"Pay With Bits Wants To Be The *M-Pesa* For Bitcoin" Sending BTCs with SMS

[Frozenlock]

http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/28/pay-with-bits-wants-to-be-the-square-for-bitcoin/

Sending bitcoins with SMS.

This might be huge...

Edit: How to use the service

Text "Signup" to 1.415.675.1348 (don't trust me, just go there: http://paywithbits.com/)

Text "Address" to receive your Bitcoin address. From there you can send some bitcoins to your account. (Only small amount guys, this is still in development)
Wait for confirmations...

Now you can send bitcoins to other cell phone numbers:

Text "Send <# BTC> to <# phone> for <some reason>"

They are still working on how to withdraw BTCs.

[pa]

It looks interesting, but the paywithbits website lacks basic info, like how to fund your wallet. . .

[cbeast]

This belongs in the press section.

[n8rwJeTt8TrrLKPa55eU]

It looks interesting, but the paywithbits website lacks basic info, like how to fund your wallet. . .

This.  And also no way to withdraw from phone to external addresses.

I had friends in different countries sign up so we could try it out.  USA signup got a text response, but in other countries, the signup message was never acknowledged.

So for now, a nice announcement of intentions...but not enough functionality to call it even a beta system.

[thoughtfan]

It looks interesting, but the paywithbits website lacks basic info, like how to fund your wallet. . .

This.  And also no way to withdraw from phone to external addresses.

I had friends in different countries sign up so we could try it out.  USA signup got a text response, but in other countries, the signup message was never acknowledged.

So for now, a nice announcement of intentions...but not enough functionality to call it even a beta system.

built in 24 hours (according to its developer)- a little premature methinks to be thinking of it as a solution to world problems!

[Gabi]

24 hours to develop a new service?   No wonders bitcoin services epic fail  

[Frozenlock]

I edited the first post with the info I could gather on how to use the service.

[crazy_rabbit]

The catch is that there is nothing stopping M-Pesa from adopting the system. Or anyone for that matter. This is a no-barrier-to-entry business model. Hence them taking only 24 hours to start it.

[Frozenlock]

How is that a "catch"? Do you mean for the business model?

For the users it seems perfect anyway (IMO).

[thoughtfan]

How is that a "catch"? Do you mean for the business model?

For the users it seems perfect anyway (IMO).

I think the 'catch' as far as there is one is I can't see how for a simple sms phone the private key can be kept anywhere other than with the service provider such as it was with the mybitcoin wallet so we can't get the client-side encryption we're used to with the likes of blockchain.info so at the end of the day it comes down to how secure is it and how trustworthy the providers.  M-Pesa would stay out as long as they can because their margins are crazy but if it came down to it their brand already has the trust so it would take some beating.  But by all means let's see these things get out there - with awareness of the risks of letting go of the 'be my own bank' concept.

[Elwar]

This was a project created at the hackathon.

Prototype stage at this point.

[thoughtfan]

This was a project created at the hackathon.

Prototype stage at this point.

Given that don't you think they got a little too excited with the release and the website not really making it clear that it is the case?  I know we're all excited but as someone pointed out above why time and time again does the cart come before the horse when it comes to bublicising prospective bitcoin-related services?

[Elwar]

why time and time again does the cart come before the horse when it comes to bublicising prospective bitcoin-related services?

I believe that there are a few reasons for that. For one, most Bitcoin users are a bit more forgiving of innovative and yet raw websites coming out. They can look past the lack of ergonomics and joe six pack simplicity and are willing to jump through some hoops to use your service (look at how people exchange government currency for bitcoins).

Secondly, Bitcoin is sort of highlighting the fact that patents and copyrights are not exactly necessary as most new services within Bitcoin have become the de-facto company for that service. Look at MtGox and the amount of problems they are having. But because they were first and are trusted, they get the traffic. BitPay actually has competitors. There are other services that do what BitPay does, but because they were first, they are considered the main company for merchants accepting bitcoins. Look at SatoshiDice. I have not been there since they first opened, but it was just a web page with tables of numbers.

Getting out the door first yields you rewards.

[thoughtfan]

why time and time again does the cart come before the horse when it comes to bublicising prospective bitcoin-related services?

I believe that there are a few reasons for that. For one, most Bitcoin users are a bit more forgiving of innovative and yet raw websites coming out. They can look past the lack of ergonomics and joe six pack simplicity and are willing to jump through some hoops to use your service (look at how people exchange government currency for bitcoins).

Secondly, Bitcoin is sort of highlighting the fact that patents and copyrights are not exactly necessary as most new services within Bitcoin have become the de-facto company for that service. Look at MtGox and the amount of problems they are having. But because they were first and are trusted, they get the traffic. BitPay actually has competitors. There are other services that do what BitPay does, but because they were first, they are considered the main company for merchants accepting bitcoins. Look at SatoshiDice. I have not been there since they first opened, but it was just a web page with tables of numbers.

Getting out the door first yields you rewards.

Casascius is a worthy addition to that list too.  I already knew all of what you wrote but it helped to read it so thank you.  I think sometimes I get a little frustrated and need more to take my hat off to those doing the pioneering with their warts-n-all services that do, for those who don't fall by the wayside, appear to get better with time.

[mobile4ever]

This is great news. The near future may see apps like WhatsApp taking over for SMS if cell providers keep charging so much to send a text. For now, this is perfect.