I noticed the other day that Egifter is now only accepting Bitcoin payments via a Coinbase account. And it looks like Gyft.com has added Coinbase integration too, presumably with the intention of squeezing out vanilla Bitcoin payments eventually.
I assume the main reason for this is cut out on chain transactions as they're now too expensive and slow to get the confirmations they need to release digital goods safely.
Is this a short term blip or the wave of the future? It's a little uninspiring if it's the latter.
It likely has nothing to do with fees or confirmation times and is more likely about the origination of the bitcoins.
I bet Egifter has outsourced any bitcoin liabilities to Coinbase, who ensures they are clean by allowing the transfers.
If I am correct, this would be a sign that Bitcoin's fungibility is not "good enough" as others would like to believe.
A day may come where the only bitcoins accepted by businesses need to come through a "KYC/AML clearing house".
If that indeed happens, then all "dirty coins" are worthless with legal businesses.
This issue, if I am correct, will become more common unless something can be done, like a "protocolled mix-mining".
(As to your original question, most small amounts of btc (10 USD or less?) will likely be mostly offchain.)
