Interesting that it has reached this level.  Some forms of cryptocurrency even if backed by a fiat currency will be part of future so educating people is important.

An appropriate move for Bitpay and positive for the industry.  Attracting a Visa exec gives some attractiveness to bitcoin overall.

It will be interesting to see how they proceed.  A positive statement for the industry.  Many consumers will still be skittish on why they should use bitcoin instead of traditional payment paths.  I still get the crazy looks and head turns when I mention bitcoin to people  (and that is just from family and friends ;-).  Still a ways to go.

While positive news I would be surprised if this would push the price of Bitcoins.  It was a very simple way for them to try and attract a few new customers.  Unless you are a miner with a need to spend bitcoins paying via a credit card is still simpler. 

The US laws detract from consumers using it for this type of payment as well.  Wait until  a regular consumer realizes they need to track capital gain transactions for every monthly payment.  Like they need more paperwork.

Good news but more of a marketing headline to help battle the negative bitcoin news for consumers.  Further, there is no mention of a discount for paying with bitcoins.

http://www.coindesk.com/canadian-economists-bitcoin-needs-flexible-regulation-thrive/

Canadian economists are looking to find a way to make bitcoin more flexible to use.  In this article they look to Germany as a good example of a regulatory framework.  What do we like about Germany's approach to Bitcoin and is their room for improvements there?  Personally I am not sure Germany's approach is ideal but perhaps the value is in the fact that they have recognized it and defined it in their framework.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/19/bitcoin-unit-of-account-germany

I think part of what Dave was saying is that today actual retail transactions at a brick and mortar shop is very low because 1) the infrastructure is lacking and 2) there are just easier ways to pay.

The volume we are seeing as a currency in BitPay and others is primarily for web-based e-commerce transactions.  Every transaction that BitPay processes for GYFT is actually just a trade to another form of currency and method of payment.  Why do they sell lots of gift cards through bitcoins - because people can't use bitcoins at those merchants.  So again all of that volume is really not retail volume.

I  have yet to see any reasonable merchant volume stated anywhere where the transaction with bitcoins is across a counter.  I am not saying it is not early I am just saying Dave has some valid points for where we are today.  Further, the regulatory situation does not help.  Who wants to buy a pizza and track the capital gains on that transaction.

Any currency fails with volatility.  If it was not a traded commodity perhaps the current path may be different.  Most people in the bitcoin community today are in it to see it rise in price not to buy something with it.

The one good thing to note is that it will always be here and can always revert to being more decentralized but fully decentralized as you describe it may not always be best for the community as a whole.

While I was encouraged by the original traction of bitcoin in Canada didn't the Canadian government say that is was not a currency?  As such Virtex is operating in a limbo status until the Canadian's decide on any other position on Bitcoin.

I will say this is a good concept in general however.

In a recent article http://tomorrowstransactions.com/2014/05/bitcoin-wasnt-designed-for-retail-payments/ Dave Birch expresses his views on if Bitcoin will ever be viable for retail payments.  There are many challenges and of course it is like throwing flames on oil in here.

Dave bring up some good points on the current challenges but he misses the fact that the underbanked would like an alternative for one. He does address that part of the issue is the payment processing.  People want it to be as easy as swiping or a touchless card transaction at a POS. 

What are your thoughts on Dave's article?

Yes anyone can put a point of interest in the system and just add the payment type= bitcoin tag

In this reference the difference between an early adopter paying $$$ for an iPhone in the early days and trying to get someone to buy bitcoins today is the phone was a tangible product purchase.  The masses have a hard time seeing value in Bitcoin and what they get for it outside of the FUD around it.  Consumers are moving digitally as the original article stated but why use Bitcoin - My Credit Card works fine.

Following this thread I find it interesting that everyone is so anti-paypal.  The fact is where would commerce be today without it.  They were a catalyst for e-commerce growth especially for small to medium size businesses.  Can they do the same for bitcoin if they venture in?  Not sure but they will engage if the time is right.

For those fearing they will hold coin, steal etc.... that has already happened with Mt. Gox and others.  Anybody doing a risk analysis of their funds would have scored Paypal at a 95%+ trust level and Mt. Gox at like 5%.

Finally, because this is decentralized by nature how can they screw it up.  Everyone will just have more choices.  More options are  a good thing.

I fail to understand the point in this whole discussion.  While stabilization in the Bitcoin price is important for it as a currency it is traded.  Trading drives prices up and down.  Who cares who it is done as long as it is not a hack.

Taking from the charitable message of a merchant like Tom's.

How about one Andorid smartphone for the winner (many of us can't use or iPhones) and then donate a smartphone to a merchant or someone who could use it to receive payments or donations for the good cause in bitcoin.

You could also carry a wallet while naked.

Love how headlines like this attract eyeballs. 

Interestingly you could create "colored coins" that are backed by a fiat currency.  No fluctuation.  So in a way you can create virtually any alt coin you want. Correct?  The mechanics of are just different. 

I pay you $50 for x colored coins where each colored coin is basically a note or iou for $50.  You can then redeem that token and get $50 back; it could even have interest applied.    This is my assumption at any rate.

I do not believe this is fully integrated.  Basically this is a tag that they need to show in the UI for filtering (features) just like accepts credit cards. They probably let the merchant add the tag now but he front-end is not ready to display it. 

It will take a while to see this populated just like any other directory so probably not a pressing priority for Yelp.  More PR

A great offering to the community.  It will provides a pure colored coin model that can be an alternate to mastercoin and others.

Looking forward to seeing the platform evolve.

It looks like the article was fairly accurate. I personally carry 20-40 unless traveling and then bump it up but credit and debit cards are basically accepted everywhere.

Have not had much need to use any BTC in a hot wallet yet.

In today's marketplace the only "giftcards" with the lowest fees or no fees to the consumer are merchant cards.  This is because the merchant pays processors the fees directly and most regulatory bodies cracked down on fees with these closed loop cards.

Open loop card fees are the most expensive.  A recent survey showed the following:

Activation feed can range from as little as $2.00 to $9.00
Transaction fees ranging from 35¢ to $2.50 on some cards  ( this is every time the card is used)

There are also inactivity fees and replacement cost fees.

The net of this is that on a $100 open loop card (visa/MC) you could end up paying 10% in fees easily. 

This is a market poised for disruption by virtual currencies to better serve the under-banked and eventually the general population.  Volatility in virtual currency is a current impediment for this moving forward.  Nobody wants to wake up in the morning and see their $100 card become an $85 card overnight