PayPal set to suspend domestic transactions in Argentina

[thezerg]

Obligatory localbitcoins link: https://localbitcoins.com/country/AR

Nearest seller is 70 km away -mhh, I could become one myself Still not nearly user-friendly enough for the casual user, though.

You should!  The only way for a currency to become popular is for people to start advertising that they will accept or trade it.  If using the exchanges is complicated in Argentina then its doubly important.

[majamalu]

the dollar is king in Argentina. And after the dollar, other fiat currencies or precious metals. Bitcoins are nowhere in their psyche.

Remember: buying dollars or gold is now banned in Argentina.

[muyuu]

the dollar is king in Argentina. And after the dollar, other fiat currencies or precious metals. Bitcoins are nowhere in their psyche.

Remember: buying dollars or gold is now banned in Argentina.

But as you know very well, this doesn't stop it.

[majamalu]

the dollar is king in Argentina. And after the dollar, other fiat currencies or precious metals. Bitcoins are nowhere in their psyche.

Remember: buying dollars or gold is now banned in Argentina.

But as you know very well, this doesn't stop it.

But predisposes people to consider alternatives.

[Piper67]

the dollar is king in Argentina. And after the dollar, other fiat currencies or precious metals. Bitcoins are nowhere in their psyche.

Remember: buying dollars or gold is now banned in Argentina.

But as you know very well, this doesn't stop it.

But predisposes people to consider alternatives.

Not necessarily, but a strong distaste for the US might 

[BCB]

What can be bought in Argentina is UKash

The guy from UKash is giving a talk at this weekend's London Bitcoin Conference about how to use UKash with Bitcoin. So they are keen, and I'd say this is a fantastic way forward.

I would love to hear this talk.  Does anyone know if it is being recorded?

[crazy_rabbit]

It's great opportunity, but I don't have much hope for breakthrough. We already celebrated Italy's move to restrict cash transactions to 300 euro or so, but according to my (limited) knowledge nothing came out of it, and I pretty much expect the same in Argentina's case.

Actually Italy limited cash to 50 Euros recently. But I too don't see much good coming for bitcoins -no one is really going to bother with learning something so different from what they use to know, unless there is a really user friendly way to approach it -and a very compelling reason to bother, such as imminent default or dramatic exchange rate drop.

Obligatory localbitcoins link: https://localbitcoins.com/country/AR

Nearest seller is 70 km away -mhh, I could become one myself Still not nearly user-friendly enough for the casual user, though.

50 Euros? I think it's 1000Euros.

[muyuu]

the dollar is king in Argentina. And after the dollar, other fiat currencies or precious metals. Bitcoins are nowhere in their psyche.

Remember: buying dollars or gold is now banned in Argentina.

But as you know very well, this doesn't stop it.

But predisposes people to consider alternatives.

Not necessarily, but a strong distaste for the US might 

Actually they only increase demand every time they restrict it, they can lower actual trade but not demand. Quite naturally, too.

[JMAHH]

It's great opportunity, but I don't have much hope for breakthrough. We already celebrated Italy's move to restrict cash transactions to 300 euro or so, but according to my (limited) knowledge nothing came out of it, and I pretty much expect the same in Argentina's case.

Actually Italy limited cash to 50 Euros recently. But I too don't see much good coming for bitcoins -no one is really going to bother with learning something so different from what they use to know, unless there is a really user friendly way to approach it -and a very compelling reason to bother, such as imminent default or dramatic exchange rate drop.

Obligatory localbitcoins link: https://localbitcoins.com/country/AR

Nearest seller is 70 km away -mhh, I could become one myself Still not nearly user-friendly enough for the casual user, though.

50 Euros? I think it's 1000Euros.

There's a thread about it. Last time I checked it was actually 50, but it seems improbable practically.

[kangasbros]

They have a very long history of currency instability, but they'd much rather go for something that they know, that they can use easily and that's not as volatile at bitcoin: the dollar is king in Argentina. And after the dollar, other fiat currencies or precious metals. Bitcoins are nowhere in their psyche.

