Danke fürs Organisieren, war eine feine Sache!

We are happy to announce that Bitbond is now a silver member of the Bitcoin Foundation!

Have you tried it ou? What do you think of it?

Think so, too! Then if you have a transition it will probably be at a pace which is acceptable for everyone. Bitcoin is bottom-up and so should be its adoption.

I really think this is starting to be a problem. There are so many indexes and none is complete. Imagine you are new to Bitcoin and end up on one of these sites. It looks like Bitcion just came out yesterday and only a handful businesses are accepting it.

Any ideas for a solution? Maybe through the Bitcoin foundation? I might really ask them We just joined as a silver member.

There would need to be a transition period. If the switch was done within one day the BTC price would skyrocket, even if it was a small economy.

Since the government of a country owns all money (through the central bank), the government would have to take it back. Or to be more concrete buy the fiat money back. In order to do this, the government would need to purchase enough BTC. Therefore I think the process would take quite long. Once a large entity announces it is going to buy a large number of BTC - and since the quantity of money in a given economy is publicly known, everybody would have a good estimate about the amount of BTC to be purchased - the BTC price would skyrocket simply as a result of this announcement. Think of of it as the announcement of a corporate takeover. When the public knows, that one company is going to buy another, everybody wants shares of the target because they know the price is going up.

So the process would have to be slow and the announcements very cautious.

Roughly about half of these bars/restaurants etc. are run by women https://maps.google.de/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=215815779182101786433.0004d97a178f35591268f&ie=UTF8&t=m&ll=52.492965,13.417901&spn=0.003136,0.006866&z=17&source=embed

Which could make it more stable if it succeeds. And if Bitcoin does succeed, it takes longer than if "introduced (enforced)" top-down.

Generally, I don't think Bitcoin will completely replace fiat currencies. I think it could be large in areas where it is advantageous. But in some areas other alternatives (such as fiat currencies or other digital currencies) will remain successful or will rise. Same with banks. For some services banks might be here to stay (advisory for instance, but then they don't deserve the name "bank" anymore). For many other financial services I am convinced that specialized Bitcoin companies will take over the old banks.

Thank you! was really interested in that since I have Windows Phone...

I think a filter could be a good solution to the online/offline issue. I think it's legitimate for websites to list on the map because it can be pretty interesting for a user where they come from. An the more complete the listing the better.

This is the way! It has to start from the bottom because after all I think it's too hard to wait for someone like Amazon accepting. We all have to stat convincing small businesses accepting Bitcoin.

If there is anyone from Berlin here come join us for the Bitcoin Exchange Berlin on July 27. http://www.bitcoin-exchange-berlin.com/

I'm not sure whether volatility is the problem. When you peg the BTC price to the USD or EUR so that it actually resembles your fiat currency the issue is manageable. You would need to exchange very frequently to fiat (like daily or so) in order not to be exposed to a massive FX risk but still I think a shop like Amazon could handle that.

I wonder whether it would be possible for Amazon and other large shops from an infrastructure point of view. Probably it would require quite a lot of work and resources to integrate Bitcoin into such a large business.

I'd put it more optimistically. Nobody is really "pushing" Bitcoin to be used in less regulated markets. It's just that in economies where the financial infrastructure is very limited or rudimentary Bitcoin might be a good opportunity to give more people access to financial services. When it happens, it will rather be a "pull" than a "push".

Regarding the compatibility with accounting standards, this might be the case today. But it is certainly possible to build more infrastructure around Bitcoin to actually make it compliant. Today already it is possible to build a sufficient accounting system around the Bitcoin client. To make it compliant with accounting standards would be the next step. The great thing is that everybody has access to a payment infrastructure that can have many more services built around it.

