Bitpay's new business model...

[hdbuck]

http://trilema.com/2015/time-to-rehash-that-old-strategic-superiority-discussion/

In an effort to provide better service to our expanding user base, BitPay will be adjusting our pricing plans October 1, 2015. Due to your volume and settlement preferences, we do not believe your account will be drastically affected, but we wanted to make you aware of the changes to our Free Plan.

On October 1st, all Free Plan accounts will be migrated to the Starter Plan, which offers free, instant conversion for 30 transactions per month. If you process more than 30 transactions, a 1% settlement fee will be applied to the additional transactions. The Starter Plan offers weekly settlements in USD and EUR, and daily settlements in BTC. Your processing Tier will not be affected.

The new Business Plan applies a 1% settlement fee and comes with unlimited processing, daily settlements for all supported currencies and additional features, such as Multi-User Organization and access to Premium Integrations. The new fee structure is designed to simplify bookkeeping and enable us to build more features and tools for Business accounts without changing how we price each plan.

The addition of new services for Business and Enterprise plans is part of our continued effort to build the world’s smartest and fastest payment network. Your participation in this ecosystem is a critical part of that vision. We truly value your business and hope that you continue to use BitPay for your bitcoin payment solutions.

You may adjust your settlement and plan preferences at anytime by visiting your Settings in the Dashboard. You can learn more about the new pricing model here: https://bitpay.com/pricing. For account-related questions, please contact support@bitpay.com.

The BitPay Team

Soooo.. just like VISA...

With bitpay now, merchants will have to pay to use bitcoin as a payment processor..

+ Lmao at this 30 transactions/month threshold..

So much for merchant adoption!


edit: otoh that would have been a lot of frappucinos to bay back teh VCs!

[Lauda]

I can't say that this is unexpected. I have no idea how they though that they could infinitely run a company offering free services while trying to pay everyone and potentially profit? This was bound to happen. Luckily there is still a free tier that can help smaller businesses and the fees are only 1%. Even though I don't support this move, it could be much worse.
Someone has to create another similar company and it has to step up. Bitcoin needs as much adoption as it can get.

[Abelo]

It was to expected eventually. They've got an entire team working with them and the support is excellent.

[hdbuck]

Bitcoin needs as much adoption as it can get.

i dont get this perspective. what do you mean by adoption?

bitcoin is, and that is enough, why always this idea that some mass adoption would somehow make bitcoin better?

i'm interested in security and pricing here.

smart people have/will recognize bitcoin's potential, so why should we always PR the shit outta everything? to get as much retards as possible??

live and let live man.. live and let live.

[Blawpaw]

http://trilema.com/2015/time-to-rehash-that-old-strategic-superiority-discussion/

In an effort to provide better service to our expanding user base, BitPay will be adjusting our pricing plans October 1, 2015. Due to your volume and settlement preferences, we do not believe your account will be drastically affected, but we wanted to make you aware of the changes to our Free Plan.

On October 1st, all Free Plan accounts will be migrated to the Starter Plan, which offers free, instant conversion for 30 transactions per month. If you process more than 30 transactions, a 1% settlement fee will be applied to the additional transactions. The Starter Plan offers weekly settlements in USD and EUR, and daily settlements in BTC. Your processing Tier will not be affected.

The new Business Plan applies a 1% settlement fee and comes with unlimited processing, daily settlements for all supported currencies and additional features, such as Multi-User Organization and access to Premium Integrations. The new fee structure is designed to simplify bookkeeping and enable us to build more features and tools for Business accounts without changing how we price each plan.

The addition of new services for Business and Enterprise plans is part of our continued effort to build the world’s smartest and fastest payment network. Your participation in this ecosystem is a critical part of that vision. We truly value your business and hope that you continue to use BitPay for your bitcoin payment solutions.

You may adjust your settlement and plan preferences at anytime by visiting your Settings in the Dashboard. You can learn more about the new pricing model here: https://bitpay.com/pricing. For account-related questions, please contact support@bitpay.com.

