Bitcoin Forum

Is Accepting Bitcoin Just a Publicity Stunt for Companies?

On Feb. 11, Future Tense—a partnership of Slate, the New America Foundation, and Arizona State University—will host an event on cryptocurrencies at the New America office in Washington, D.C. For more information and to watch the webcast, visit the New America website.

For cryptocurrency doubters, it’s easy to be cynical about the almost daily announcement of a new retailer, basketball team, or police chief accepting bitcoin. Most appear to be nothing more than publicity stunts. But in the wake of the FBI’s dissolution of the illicit online marketplace the Silk Road, this new trend is going a long way toward institutionalizing bitcoin, even if they’re just in it for the headlines. Each time a respected retailer takes on the cryptocurrency, criminal associations sink further into the background (although not assisted by the recent arrest of Charles Shrem, the co-founder and CEO of BitInstant, for an alleged scheme to sell more than $1 million in bitcoin to Silk Road users). And linking up with the cryptocurrency gives certain companies a P.R. boost, helping them to appear innovative and risk-taking.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/02/05/overstock_virgin_galactic_tiger_direct_and_others_help_make_bitcoin_mainstream.html

It certainly is for a lot of places accepting bitcoin right now.

Of course there are real benefits a merchant gets when accepting bitcoin in the form of transaction fee's , and it's also true that announcing you're accepting bitcoin tend to bring in extra customers who werent otherwise shopping with you.

I think the benefits to merchants can be compelling beyond the front-end publicity/hype.
Though I wonder if the merchants can in turn induce joe-consumer to use bitcoin. There just is
not enough incentive for most people to bother to use it for transactions.

There is a lot more appeal as a a store of wealth, but that is also where a lot
of conflict arises with powers-that-be.

I think that for some business, it definitely is a way to get more publicity. Whether it's working in terms of revenue or not (I'm talking smaller businesses than, say, TigerDirect) is a different story.

For small business owners, I think they also see it the way we do. That is, it's a method to potentially complete smart investments while embracing what could be.

It's a publicity stunt for any business who say they accept BTC, but convert it to fiat instantly. Businesses that keep the BTC are doing it for the sale of accepting BTC, althought most aren't.

I keep saying that on Reddit and get downvoted like crazy. I don't think Overstock and TigerDirect can generate enough selling pressure, but CheapAir.com with expensive airfare and hotels can definitely do (it uses Coinbase, by the way). I think hoarders will start realizing soon that promoting those quasi-Bitcoin supporters is actually hurting their own wealth!

mostly yes as nobody pays with those coins

Exactly, I'm not sure why people haven't already realized, companies are ONLY (99% of the time) accepting BTC to gain more sales; looking at other companies who've done the same, and gained a lot of sales, why not?
Businesses that actually hold their BTC will make BTC more mainstream, and widely accepted.

Merchants accepting bitcoin don't affect the BTC price as you might think.

Many merchants are using services from BitPay to accept bitcoin.
The moment you make your purchase BitPay will sell the coins on the market and give dollars to the merchant.
Since no BTC are ever held by most merchants, the net effect on the price of BTC is therefore zero.
The good thing is that the coins circulate in the bitcoin economy, creates volume and probably leads to less volatility in the price of BTC/USD.

Well, i think the effect of peer pressure is also setting in among business owners. They see so many people accepting bitcoins and with the added HIGH price of each bitcoins, they are tempted to do it too.

I doubt it's just a publicity stunt since there're real financial benefits in accepting bitcoins (attracting more customers, less processing cost.. etc)...

Plus, crypto will prove to be more inflation resistant in the long term.. so there you go.. just my 2 cents  :D

my question is when will someone huge take bitcoin such as ebay, amazon etc.

I wouldn't say the net effect on bitcoin price is zero. Sure the direct net effect from you (or any of us that already have bitcoin) paying Overstock in bitcoin is zero, but if really big stores start accepting bitcoin (for whatever reason) then it adds legitimacy and publicity and new people might buy bitcoin. 

I guess we will be able to see something less major like maybe instagram or some sht like this to accept bitcoins as donations... It's too early for ebay or amazon to pick it up - too risky.

Why would it be risky? They can use coinbase/bitpay...

This thread really cracks me up.

Identifying potential customers and clients, then tuning your offerings of services and products to be more attractive to these potential markets, is EXACTLY what well-run companies _do_, as a matter of course. Such is their lifeblood.

As such, accepting bitcoin is _definitively_ NOT 'just a publicity stunt'.

Yes, it is a publicity stunt, which will definitely help drive volume, but I think it's also a way for companies to actually invest in large sums of money.

If they feel that the price of BTC will go over the course of the year, which is should, they not only profit from the lower transaction fees, but also profit in the increased valuation of BTC.  It's kind of a win-win right now merchants, unless BTC crashes, which is still a gamble.

I don't think its cynical, but it is driven by publicity and more to the point marketing.  A lot of IT retailer, like Scan in UK today, will see this as a competitive advantage or a wealthy niche.  The fact they are going through a payment service means they aren't fully "accepting" Bitcoin, they are accepting BitPay.  Those coins are either horded by BitPay or sold off in the market.  They are not really helping the Bitcoin economy,  like if i buy from a US supplier doesn't help the UK economy.

Here is my view on the situation. I think now that the speculators have moved to the alt coin marketplace we might see price drops on Bitcoin. Litecoin too has been in a dead zone now for a while. All those retailers will dump their Bitcoin the moment they get it = selling pressure.

http://razorsforex.blogspot.com/2014/02/bitcoin-adoption-bitcoin-price-stability.html

I think it is a double-sided publicity stunt personally. It first gets tech media attention since it's an "unusual" step for a significant retailer; and secondly it gets the attention of Bitcoin users and generates some quick revenue for the retailer. So yes, it is a publicity stunt, but I don't think it's only a publicity stunt; there is a likelihood of some alignment with business strategy.