So what do you think the Western union story today will really mean for bitcoin?

[notig]

http://mobile.blogs.wsj.com/cio/2013/04/01/western-union-eyes-digital-currency-services/

""westen unions well established compliance programs would be considered a competitive advantage in digital currencies because it's a trusted brand"


do you think this will basically mean that it will be easier for someone who has bitcoins to convert them to cash? Instead of going to local bitcoins they will just go to western union?  do you think the bitcoins that are used to convert into cash will need to be sent on the other end from a western union controlled place? or from anywhere?

do you think western union is seriously considering incorporating bitcoin somehow? I don't really understand what this article really means for bitcoin.

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[wopwop]

It was a joke

[dissipate]

It seems to me that Western Union sees the writing on the wall. They are going to become obsolete but not because of Bitcoin but because of other technologies in the payment industry. Companies that are in dire straits will make bold moves to reinvigorate their brand and keep the company afloat. Therefore, I am not surprised at all that they are considering adding Bitcoin based services.

[Lethn]

I've seen it posted around here but I think this is more of an optimistic hint than anything genuine so I wouldn't pay it too much attention. It could be a good thing but considering that Western Union is an established and long lived bank I don't know if it would be because the paranoid anarchist in me tells me they'd almost certainly try and find a way to spy on your transactions, not that they could in Bitcoin but certainly if you were to transfer paper money to them, I expect if they did ever do it there would be all sorts of restrictions and verification processes they'd force you to go through before you could move any money.

[ShaTwo]

They have a lot of troubles to accept payment over the internet, they accept Bitcoin on westernunion.com and pay cash at any location, that could be a win-win for Bitcoin and WU.

[dissipate]

I've seen it posted around here but I think this is more of an optimistic hint than anything genuine so I wouldn't pay it too much attention. It could be a good thing but considering that Western Union is an established and long lived bank I don't know if it would be because the paranoid anarchist in me tells me they'd almost certainly try and find a way to spy on your transactions, not that they could in Bitcoin but certainly if you were to transfer paper money to them, I expect if they did ever do it there would be all sorts of restrictions and verification processes they'd force you to go through before you could move any money.

Huh? Western Union complies with KYC and AML laws, so they are already spying on your transactions. Western Union is not going to be an anonymous Bitcoin exchange, but neither is MtGox or any of the other online Bitcoin exchanges (except for small sums of money).

[ArticMine]

They have a lot of troubles to accept payment over the internet, they accept Bitcoin on westernunion.com and pay cash at any location, that could be a win-win for Bitcoin and WU.

+1 Yes this is huge and a natural application for Western Union.  Let us keep in mind that this is a company with a very long history of reinventing itself in order to remain relevant. They were originally in the telegraph business in the mid 19th century.

[redbeans2012]

They have a lot of troubles to accept payment over the internet, they accept Bitcoin on westernunion.com and pay cash at any location, that could be a win-win for Bitcoin and WU.

+1 Yes this is huge and a natural application for Western Union.  Let us keep in mind that this is a company with a very long history of reinventing itself in order to remain relevant. They were originally in the telegraph business in the mid 19th century.

Western Union was a prime contractor in the Automatic Digital Network (AUTODIN) program. AUTODIN, a military application for communication, was first developed in the 1960s and became the precursor to the modern Internet in the 1990s. The Defense Message System (DMS) replaced AUTODIN in 2000.

 

[Rincewind]

Problem is with the current volatility you have to be insane to think a fiat currency exchange will take BTC... if i need to send $50 to someone, i don't want it to be worth some lesser amount when it gets to them.

You're joining two separate things here. Volatility at an exchange != volatility in a proprietary system. If we both agree 1 BTC = 100 USD, then if I input 100 USD, you get 100 USD as output if the exchange rate is 'locked in' at the time of transaction. As far the blockchain is concerned, it's just 1 BTC, so the cash equivilent value at Mt Gox is inconsequential.

[superduh]

http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2013/04/18/bitcoin-buzz-draws-western-union-moneygram/

[wachtwoord]

Ouch: http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=wu&ql=1

I'm still up significantly on WU but what a weird stock. Look at thew graph, the have rather steep slopes upward followed by enormous cliffs. Just like today

A bit weird as they already announced the price reductions (compressing margins extremely to force MoneyGram out of business) and after that the stock went up a lot.

[cypherdoc]

Ouch: http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=wu&ql=1

I'm still up significantly on WU but what a weird stock. Look at thew graph, the have rather steep slopes upward followed by enormous cliffs. Just like today

A bit weird as they already announced the price reductions (compressing margins extremely to force MoneyGram out of business) and after that the stock went up a lot.

it's a scam.

[wachtwoord]

Ouch: http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=wu&ql=1

I'm still up significantly on WU but what a weird stock. Look at thew graph, the have rather steep slopes upward followed by enormous cliffs. Just like today

A bit weird as they already announced the price reductions (compressing margins extremely to force MoneyGram out of business) and after that the stock went up a lot.

it's a scam.

What exactly?

[Gabi]

The problem appears to be the company's expectations for 2014 costs to comply with increased legal and regulatory requirements in countries where it does business. Here is what Western Union had to say about these costs:

While the Company has increased its investments in compliance considerably in recent years, significant additional investment in 2014 is now anticipated in light of the current environment and our internal reviews of the increasingly complex and demanding global regulatory requirements. … Western Union expects its compliance related expenses to increase from approximately 2.5% of revenue in 2013 to a range of approximately 3.5% to 4.5% of revenue in 2014, based on preliminary reviews of the programs

Ouch

That is why bitcoin is so much better

[brand_new]

Not sure why this thread was revived, but if anyone wants a more current article that isn't behind a paywall, look here: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-10-07/ripple-takes-on-western-union-with-deal-to-grow-digital-payments

[jbreher]

Ripple issues a virtual currency known as Ripples, of which it holds a 25 percent slice.

I thought OpenCoin held on to half of all Ripples? Was I wrong from the beginning, or did this change while I wasn't looking?

... and the software has recently been open sourced, ...

Another change that happened while I wasn't looking. Maybe a time to take a fresh look at Ripple?