a dent in Western Union, I'm not going to lie. But I doubt it'll be replacing it anytime soon. I suspect that PayPal has had more of an impact on WU than Bitcoin since PP allows users to move money for free. Moving money by Bitcoin still requires too much complexity for the mainstream compared to WU, especially for American users. Keep in mind that WU appeals to low-end money movers. Businesses like WU are still the only way to move money without involving a money-handling account. I e-mail money to someone using Coinbase. It asks them to sign up with an account to retrieve the money. Not that difficult. Once we both have accounts, I can SMS text money to someone using their phone number by saying "Send $2 to 123-456-7890". Really not that difficult. I think people underestimate what some of these Bitcoin companies are doing. As evidenced by people in this thread, it is WAY harder to use Western Union or even Paypal. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: Zangelbert Bingledack on October 31, 2013, 10:37:14 PM I can't believe no one mentioned the fact that WU has already said they're looking into incorporating Bitcoin into their business model.
Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: leoragraves666 on October 31, 2013, 11:04:20 PM Bitcoin has a lot to do before that happens. Goverments want to track money, and will destroy every possibility for anonimity before they let it be the next WU.
Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: zachcope on October 31, 2013, 11:11:23 PM Slightly extreme article, seems like a reaction piece to the WU stock oscillations. And even if the US authorities end up imposing the more extreme outcomes, Bitcoin will still survive in the US without a doubt, and it will continue to get used for remittance. It'll just be a huge advertisement for Bitcoin's international transfer advantages ("So dangerous to WU they tried to shut it down" etc). I think we all know that it's not disappearing from TCP/IP traffic anytime soon, whether or not it needs to be secreted in an encrypted sub-layer of the internet in the authoritarian US. WU investors are right to be concerned long term though, it's dead in the water before the end of the 2010's. The speed at which USD is getting irrelevant is no joke. The end to petrodollar is being invented right here in the US, thanks to Tesla ;) This +100000 I predict one of the precipitants to a dollar crash will be countries pricing their oil in non dollar currencies. The see the dominos start to fall... Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: wachtwoord on November 01, 2013, 12:10:56 AM Every time this thread pops up in my new posts feed I hear Kim Dotcom (Schmidt) saying: "The government is killing innovation. Don't let them get away with that!" :P
Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: nobbynobbynoob on November 01, 2013, 12:16:33 AM Bitcoin has a lot to do before that happens. Goverments want to track money, and will destroy every possibility for anonimity before they let it be the next WU. They can only control the fiat exchange points (and even that's tricky in the OTC market). Once bitcoin has enough traction to remove the (partial) necessity for fiat conversion, poof! censorship-resistant transfer of value. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: mel2000 on November 01, 2013, 03:17:37 AM Quote I e-mail money to someone using Coinbase. It asks them to sign up with an account to retrieve the money. Not that difficult. Coinbase requires documentation and time in order to start doing money-handling transactions with them. I don't think Coinbase offers money handling transactions on the same day one applies for their account. WU only requires cash and a driver's license (in the USA).Quote As evidenced by people in this thread, it is WAY harder to use Western Union or even Paypal. WU caters to people who want to move money in an emergency without a computer or without a prior money handling broker account. Bitcoins and WU aren't even real competitors at this point. I still think PayPal is more WU competition right now than Bitcoins.Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: leoragraves666 on November 01, 2013, 09:19:54 AM Bitcoin has a lot to do before that happens. Goverments want to track money, and will destroy every possibility for anonimity before they let it be the next WU. They can only control the fiat exchange points (and even that's tricky in the OTC market). Once bitcoin has enough traction to remove the (partial) necessity for fiat conversion, poof! censorship-resistant transfer of value. Sadly I don't think they will let that happen. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: RodeoX on November 01, 2013, 01:48:48 PM Yes.
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." - Mahatma Gandhi Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: herzmeister on November 01, 2013, 02:17:14 PM so far, Bitcoin rather brings WU a lot of business.
Lots of trades on localbitcoins.com go over WU (no, don't ask me why). Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: n8rwJeTt8TrrLKPa55eU on November 01, 2013, 03:16:21 PM WU presentation on digital currencies given on Sept 13 2013 at Consumer Protection & Compliance conference:
https://events.westernunion.com/WUComplianceConference/presentations/2013/EmergingRiskofDigitalCurrency.pdf Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: LiteCoinGuy on November 01, 2013, 04:13:22 PM Western Union: bitcoin isn’t ready for international money transfer yet
http://www.coindesk.com/western-union-bitcoin-international-money-transfer/ Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: AndrewWilliams on November 01, 2013, 05:16:46 PM Western Union: bitcoin isn’t ready for international money transfer yet http://www.coindesk.com/western-union-bitcoin-international-money-transfer/ That's because they feel it would not be easy enough to prevent money laundering at this point.... Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: RodeoX on November 01, 2013, 05:36:27 PM Western Union: bitcoin isn’t ready for international money transfer yet Let's just ignore the fact that it has been used for years for just that purpose. ::)http://www.coindesk.com/western-union-bitcoin-international-money-transfer/ If WU were half as smart as they are greedy, they would realize that they could capture the bitcoin market in America. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: leoragraves666 on November 01, 2013, 07:30:07 PM Western Union: bitcoin isn’t ready for international money transfer yet http://www.coindesk.com/western-union-bitcoin-international-money-transfer/ That's because they feel it would not be easy enough to prevent money laundering at this point.... This is very correct but I don't think that would happen, people who do money laundering would rather not present their documents, and with WU it is required. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: gollum on November 01, 2013, 09:45:05 PM Lol what a title - Killing Western Union!
No way Jose! Theyr not killing WU today or tommorow, but over time cryptocurrencies will threaten the business model of WU if they don't start to use cryptocurrencies as well. If WU starts to offer bitcoins to their clients through their worldwide dealers, it would be a huge win-win both for WU and for bitcoin. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: BitchicksHusband on November 03, 2013, 12:14:15 AM I can't believe no one mentioned the fact that WU has already said they're looking into incorporating Bitcoin into their business model. So did PayPal about 6 months ago. So where is it? I'll believe it when I see it. Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: BitchicksHusband on November 03, 2013, 12:20:00 AM so far, Bitcoin rather brings WU a lot of business. Lots of trades on localbitcoins.com go over WU (no, don't ask me why). Non-reversible? Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: BitchicksHusband on November 03, 2013, 12:38:02 AM Quote I e-mail money to someone using Coinbase. It asks them to sign up with an account to retrieve the money. Not that difficult. Coinbase requires documentation and time in order to start doing money-handling transactions with them. I don't think Coinbase offers money handling transactions on the same day one applies for their account. WU only requires cash and a driver's license (in the USA).Yes. You can send people bitcoins at any e-mail address, even if they don't have an account. If they don't sign up and hook up a US bank account in 60 days, you get the coins back. Most people in the US have e-mail and a bank account. As I said, once both parties have accounts, you can use e-mail or phone number to send money back and forth instantly for free (no tx fees if within the Coinbase network). And you can even use an SMS text instead. And once they go into other countries, it becomes just as easy to send money to anyone in the world. (Just a customer, but I think this is huge for adoption.) Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: gaston909 on November 03, 2013, 10:33:15 AM I still find it a bit shocking that it takes so long for WU to be replaced. It is a terrible service and only used because some people had no other choice.
Title: Re: Bitcoin is killing Western Union! Post by: LiteCoinGuy on November 03, 2013, 11:24:49 AM I can't believe no one mentioned the fact that WU has already said they're looking into incorporating Bitcoin into their business model. iam impressed by this fact :) |
