They get millions from <i>voluntary</i> do-gooders around the world.  If they start accepting bitcoin and the media paints them as encouraging a form of payment that promotes (insert evil activity here), they are screwed.  It's just too risky for the amount they would get in bitcoin.

Bitpay has essentially allowed them to test the waters first (without their permission of course).  If Wikipedia sees that the media accepts it, the tides will turn.

Let's hope they can garner some positive press out of it.

Yea, give him a little longer. I've had no problems.  I've done two transactions now. 

Wikipedia does not hate Bitcoin.  They just have a lot to lose since so much of their income is based on donations (i.e. public sentiment).  

If Bitpay is transparent (a transaction log would be nice), and the donations are plentiful, the press will pick it up and the tides will start to turn.

This is one of the smartest moves I've seen a Bitcoin company make.  

Bravo!

I am donating a bitcoin now.

BTC did well because for everyone that mined it (and leaked coins into the market), more awareness was created by demand from investors finding out about bitcoin.  Simply put, more bitcoins are being purchased than mined.

So will alts get the same demand from the act of mining them?  It seems like anyone finding out about mining alts already knows about bitcoin.

Funny, I had a similar thought today although not for eBay.  A small country could buy up a portion of the float, announce they support it, and not only make money through appreciation, but they would attract all the bitcoin businesses. 

Gladamas-- you nematode, are you saying Litcoin is anything near as relevant as bitcoin?  Litecoin is an unimaginative clone coveted by the genetically inept.  It detracts.  It should be culled.

No. One is judgement dictated by fear and ignorance. The other are empirically large-lipped, profit hungry memes trying to suck the goodwill out of something relevant.

I concede this is a valid point.

i.e. increases BTC float and makes it not deflationary.  Please read my reply.

You just did.  

When you tell people about bitcoin, most ask... why doesn't someone with money/power just create an alternative?  Well... they have, and some are starting to get momentum with only minor changes.  Some don't even bother to change the code at all.

Remember, $120MM marketcap is not very much.  When we reach $1B, sophisticated people will create serious alternatives.  If future threats realize they will be wiped out by BTCGuardian pool (or whatever), they will embrace bitcoin instead.

Also--

I would take this a step further and say, that with so many alts floating around, Bitcoin isn't really deflationary.  New alt coins arrive and suck away some the fiat/hash power that would normally go to BTC.

  
Let's raise the barriers of entry and protect bitcoin from these unimaginative clones.  At the very least, it will force alts to do something drastically different.

They are a significant threat to Bitcoin... now and definitely going forward. 

Not sure how it would work, but perhaps it mines BTC, then switches over as the owner identifies assailable targets.  Ideas welcome.

*Please don't move this thread to alternate cryptocurrencies.  It's not welcome there.*

If someone is smart enough to create a mining pool to take out alt coins I will gladly donate my GPU/CPUs... especially when asics arrive.

Is there a mining pool dedicated to taking out alt coins via a 51% attack? 

I would gladly donate my GPU/CPU's to it.... especially when ASICs come out.

Yea!

I did my first Coinbase transaction.  It was quite easy. 

I opted to verify my bank via two small deposits (the way paypal does it) and it took one banking day to receive the deposits.  Once I did, it took about a minute to login and verify my account.

The price was the same as the offer on mtgox.  There were 700 BTC offered on Mtgox at the time.  I didn't see the buy go through Mtgox.

I won't get access to the BTC until after they debit my account (I assume because of Thanksgiving and weekend), but that's fine with me-- as long as I know the price I paid.

If they can raise the $100 limit, this service will be quite valuable.  I like to buy BTC when the price drops, but Mtgox takes forever to get cash into (I don't like to keep funds in an non-US company) and I ended up paying about 9% both times I used Bitinstant. 

This should be a monthly event.  I for one missed it .

Ageed, but it may be from $25 to $18. 

joshbb-- you are my new hero. A bitcoin service targeting political donations. Brilliant!

Perhaps OP is trying to imply a split (instead of a reverse split).  i.e. when 1 BTC = $1000, you do a thousand to one split so 1 BTC = $1.  Is this what you are asking? 

Sorry if this is a stupid question--- You can't just do an international wire transfer to their bank in Japan?