Paying goods with BTCs in real (phisical) shops

[RockDJ]

Hello guys,
I was just wondering if there is a way to do that today. Cheers

[1715017837]

1715017837

[kjj]

I'm not aware of any physical shops currently accepting bitcoins.

[RockDJ]

ok but, how to do that? is it theorically possible?

[adaman]

Maybe with BitBills, in the future

http://bitbills.com/

[Haxxy]

Maybe with BitBills, in the future

Definitely not. The last thing bitcoins need is a physical transfer medium. This is how I see it:

The cashier rings up your items. You point your phone at a QR code on the counter which contains a wallet address and the amount owed. Send the payment, you're done.

[joan]

The cashier rings up your items. You point your phone at a QR code on the counter which contains a wallet address and the amount owed. Send the payment, you're done.

The cashier has to wait for the TX to be confirmed…

[kjj]

This is how I see it happening.

You pull out your Visa or MasterCard, swipe it and the merchant waits a second for confirmation.

In other words, a third party will handle the transaction risk, just like now, but the accounts involved will be denominated in BTC.

[RockDJ]

sorry for the question but I haven't made any transaction since now; how long is there to wait for a transaction before BTCs change owner? I heard that the velocity of transaction is proportional to the number of users of the net. Am I wrong?

@ Haxxy: Why do you say that "The last thing bitcoins need is a physical transfer medium"? Don't you think that a device able to be brought with you can be very useful and helps increasing the spreading speed of the currency?

[NielDLR]

With the advent of NFC, which I'm sure will reach mainstream application in the next year or so, a Bitcoin mobile client will subtract coins at a paypoint. QR codes is also an option, but a bit cumbersome at times.

[Haxxy]

@ Haxxy: Why do you say that "The last thing bitcoins need is a physical transfer medium"? Don't you think that a device able to be brought with you can be very useful and helps increasing the spreading speed of the currency?

The ideal transfer medium is the smartphone. It has Bluetooth and web connectivity, allowing phone-to-phone or phone-to-PC transactions, as well as wallet encryption and automatic backup. Also, eliminating the physical card helps people psychologically feel and understand that bitcoins are a step forward. Besides, one would be much more inclined to adopt Bitcoin if all it takes is downloading an app, rather than ordering a card.

[RockDJ]

The ideal transfer medium is the smartphone. It has Bluetooth and web connectivity, allowing phone-to-phone or phone-to-PC transactions, as well as wallet encryption and automatic backup. Also, eliminating the physical card helps people psychologically feel and understand that bitcoins are a step forward. Besides, one would be much more inclined to adopt Bitcoin if all it takes is downloading an app, rather than ordering a card.

You're right, an app is a great idea but I should be able not to do that if I want something to bring with me just to pay, a dedicated device. Freedom means being able to choose.

[$tr3tch]

I think the whole point of e-money is to not to have any type of physical form. Please correct me if Im wrong, but thats one thing I have gathered so far. I just got turned onto this yesturday and im still in learning mode.

[REF]

This is how I see it happening.

You pull out your Visa or MasterCard, swipe it and the merchant waits a second for confirmation.

In other words, a third party will handle the transaction risk, just like now, but the accounts involved will be denominated in BTC.

thats exactly how a creditcard company works now and how it will work with BTC credit. credit is credit no matter what currency your using. youll just have to know how many bitcoins you have left before you over charge your card and get it with a fee.

@ Haxxy: Why do you say that "The last thing bitcoins need is a physical transfer medium"? Don't you think that a device able to be brought with you can be very useful and helps increasing the spreading speed of the currency?

The ideal transfer medium is the smartphone. It has Bluetooth and web connectivity, allowing phone-to-phone or phone-to-PC transactions, as well as wallet encryption and automatic backup. Also, eliminating the physical card helps people psychologically feel and understand that bitcoins are a step forward. Besides, one would be much more inclined to adopt Bitcoin if all it takes is downloading an app, rather than ordering a card.

Hopefully all credit cards will start being on phone thorough Bluetooth and QR codes and also how it would probably work without credit for bitcoins. Fast confirmations is key but I dont see confirmations getting to much faster, hashing power will keep increasing but there will be more transactions as bitcoins grow and become a more widely accepted form of payment.

[RockDJ]

For sure I see smatphones as one of the key ways to pay. But I also see a sort of "pendrive" that contains no money (but just your address) and that is able to comunicate it wirelessy at every cashout.

[gigitrix]

Phones etc. are the way forward. Physical currency is deprecated 

[Man From The Future]

How does the 6 blocks delay work? Ignore it and trust the buyer?

[joan]

How does the 6 blocks delay work? Ignore it and trust the buyer?

Blocks are generated about every 10 minutes. 1-block confirmation is needed to spend the coins again. 6-block confirmation (~1 hour) is when it becomes computationally impossible to pull off the double spend attack.

I think it is generally suggested to trust the buyer for small amounts in this case, because pulling off a double-spend attack would require massive resources and will most probably not be implemented to steal a few BTC worth of stuff.