Yes I forgot to comment on that, I know Mercado Libre is not actually owned by eBay but maybe they are actually testing the waters, if this goes well in the region maybe they can adopt it worldwide. Remember about recent split between Paypal and Ebay?

MercadoLibre, Latin America's answer to eBay, has announced it is integrating bitcoin into its payments platform, MercadoPago.

In an email to users, the marketplace said the initiative would keep its merchants "one foot in the future".

http://www.coindesk.com/the-ebay-of-latin-america-announces-bitcoin-plans/

This is big news since South America, especially Brazil and Argentina are adopting Bitcoin much more quickly than other countries due to fluctuations in their national currency. If Bitcoin actual establishes somewhere as a mainstream payment method, it would be in these countries and they could be come a beacon of hope.

Please don't get me wrong, your position is the correct one, the wise one and it's the way it should be. But it's like saying we should make people care about climate change. They care a little, like when Snowden put his life on the line for and thought he was saving the world. Fifteen minutes later everybody was watching something else or booking a trip to the other side of the world. Nobody cares, life's too short and privacy doesn't matter because most people doesn't matter, not in terms of human values, but in terms of what they do and produce.

A dentist or a plumber, do they really have some amazing inherent information value besides what products can you sell them? They don't and so they don't matter, and they don't care.

I don't know really, please help me. I don't think you lose your ownership of course, they were created by you, but they acquire the rights to do whatever with it really. They don't or do just what people tolerate and it ask you first, like using it in ads.

Allright but it's not a matter of followers or not (this isn't a religion or twitter) it's a matter of accessibility and easyness of use. The iCoin will definitely be fool proof simple to use, no scanning barcodes, no impossible to remember addresses, refunds, etc.

It doesn't matter what I believe. I believe some product prices are ridiculous and I'm know I'm overpaying but in many cases I need them, so I'm in like everyone else. I use Adobe products, if tomorrow Adobe has all its products in the cloud and owns everything (I doubt it because this is copyright protected stuff) I would have to jump on board. Or I can use the Linux alternative that no company or colleague uses and save it in another format...right.

You want it to be one way but it's the other way.

Yes, It's a quote from "The Wire" haha.

Ok, but it's definitely a great way for these new generations to embrace digital currency and think with that mindset. Remember that in 5 years these little boys and girls will demand the same service and experience. Now, I don't think every child will have this piggybot by their bedside table, maybe they sell 10-20k units at most, but it's a nice idea to get new generations involved.

The other demographic is women, if women actually prefer paying with Bitcoin instead of credit cards, then digital currency will be mainstream, possibly surpassing the US dollar. The problem is that Bitcoin is almost a complete opposite! Scanning barcodes? Addresses with 50 characters when we have emails address since the 90s? No refunding?

Honestly no woman or non-tech savvy person will adopt anything like that anytime soon.

Hey, it's just my opinion and I think it's perfectly valid. I actually love the technology and it is revolutionary, it may be a paradigm shift like the press.

And I would prefer to own my online activity but then you would have to actually pay for Facebook and Google services for example like you do with Adobe, Netflix, Microsoft or the like. In my case and many others like me, we just don't really care about our "privacy" because it doesn't exist unless you live under a cave building bombs.

What I mean is, if people have actual evidence of wrong doings by these companies then it would be much easier to convince the mainstream to adopt more privacy alternatives. To 99% of the population it means nothing, doesn't affect their living in any way. I've never had any problems with my credit cards or bank accounts (I live in a third world country where banks actually take off with your savings, I've seen an economical crisis first hand), but they never robbed me and if even they did, I'm still covered by policies and insurances. People are actually afraid of Bitcoin, the "hackers" and money laundering and drug industry people that accept it, they are the ones in the shadows. That what needs to change for Bitcoin to succeed, not the other way around.

 Governments and companies ARE people. Do you really think anyone would buy a car or a house with Bitcoin when that is the wild wild west and banks and credit cards are available?

There's always exposure to the edge house plus you didn't take into account number zero. Like I said before, one can definitely make money over an year if you are some sort of robot, but it's just not doable, eventually you'll lose, usually because of your ego, that gets you first than the house edge.

Yes I agree, but if Apple launches the iCoin tomorrow Bitcoin is doomed. Well you get the idea, if an "official" currency is created by a powerful player and goes mainstream Bitcoin will be instantly the new Litecoin and eventually die or remain an alternative to pay for drugs...

Around $300-350 in my opinion. I think that many countries will face an economic crisis in 2017, like Brazil and Bitcoin will definitely benefit from this. However any day there's a chance that a new cryptocurrency/technology backed by a big company or country takes its place.

Not sure if this question was already asked, but anyone knows what's the girl/guy ratio in this forum?

Lo he usado varias veces y el servicio es excelente sin tener que andar registrándose y con muchísimas altcoins. Lo único es que quizás las tazas no sean los mejores, no tengo mucha idea pero supongo que alguna contra debe tener.

Creo que Brasil y Argentina son los que adoptaron más rápido la moneda. Particularmente Argentina debido a los controles impositivos y regulaciones sobre su moneda nacional.

The point is there is no evidence Google, Facebook, Apple or Microsoft want to harm us in any way, they just want to sell us stuff. I don't share my email or my facebook account and that's my right, but I know Facebook actually owns my photos and everything I write or upload to Google Drive or Gmail is kinda out there somehow. But the minute they have a leak of information, like leaked emails or personal photos (not from a hack but because they sold it) they will go down instantly trust me. They respect our personal data more than you think.

Now if you want to discuss that a government might pressure these companies for personal information, that's another story. I still don't understand off-the-grid guys in this day and age. I mean it's a miracle that the internet hasn't been regulated or censored yet (at least in most parts of the world). It shouldn't even exist as it is if you ask me considering how things are run in this world.

Look guys, they just want to sell you stuff, they are not after your freedom, many of you sound like lunatics honestly. It's all about the money, aren't we all chasing the same pipedream afterall?

I recently started on Bitcoin and I've bought some altcoins too. I'm a little disappointed since I expected to trade up some of these altcoins and then buy more Bitcoins but it's rather worthless unless you have a good amount of money.

If I were you I would keep at least 5 BTC just in case it goes mainstream by 2020. The rest I would sell it in the next bubble, even something like $300-400 will be great if it happens in the next months.

Every time I've gambled I was at a point where I was winning something (this depends on the game, but a 1% house edge will work just fine). If you gamble with a nice amount everyday and get out while you are winning, even if it's little, you can make a lot in an year.

The problem is that no one can resist doing that, especially when you win, you feel invincible and will lose it all the minute you believe it.

To me Bitcoin is like a side dish. I don't feel very comfortable actually investing my hard earned money on it because it fluctuates too much, but if someone pays me for a small service in it (I'm a designer) I won't convert it to fiat.

I think having some amount is wise as an investment, Bitcoin has a chance to go full mainstream if there is a new economic crisis and there are a lot of companies investing on it.

Ernit looks awesome, it may seem like something just cute but these children are the ones that will demand digital currency and easiness of use in just 3 or 4 years when they enter their teens. I always thought that Bitcoin had a shot of going mainstream via small payments for apps, movies, books and similar. One doesn't really need to associate a credit card with so many sites and services.

As many of others said, I think the companies themselves are the ones that will adopt Bitcoin or not, it doesn't boil down to just an app. There are plenty of chat apps that let you send digital currency, but it will be only when Whatsapp or Skype start using it that it will be truly adopted by the masses.