AUG 11 2014
Consumer advisory: Virtual currencies and what you should know about them
BY WILL WADE-GERY
You may have heard about virtual currencies like Bitcoin, XRP, and Dogecoin. But what are virtual currencies? What’s this “to the moon!” business on the internet about? And, as a consumer, what risks should you be aware of?
While virtual currencies offer the potential for innovation, a lot of big issues have yet to be resolved – some of which are critical, including:
Virtual currencies are targets for hackers who have been able to breach sophisticated security systems in order to steal funds
Virtual currencies can cost consumers more to use than credit cards or even regular cash once you take exchange rate issues into consideration
Fraudsters are taking advantage of the hype surrounding virtual currencies to cheat people with fake opportunities
If you trust a company to hold your virtual currencies and something goes wrong, that company may not offer you the kind of help you expect from your bank or debit or credit card provider
Check out our consumer advisory for more things that you should think about if you’re considering using virtual currencies and links to other useful resources.
Submit a complaint
You can also submit a complaint if you have a problem with a virtual currency product or service. We’ll forward the complaint, along with any documents you provide, to the relevant company and work to get a response from them.
Complaint data helps us understand what business practices may pose risks to consumers. We’ll use the information to enforce federal consumer financial laws and, if appropriate, take policy steps.
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/blog/consumer-advisory-virtual-currencies-and-what-you-should-know-about-them/How about we all write in and complain that Money , online money of any sort is a target for hackers- this is a hacker problem not a Bitcoin problem Ditto for the fraudsters, they are a money problem, most fraud around the world is conducted in fiat The whole point of BTC is to not trust a third party - so do not , and if you do then it is the third party problem not BTC As for the exchange rate - yes there is one... yes it moves atm. As for the fees- there are none or minimal for buying things with BTC- as for buying the actual BTC that depends on how you buy it/earn it/mine it In short there is cause for complaint , but about the misleading infos. |
|
|
|
Surprised by how well the Metcalfe's law price assumption works, for example when comparing the previous "plateau" phase (~100 USD) and the current one.
Looking at number of transactions (excluding 100 popular addresses), comparing the August 2013 average (25k) to the August 2013 average (60k), we get: ((60/25)^2)*100 = 576 USD.
Close enough, no?
Wow, really? So we'd need an increase in transactions now, right? (Aren't we already seeing one for a few weeks???) But what about the prediction that according to the transactions we should be at $2k already? I guess I've seen that around here somewhere... Here's the latest chart (updated just now):  Lovely |
|
|
|
That doesn't sound like it's a lot of money for Dell. I think it's a great thing that order has been made using Bitcoin, but it isn't an order out of the ordinary for Dell, I guess, right? No of course not... but I read somewhere the other day that they got a good response from BTC purchases, and now someone has ordered a $50k server from them (a business?) not just a itty bitty laptop.. it does not mean much in isolation at all... but still ... interesting... in that it is a large BTC purchase... not for Dell, but not bad for BTC... just need more and more and more now... |
|
|
|
I send regular messages to companies that I use, that I would like to add Bitcoin (did so with Dell, Expedia, along with quite a few other people it seems...) asking them when (not if) they will start to accept BTC as a payment method.. I also have sent messages to countless other companies, inc BMW, Virgin Atlantic,Tesco online, Easy jet, E-bay, and on and on... but also Amazon.... sent them several messages from 3 different accounts... and not ever had a reply from Amazon until today....- a fob off really, nothing to write home about I know... but... maybe a few more people should give them a nudge.. " so that they can make arrangements to add Bitcoin as payment option soon." oh you tease!! Reply = Hello, Thanks for contacting us with your concern. Currently, We don't accept Bitcoin as a payment method on our website at this time.We accept credit cards, debit cards, payment from U.S. checking accounts, Amazon.com Gift Cards, Amazon Payments Stored Balance, and the Amazon.com Store Card. Here are the credit cards we accept: -- American Express -- Diner's Club (U.S. billing addresses only) -- Discover -- MasterCard -- Visa, Visa Electron, and Visa Check Cards -- Eurocard -- JCB -- NYCE -- STAR -- China UnionPay (credit card only) You can learn more about these payment methods on our Help pages: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=513058I will be sure to pass your message on to the appropriate department in our company for consideration so that they can make arrangements to add Bitcoin as payment option soon.Customer feedback like yours is very important in helping us continue to improve the selection and service we provide. We look forward to seeing you again soon. Best regards, SO It is only a tiny action, but maybe if thousands and thousands of people ask... then..... they will add BTC all the sooner .... and yes I realise they have their own in house system and I realise they may not be properly incentivised as of yet... however... if you have not done so already...do it anyway...get in touch... e-mail them, call them, tweet them. I personally buy a lot of stuff from Amazon... and would love to see them accept BTC. e-mail them, call them, tweet them, write them. Get on it! : ) and yes it is but a drop in the ocean.... but still does not mean that we could make a wave... |
|
|
|
 senior member (Party time) Not quite yet it seems...... but...... aww you've been more enthusiastic than that, here have a puppy  thanks... Lets see if we go up from here ($585-$590) and break $600 now... Watching.. |
|
|
|
senior member (Party time) Not quite yet it seems...... but...... |
|
|
|
What's going on? I'm afraid what'll happen the coming week. It's Sunday, so do you think we might see another Sunday night rise/pump or are we in for a Monday-Monday-Manic-Crash? Where are our long-term support lines we're supposed to bounce of now?
