The bitcoin, which is the virtual currency followers
BY JULIEN BRAULT. Business. 19-01-2013 (amended on 17-01-2013 at 09:18)
If Jesus had been exposed to bitcoin, it could not recommend it renders to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Unlike gold coins with the effigy of the emperor of the first century, bitcoin, a virtual currency that has no special authority to vouch only. Nevertheless, the currency looks more and more merchants, who see it as a cost-effective way of doing business on the Internet.
"The advantage of bitcoins transactions is that there is no central actor as PayPal which can lock an account, for example," said Anthony Gallippi, CEO BitPay that allows online stores to accept currency.
At the beginning of January, angels prominent Silicon Valley have invested half a million dollars in BitPay, which is already more than 2000 merchants to accept bitcoin. Anthony Gallippi no doubt the benefits of bitcoin and aims to surpass the 10,000 dealers by the end of the year: "Credit cards are from the 1950s, in contrast to bitcoin, they were not designed for online transactions, "he says.
Anthony Gallippi argues that bitcoin is cash internet, insofar as the transactions with this currency remain anonymous and are irreversible: "The irreversibility is a big advantage for small businesses, because it puts protected from fraud where the customer says he has not received the item sent, "he says.
The main advantage of currency for traders is that they are charged lower fees when trading in bitcoins. Those who use BitPay are imposed fees of 0.99% of transactions if they want to keep the bitcoins and 2.99% to be paid directly into their domestic currency. By comparison, PayPal, which accepts only national currencies, charges its merchants from 1.9 to 2.9%, and $ 0.30 for each transaction in local currency. In the case of foreign exchange transactions, the rate rises to 3.9% or more.
Costly conversion
Although the second option allows merchants to avoid the risks associated with volatile currency retain, Anthony Gallippi supports about half of our customers want to keep their bitcoins "It allows them to accumulate bitcoins for s' possibly use. For our part, we pay about bitcoin while, until the press officer with whom you spoke. "
Often expensive, converting bitcoins dollar a counterweight to lower transfer costs. Based in Ottawa, canadianbitcoins.com is one of the few exchange offices in countries with currency. At the time of this writing, the company bought the bitcoin at $ 12.34 and sold to CA $ 13.72 CA. The currency exchange online only accepts cash and mailed remittances: "We can not accept credit cards, because the transfer of bitcoins is irreversible, and may be subjected to fraud, "said his owner, James Grant.
It also operates Lightbox Technologies, a company that provides services to web design, hosting and IP telephony. According to him, accept bitcoin is also a matter of marketing: "It allows me to get the clients I would not have had otherwise, especially telephony, which is very poorly differentiated service," says it.
A viable currency?
Unlike national currencies, the number of bitcoins in circulation is limited. However, if the currency obtained success provided by its supporters, the interplay of supply and demand could enter the bitcoin in a deflationary spiral. This possibility, mentioned in a report by the European Central Bank entitled "Virtual Currency Schemes" is not a consensus.
François Barrière, Vice President, International Markets, Laurentian Bank, dismissing out of hand the possibility: "Right now, it is so marginal that I do not see how demand could create a major deflation," says it.
Arvind K. Jain, a specialist in international banking system at Concordia University, abounds in the same direction. According to him, the main risk posed by bitcoin is the opposite of excessive demand "This money will exist as long as people believe in it. If, for some reason, people lose confidence, nobody is there to support it. "
Bitcoin THE HOW TO USE
The bitcoin is both a virtual currency and a system of transfer of funds. Based on a peer to peer protocol introduced by a programmer anonymously in 2009, the system keeps a record of each transaction. Transactions take the form of transfers of funds from one address to another bitcoin, which are validated by means of cryptographic evidence. The creation of money to reward those who dedicate their resources to this very thorough validation process. The number of bitcoins in circulation is however capped at $ 21 million. Once this limit is reached, transaction fees will be charged.
100 Approximate value, in millions of U.S. dollars, all the bitcoins in circulation.
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