The BitPay Team

Soooo.. just like VISA...

With bitpay now, merchants will have to pay to use bitcoin as a payment processor..

+ Lmao at this 30 transactions/month threshold..

So much for merchant adoption!


edit: although that would have been a lot of frappucinos to bay back teh VCs!

I dont get it... are They trying to be just as Banks? With this they risk to lose a lot of customers.
We might complain but the truth is that sooner or later this would happen!

[GermanGiant]

WoW !!! Mircea Popescu is back. Not only on Trilema, but also on Twitter - https://twitter.com/trilema

[snipie]

They have to recover their last huge newbie losses.
Apparently they found a way, or not?

[worhiper_-_]

So the 30 million in VC funds evaporated? So many bad news for bitpay this year, first they cancel their sponsorship, then lay off employees, get hacked for $2m, cut the "free" servicem and now lay off even more employees. Things just seem to be getting worse for them.

[Lauda]

i dont get this perspective. what do you mean by adoption?

bitcoin is, and that is enough, why always this idea that some mass adoption would somehow make bitcoin better?

i'm interested in security and pricing here.
smart people have/will recognize bitcoin's potential, so why should we always PR the shit outta everything? to get as much retards as possible??
live and let live man.. live and let live.

I mean both people and merchants. You're talking about something else entirely. You're talking about Bitcoin as a protocol which would not be improved if there was more adoption. I'm talking about Bitcoin as a payment system or means of transacting money. In order for me to be able to use Bitcoin everyday, we need more merchants who adopt it. So far I have 0 places that accept Bitcoin on my daily route. I'm forced to use a CC or cash, it's not a matter of choice at the moment.

[Nancarrow]

http://trilema.com/2015/time-to-rehash-that-old-strategic-superiority-discussion/

Soooo.. just like VISA...

With bitpay now, merchants will have to pay to use bitcoin as a payment processor..

+ Lmao at this 30 transactions/month threshold..

So much for merchant adoption!


edit: although that would have been a lot of frappucinos to bay back teh VCs!

Confused about the snark here.

Why exactly SHOULDN'T merchants have to pay to use a payment processor? Why should Bitpay offer their services to merchants for free?

Or is the idea that, ideologically, the costs "ought" to be borne either by the payment processor, or the purchasers, but not by the merchants? If so I'd need someone to help join the ideological dots for me there, and justify that "ought". It's not at all clear to me that merchants "ought" to be exempt from paying for services rendered to them.

[CIYAM]

So far I have 0 places that accept Bitcoin on my daily route. I'm forced to use a CC or cash, it's not a matter of choice at the moment.

Having the choice to use BTC doesn't matter if you don't have BTC.

So where do people get their BTC from (when basically no-one pays you in BTC)?

Perhaps we are talking ad-sig posting - so you can afford 1 coffee per month then?

No-one is going to go through all the hoops (and fees) to acquire BTC just to spend it on something when in fact they are charged the same price (which is the case with the vast majority of places that let you pay using BTC at the moment).

There is simply *no benefit to the consumer* (the only benefit is either to the merchant or to the payment provider).

[hdbuck]

http://trilema.com/2015/time-to-rehash-that-old-strategic-superiority-discussion/

Soooo.. just like VISA...

With bitpay now, merchants will have to pay to use bitcoin as a payment processor..

+ Lmao at this 30 transactions/month threshold..

So much for merchant adoption!


edit: although that would have been a lot of frappucinos to bay back teh VCs!

Confused about the snark here.

Why exactly SHOULDN'T merchants have to pay to use a payment processor? Why should Bitpay offer their services to merchants for free?

Or is the idea that, ideologically, the costs "ought" to be borne either by the payment processor, or the purchasers, but not by the merchants? If so I'd need someone to help join the ideological dots for me there, and justify that "ought". It's not at all clear to me that merchants "ought" to be exempt from paying for services rendered to them.

one year ago:






so bitpay is a total failure.

there is not so much merchants nor volume going on over there. (+them noobs got phished $2M )

because bitcoin is not meant to compete with visa or paypal.

because "the mass" doesnt care about buying their frappucinos with bitcoin.

because they dont even care about the dollar.