Yeah, true. But bitcoin is still there, and although not very understable, its properties are superior to any other alternative such as gold or dollars. In the long run people will see this. Meanwhile the early adopters will start to use it and benefit.

[JMAHH]

They have a very long history of currency instability, but they'd much rather go for something that they know, that they can use easily and that's not as volatile at bitcoin: the dollar is king in Argentina. And after the dollar, other fiat currencies or precious metals. Bitcoins are nowhere in their psyche.

Yeah, true. But bitcoin is still there, and although not very understable, its properties are superior to any other alternative such as gold or dollars. In the long run people will see this. Meanwhile the early adopters will start to use it and benefit.

There is a lot of talk about bringing Bitcoin to new users. Especially user-friendliness is of importance. I think there is quite some money to be made by investing in a more user-friendly approach to Bitcoin.

Why haven't we seen, for example, a wallet client with built-in buy/sell bitcoin function? As in, Mt.Gox in your wallet. I am a 100% sure this would greatly facilitate life for new adopters.

[kangasbros]

Why haven't we seen, for example, a wallet client with built-in buy/sell bitcoin function? As in, Mt.Gox in your wallet. I am a 100% sure this would greatly facilitate life for new adopters.

Actually there has been MtGox Android client for at least half an year or so, maybe even longer. It is pretty crappy, but still (always crashed when I tried it, nowadays I don't use mtgox any more).

[muyuu]

Why haven't we seen, for example, a wallet client with built-in buy/sell bitcoin function? As in, Mt.Gox in your wallet. I am a 100% sure this would greatly facilitate life for new adopters.

This is pretty critical, if something goes wrong the wallet is responsible for your loss. Also, you still need to set up your personal data and bank account to transfer to MtGox or whatever exchange it is.

Showing the current exchange rates should be easy enough though. That and a couple links to exchanges and sites like bitcoincharts. The wallet could come with some introduction and a few pointers.

Exchange clients and wallets are very distinct things.

[BCB]

here is a new service. 
https://qikcoin.com/verify

requires a verified account and a mobile phone.

it is still in beta so there are only nominal amounts available
but it is fully functional and secure.

[Blind]

Actually, if Bitcoin gained any momentum there, it is likely that their government would try to block it

How?

Blocking bitcoin traffic maybe?
If your answer is encrypted tunneling then they can block that.
If your answer is use Tor then they can block access to Tor.
In any case, they have enough points of attack to cripple general bitcoin use.

At very least with minimal effort they could forbid cash transactions between banks and known Bitcoin exchanges and vendors. This is quite effective, won't stop everybody but it will work for majority of people.

[Blind]

F#$% I hate paypal.

Good attitude, but in this case hate corrupt Argentinian government. You can say many things about Paypal but not that they work towards reducing their user base (not consciously at least, lol).

[bitcoinbear]

according to google, argentina has a GDP of $445 billion.. 4000x more than all bitcoins

You are comparing apples and oranges here. The GDP is not an equivalent measurement to the number of a currency.

[capsqrl]

They can also recognise encrypted traffic and filter that.

Encrypted traffic like the SSL people use to access their banks? This doesn't work.

TOR servers are known and can be blocked on IP basis.

Far from all Tor relays are knows. Many are being kept secret and shared with people who need them. These relays are called bridges.

[Etlase2]

Encrypted traffic like the SSL people use to access their banks? This doesn't work.

It does, actually, because encrypting the traffic does not hide the obvious patterns of that traffic. Encrypted bitcoin traffic will look much different from encrypted SSL bank traffic, and it will be pretty obvious until people start focusing their efforts on steganography and/or protocol obfuscation. Not simple tasks, and not efficient uses of bandwidth either.

[majamalu]

Actually, if Bitcoin gained any momentum there, it is likely that their government would try to block it

How?

Blocking bitcoin traffic maybe?
If your answer is encrypted tunneling then they can block that.
If your answer is use Tor then they can block access to Tor.
In any case, they have enough points of attack to cripple general bitcoin use.

To those saying that bitcoin can be easily blocked: Shouldn't it be easier to stop bittorrent than bitcoin?