Personally I think we are in for an interesting week - mid term decision time is nearly upon us... Yeah, I don't know if I should be excited or frightened. But when things got tough in this recovery phase, everything actually went pretty well! But I can't say I'm not afraid... It's nerve-wrecking! If we get to 750 and there is some serious volume then I will be all eyes and ears If we go to 435 I will also be all eyes and ears. At this stage I am hiding behind the sofa- I almost cannot watch... or I am asleep- not sure which. Edit - Eitherway I am all eyes this week, and if we still get nothing but sideways this week (god help me) then I am still going to be behind the sofa for the few weeks after that too... if we have not done anything between now and say Aug 8th- then I really will be really quite shocked  Ok ok ... now that we have got here... and we are still sideways.... as it turns out I am only slightly mildy surprised...... So I guess we wait some more.... |
|
|
|
Why do people continue to quote the trolls?
sarry twas a moment of madness |
|
|
|
bitcoin is not going to anywhere but down
Bitcoin is going to go up a little bit, down a little bit , sideways a little bit, down a little bit, up a LOT down a bit, down a fair bit, up a little bit, down a bit , down a bit, sideways for a bit, then UP A LOT, then UP A LOT, then down a little bit, down a little bit, down a tiny bit, up a tiny bit,down a little bit , sideways a little bit, down a little bit, up a LOT down a bit, down a fair bit, up a little bit, down a bit , down a bit, sideways for a bit, then UP A LOT, then UP A LOT, then down a little bit, down a little bit, down a tiny bit, up a tiny bit, down a tiny bit, up a tiny bit, sideways a tiny bit, down a tiny bit, up a tiny bit,down a little bit , sideways a little bit, down a little bit, up a LOT down a bit, down a fair bit, up a little bit, down a bit , down a bit, sideways for a bit, then UP A LOT, then UP A LOT, then down a little bit, down a little bit, down a tiny bit, up a tiny bit, down a tiny bit, up a tiny bit, sideways a tiny bit, sideways a tiny bit, down a little bit , sideways a little bit, down a little bit, up a LOT down a bit, down a fair bit, up a little bit, down a bit , down a bit, sideways for a bit, then UP A LOT, then UP A LOT, then down a little bit, down a little bit, down a tiny bit, up a tiny bit, down a tiny bit, up a tiny bit, sideways a tiny bit, then UP A SHIT LOAD , then down a little bit , sideways a little bit, down a little bit, up a LOT down a bit, down a fair bit, up a little bit, down a bit , down a bit, sideways for a bit, then UP A LOT, then UP A LOT, then down a little bit, down a little bit, down a tiny bit, up a tiny bit,down a little bit , sideways a little bit, down a little bit, up a LOT down a bit, down a fair bit, up a little bit, down a bit , down a bit, sideways for a bit, then UP A LOT, then UP A LOT, then down a little bit, down a little bit, down a tiny bit, up a tiny bit, down a tiny bit, up a tiny bit, sideways a tiny bit, down a tiny bit, up a tiny bit,down a little bit , sideways a little bit, down a little bit, up a LOT down a bit, down a fair bit, up a little bit, down a bit , down a bit, sideways for a bit, then UP A LOT, then UP A LOT, then down a little bit, down a little bit, down a tiny bit, up a tiny bit, down a tiny bit, up a tiny bit, sideways a tiny bit, sideways a tiny bit, down a little bit , sideways a little bit, down a little bit, up a LOT down a bit, down a fair bit, up a little bit, down a bit , down a bit, sideways for a bit, then UP A LOT, then UP A LOT, then down a little bit, down a little bit, down a tiny bit, up a tiny bit, down a tiny bit, up a tiny bit, sideways a tiny bit, then UP A SHIT LOAD.. This much is more certain than "Bitcoin is going nowhere but down" imo. |
|
|
|
This time last year…. Things were pretty boring around here: What happened? Is nobody interested in Bitcoin anymore?
No postings here, no volume on the exchanges, WTF.
Adam was bullish: if we don't break below 100 today, i'd say the mid term looks crazy bullish.
if we do break 100 today, mid term will still be bullish
Oda was skeptical: In my mind, I read that in the enthusiastic voice of a shopping network presenter...
We go up? That's bullish! We go down? That's bullish too. We stay where we are? That's ULTRA-bullish!
Some people thought we needed a good drop in price to pick up buying interest: I agree we needed a drop to get people to start buying again. But I don't think a $5 drop is anywhere near enough. Many people out there were expecting to see 50 on the last drop and we never made it there. Not saying we do this time, but with the dead volume before the drop, it looks like interest (outside of wales) at these levels is not that high.
Justus was correct about Gox (but we never checked the hash of his prediction): I think that six month from now the top bitcoin-dollar exchange is going to be one that is not currently listed on bitcoinity.
Care to tell us which one? No, but I'll give you a SHA256 hash you can quote for future reference: b8b476ff6b82b9ed7f3d91a69df6cadc00ce800da0804c77dcba0f5564fc9ccd Solex's prediction came true too: Why not just change the title to "Wall Observer - BTC/USD wall movement tracker - Hardcore"
And Adam eventually got his $180: Nice post : ) |
|
|
|
|
Show Posts
that made me smile 