[Nancarrow]

You see some flawless logical chain from "Bitpay is going to start charging" to "Bitpay wants to be the new VISA", that I don't.

I asked you why "Bitpay is going to start charging" is a bad thing. Your response to my question is "Bitpay wants to be the new VISA".

Okay, does anyone else want to address my question?

[hdbuck]

You see some flawless logical chain from "Bitpay is going to start charging" to "Bitpay wants to be the new VISA", that I don't.

I asked you why "Bitpay is going to start charging" is a bad thing. Your response to my question is "Bitpay wants to be the new VISA".

Okay, does anyone else want to address my question?

im telling you bitcoin is not visa.
im telling you bitpay doesnt have any business model, except for cashing bailing in nao the few hundreds merchants they managed to catch in their "FREE, FOREVER" unicorns&rainbow campain.

but that's all, its either good or bad, depends on your perspective, but personally i find it funny.

[Nancarrow]

This is frustrating. If you don't want to answer the question I posed to you, please say that you don't wish to answer that question. But don't pretend I was asking you a different question.

You don't need to tell me that bitcoin is not visa because... YOU ALREADY TOLD ME TWICE. And I was not saying to you "but of course Bitcoin is visa".

And I was asking you a question that *is not* "Is bitcoin the new visa?". You see, if that *were* the question I was asking you, then "Bitcoin is not visa" would be a valid answer.

Let's try this again. Forget, just for the moment, the question "Why is it a bad thing for Bitpay to charge its clients?" Consider this question instead:

"HDbuck, do you like bacon sandwiches?"

Please let me know if your answer is "Bitcoin is not VISA" and that way I know I can leave the thread at no great loss.

[hdbuck]

If I've said anything amusing and/or informative and you're feeling generous:
1GNJq39NYtf7cn2QFZZuP5vmC1mTs63rEW

sry, no.

[Nancarrow]

sry. no.

Thankyou for clarifying the nature of our "interaction", hardly an apt word here. Bye then.

[caberum]

Seems like bitcoin companies like bitty will be the new visa and paypal for the financial world.

[Nancarrow]

    

It does, doesn't it?

Hot damn, but I *love* Visa and Paypal. I wonder if Bitcoin is the new VISA. Aaah, who am I kidding. Of *course* it's the new VISA.

All hail the new VISA.

[hdbuck]

i dont get this perspective. what do you mean by adoption?

bitcoin is, and that is enough, why always this idea that some mass adoption would somehow make bitcoin better?

i'm interested in security and pricing here.
smart people have/will recognize bitcoin's potential, so why should we always PR the shit outta everything? to get as much retards as possible??
live and let live man.. live and let live.

I mean both people and merchants. You're talking about something else entirely. You're talking about Bitcoin as a protocol which would not be improved if there was more adoption. I'm talking about Bitcoin as a payment system or means of transacting money. In order for me to be able to use Bitcoin everyday, we need more merchants who adopt it. So far I have 0 places that accept Bitcoin on my daily route. I'm forced to use a CC or cash, it's not a matter of choice at the moment.

cf. below

Maybe it is time to stop the focus on merchant adoption and change it up to where Bitcoin is already being drooled after, the investing markets. We see news about banks and wallstreet all clamoring about Bitcoin often, we don't ever see Major retailer accepting Bitcoin, is it possible the market has decided what bitcoin is? CIYAM also brought up Bitcoin being amazing for remittance and we definitely could see a huge use for it there after a couple of issues are ironed out.


I know a lot of people want Bitcoin to be a currency that is used at retailers everywhere but maybe that isn't what it needs to be and maybe that is okay.

pro tip: as long as you hold your private keys, bitcoin is fulfilling perfectly what it is supposed to.