We define debt instrument by the following criteria:

1) Money is lent for a fixed term that is longer than 12 months (anything up to 12 months is a money market instrument)
2) There is a contractual obligation to repay
3) The borrower undergoes a mandatory assessement of creditworthiness (rating)

Some comments:

• If not all three criteria are met, for my understanding it is not a debt instrument in financial terminology
• An obligation to repay only exists and is only enforcable if you have a contract, otherwise the debt holder fully relies on the goodwill of the borrower. I believe that such a missing obligation is an invitation to scammers. A site that does not provide Terms & Conditions which state what type of contract obliges the borrower to repay does not provide debt instruments but lending with the hope of repayment. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, it is certainly valid to try and see whether such an approach works out. The only thing I'm saying is that hoping someone will repay is not equal to holding a debt instrument.
• A rating presupposes that the identity of the borrower is verified to the best possible extent and that this is mandatory. From my point of view you cannot have a legally binding contract with a pseudonym and I wouldn't lend money to someone who fails to provide proof of identity at least to an intermediary / clearing house.

I'm happy to discuss our criteria. To my knowledge the aforementioned sites do not meet them, but also happy to discuss. That is why we call Bitbond.net 'the first platform for Bitcoin debt instruments'.

I go for EUR I can testuse if you like and give you feedback. The problem I had so far was that I couldn't copy paste the API key on my phone and typing it manually it is quite tedious. Could you do something about that?
You could testuse our site https://www.bitbond.net/ in turn as a buyer btw. You can see the test projects from my co-founder Jürgen which will 100% be repaid so there is no risk. Currently we gather feedback about the look and feel of our site.


Yes, I was referring to withdrawals and deposits. Beside the security issues the other thing is that it only really makes sense if you could scan a QR code to make payments. Anyway, if it's easy to implement I'd give it a try. It's a trade off between convenience and security...

I saw it.

Bitbond.net as a name just fits our product well which is fundamentally different. Many bonds from corporates or governments are big scams and we still stick to the name "bonds" because it's a generic description regardless of quality. Of course, we work hard to do a lot better than that and maybe some day we all will succeed and Bitcoin will be a real currency alternative. I believe this largely depends on the reliability of the services we all provide. So maybe it's a good start to change the connotation of a name for the better.

Well, let's rather say we compete for the best site But generally speaking we should be happy about every real effort to make Bitcoin widely used in financial services. I belive that if we can establish Bitcoin not just as an asset class but also as a basis for a more sound financial system (with relevant services attached to it), it could be a huge step forward for Bitcoin to become a significant alternative to existing fiat currencies. I think that's a good goal because fiat currencies and the respective financial systems have many flaws... But that's just my view.


There are two points to say about this.

1) Every issuer goes through the same rating process and is required to give us contact details and personal financial information. We validate this information manually case by case as far as possible. For German issuers we pull a real credit score which verifies name, address and date of birth and allows us to exclude applicants who are in personal bankruptcy. We will add credit bureaus from more European countries (and hopefully from other countries throughout the world) as fast as we can. This reduces the number of applicants we have but we are convinced that it also reduces the number of scams.

2) If there is a default, we do have a mechanism, but the strength depends on the country of origin of the issuer. There is a legally binding and enforcable contract between bond issuer and buyer. This is why we have much longer Terms of Use compared to many other Bitcoin related sites. There will also be updates to the Terms of Use to further improve them from a legal standpoint. We have a lawyer working on it.

If somebody defaults the claim goes to a collection agency which means that the issuer's credit score will deteriorate. This is a strong incentive to repay, but only in countries where you do have credit bureaus and collection agencies. In Western Europe this is the case, in Africa this is more difficult which is why such bonds are regarded riskier.

Happy to answer further questions.

Today we have published our Bitbond Blog to keep you updated about our innovations and general developments you could find interesting. Also, we will inform you in some more detail about the security measures our site applies.

Stay tuned!

True, the amount of retailers which accept BTC is pretty big that way, but what it probably still lacks is transaction volume. However, the door is open. Now we all have to get going by using it and spreading the word.

Regulatory friction is mostly smaller outside the US. And probably the demand for more/improved financial services is probably larger outside the US. That's why I believe emerging markets are among the best opportunities to get BTC started on a larger scale. It might come to developed economies through the backdoor.

Letters of credit are also definitely worth a thought, good hint!

It's to supplement speculation with actual use of Bitcoin as a means of payment. That is what will ultimately drive value (and price). Pure speculation by the majority of 'users' will always result in price decline.