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To put people in control of their own money.
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MasterCard denies BitCoin card rumors, BitInstant says it's still on track Terrence O'Brien 2012-08-22 http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/22/mastercard-denies-bitcoin-card-rumors/... So, what have we learned today? Not a whole heck of a lot actually, other than the fact that putting out a debit card is a complicated business. You'll just have to stay tuned to see how this shakes out. |
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Slashdot picking up on the techweekeurope article |
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Private Internet Access is mentioned. We are a very strong supporter of Bitcoin. :-)
Nice!.. but it's very easy to miss on your website. There is one small icon out of 11 on the front page - and when you click 'other payment options' after going to 'join now' - Bitcoin is not in the list. At that point a bitcoin-paying user might well leave the site without realizing it's accepted. |
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BitCoin Card To Launch In 2 Months, Says BitInstant 2012-08-21 http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/08/21/1530248/bitcoin-card-to-launch-in-2-months-says-bitinstant... "Charlie Shrem, co-founder of BitInstant LLC, has confirmed that a BitCoin-funded international debit/credit card should be available very soon. Giving a time frame of 6-8 weeks, Shrem said over an IRC chat session that the card will function like any other credit or debit card, and that it can be used at places where MasterCard is being accepted. Shrem has also said that the initial 1000-odd cards will be given for free and subsequent cards will carry a charge of around $10. Any transaction that is carried out through the card [will incur a] 1% BitCoin transfer fee on top of the $1.50 ATM withdrawal fee." ... |
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Bitcoin company says debit cards coming in two months BitInstant hopes to expand cryptocurrency's reach beyond sketchy characters. Cyrus Farivar 2012-08-21 http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/08/bitcoin-company-says-debit-cards-coming-in-two-months/... Personal information required The card would work similarly to a prepaid debit card, where a fixed value can be held on the card. Shrem declined to say which banks would be issuing the cards, but he did say that one would be in the United States and another would be outside the country. ... Skepticism abounds Nicolas Christin, the associate director of the Information Networking Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, has done extensive economic research on the use and scope of Bitcoin. He remains a bit skeptical that this debit card will make a big impact among the general public. ... |
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The are are only 4 possibilities:
1. They have enough BTC to pay all outstanding debts.
2. They have enough USD to buy enough BTC to pay all outstanding debt.
3. Combination of the above.
4. Neither of the above.
by "have" above I mean "have and willing to pay".
if it is 1. then what can be easier than making 5-6 transactions to 5-6 largest PPT's, takes 5 minutes tops. It is not happening.
if it is 2. good luck buying so many BTC.
if it is 3. ... obvious...
if it is 4. well you would have what you see now.
5. (or actually 2b) They are negotiating teaming up with a wealthy co-conspirator for a few mill - because the goodwill gained from paying back this small-scale scheme would make running a $50 Million ponzi easy in this gullible community. |
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...
But I am so dumbfounded by the large mass of supporters (some of whom claim to not be investors) who religously maintain he will pay out, even in the face of mounting evidence that he won't, that I am forced to try and come up with plausible scenarios where he doesn't default.
...
I consider a return of funds possible - because if he can pull it off, it leaves him fantastically well-placed to pull off a $50 or $500 Million dollar ponzi down the track. The reputation gained from paying out on this one would be invaluable. If he can find a wealthy co-conspirator to put in a few mil to pay out this little scheme - then for the next one, most bitcoiners are his bitches. |
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In Chinese. tech.qq.com is a pretty huge site I believe. This article has pictures of the bitinstant credit card - on one of the top 10 websites in the world! nice. From alexa.com: Site Information for qq.com
Alexa Traffic Rank: 9 Traffic Rank in CN: 2
Sites Linking In: 464,860
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Inside FundersClub, The Equity Crowdfunding Platform Destined To Redefine Venture Capital Josh Constine 2012-08-20 ... Coinbase – A PayPal for Bitcoin that allows for transaction fee-less money transfers. In just a month since launch it’s collected 2,000 users, $30,000 in deposits, $15,000 in transactions, and praise from Kevin Rose. ... http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/20/ipo-vc-angel-fundersclub/oops.. thanks stan.distortion.. was missing the link - that was sloppy of me. |
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Overall it's a nice looking card, and it's great to see more things like this becoming available.
"I love bitcoin" or "We love bitcoin" is cheesy enough, but ok by me - "me love bitcoin" is a step too far... but I guess I'm just a bit conservative in some ways.
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What's with the childish/neanderthal "me love bitcoin"?
I'm all for a sense of fun/humour - but nevertheless I'd be embarrassed to have that in my wallet.
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Linear growth at about 2000 users per month over the past 12 months.
It's not really what I'd consider an exciting growth rate, considering it'd take over 40 years to add just 1 Million users at that rate.
Good thing there are a lot of bitcoiners who have never been here, and a lot who have, but never signed up. Yes, I believe that to be so too - but it's the linear growth which is unexciting. If the forums are growing linearly - then I expect the whole bitcoin ecosystem is also only growing linearly. This doesn't look very linear and other wallet sites are seeing similar figures: http://blockchain.info/charts/my-wallet-n-usersNice.. but a little too early in the life of the blockchain wallet to be drawing much of a conclusion from that pattern I think. FWIW - I set up over 5 blockchain wallets, but only one bitcointalk account. |
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Linear growth at about 2000 users per month over the past 12 months.
It's not really what I'd consider an exciting growth rate, considering it'd take over 40 years to add just 1 Million users at that rate.
Good thing there are a lot of bitcoiners who have never been here, and a lot who have, but never signed up. Yes, I believe that to be so too - but it's the linear growth which is unexciting. If the forums are growing linearly - then I expect the whole bitcoin ecosystem is also only growing linearly. |
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Linear growth at about 2000 users per month over the past 12 months.
It's not really what I'd consider an exciting growth rate, considering it'd take over 40 years to add just 1 Million users at that rate.
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Clearly, there's a market, you know, if so many government types are concerned about it. So, what can we do to better target the money laundering market?
Well.. I guess anything that ratchets up the BTC price so as to give sufficient size to the bitcoin market to make laundering worthwhile amounts more practical. |
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