So if you want to help the economy...

[hacknoid]

(Disclaimer - yes, I am hoarding ATM.)

I realized something last night.  I was looking at buying some electronics at newegg, so I was pricing those out.  Then I realized I could get the same thing and, comparing prices, for virtually the same dollar value equivalent from bitcoinstore.com.  But, I didn't want to part with my precious bitcoins! 

So, instead, I took the money earmarked for the purchase and converted it to bitcoin.  I am still evaluating which model of item I want, so in the meantime my value of those BTC has gone up in $.  However, I know I will purchase within a day or two.

In the end, I bought more BTC, contributed to the economy and supported a BTC-only merchant.  And worst case, I spent the money I was going to spend anyways.

If you are not holding the spending coins for any period of time, the fluctuations in price aren't that big a deal.  However, using them strengthens the economy, and in the current climate, I wind up saving a few $$ in the end.  Good for everyone!

[tlr]

THIS. This is what I've been trying to tell everyone. You can hoard all you want, but if you do it's also in your interest to participate in the Bitcoin economy to show merchants that people actually want to use Bitcoin to buy stuff. Keep a separate small balance for purchases, and replenish it from another currency as you need to.

[hacknoid]

Done!  That worked great - and saved about 15% in the process.  I didn't know there was a sale on today

Seriously though - smooth as silk.  I already mentioned this to the guys I work with (who are also into bitcoin) and this is definitely the route we will take in the future.  First time I used bitpay, but they have it down!

[brenzi]

(Disclaimer - yes, I am hoarding ATM.)

I realized something last night.  I was looking at buying some electronics at newegg, so I was pricing those out.  Then I realized I could get the same thing and, comparing prices, for virtually the same dollar value equivalent from bitcoinstore.com.  But, I didn't want to part with my precious bitcoins! 

So, instead, I took the money earmarked for the purchase and converted it to bitcoin.  I am still evaluating which model of item I want, so in the meantime my value of those BTC has gone up in $.  However, I know I will purchase within a day or two.

In the end, I bought more BTC, contributed to the economy and supported a BTC-only merchant.  And worst case, I spent the money I was going to spend anyways.

If you are not holding the spending coins for any period of time, the fluctuations in price aren't that big a deal.  However, using them strengthens the economy, and in the current climate, I wind up saving a few $$ in the end.  Good for everyone!

Don't be too sure you're helping the economy in that way. The current rise in bitcoin exchange rate is not because of real added value. It's just a shift from fiat currencies to bitcoin. Up to now, bitcoin is too small to obviously impact USD or EUR. But imagine bitcoin performing at the current doubling rate for a while. There will be a devaluation of other currencies going along with the valuation of bitcoin.

[Mike Christ]

Show merchants you don't want to use fiat.  Show them you want to use Bitcoin.  When Merchant A realizes Merchant B accepts Bitcoin, and he's making good money from it, Merchant A will realize he's losing customers by not accepting Bitcoin.

To do this, simply favor the BTC Merchant over the Fiat Merchant.  They'll fall in line as adoption grows.

[hacknoid]

Show merchants you don't want to use fiat.  Show them you want to use Bitcoin.  When Merchant A realizes Merchant B accepts Bitcoin, and he's making good money from it, Merchant A will realize he's losing customers by not accepting Bitcoin.

To do this, simply favor the BTC Merchant over the Fiat Merchant.  They'll fall in line as adoption grows.

FWIW I just dropped an email to Newegg customer service to let them know they lost that sale precisely because they didn't accept bitcoin. Now that one email probably means nothing but the more they hear it the more they might realize.

[syn999]

but would you use your bitcoin if you knows bitcoin is going up and govt currency is going down?

[BitcoinAshley]

People who say "Nobody spends bitcoins, everyone hoards, nobody spends deflationary currencies, and because of this, it's a speculatory bubble and is gonna CRASH" are full of it and need to wipe Paul Krugman's semen off of their lips.

Lots of people buy stuff with bitcoins, just look around. Heck, one merchant I regularly purchase from announced that with very little advertisement, they made $50,000 in bitcoin sales this last month. Bitcoin is just that cool. It's hip. People use it. In case you hadn't ventured outside your mom's basement in a while - it's darned popular.

Why do people spend deflationary currencies? Are they stupid? No, it's because of this simple reason: When the need for a good/service in the present outweighs the potential benefit of putting off the purchase indefinitely due to potential future gains, the purchase will be made.
There is a finite supply of gold, yet it was used as a currency for thousands of years.

Now, some of us have a little mental struggle going on, but OP's method seems to work perfectly for those folks. In the end, I spend a small fraction of my bitcoins each month on "stuff" that I need/want, and the rest is saved and appreciates in value. That's the way it's supposed to work, anyways. None of this USD hot potato stuff "It's inflating, spend it as fast as you can, spend spend spend, consume consume consume, stimulate the useless stagnant economy and all its ridiculous bubbles." Sure you might get 1% interest in your USD savings account but true inflation is way higher than 1% per year. Who wants a hot potato when you can grow a potato plant? Lol analogy.

Oh yeah, any time I have to place an order with a merchant that only accepts USD, I leave a note in the order comments (or send a feedback email) requesting that they accept BTC. Any time I get a donation request in the mail, I send the letter back with a handwritten note explaining how I don't use fiat currencies and I would gladly donate were they to accept BTC, with a URL for Bitpay's free 501(c)3 program.

[pretendo]

If I sell something, it's going to be on bitmit.com now on instead of ebay. My first go at this is in my signature, check it out

[Kazu]

Thread is smart.

I just wish I could buy my goddamn groceries in Bitcoin. Groceries and gas. Thats where all my fiat goes.

[nebulus]

Thread is smart.

I just wish I could buy my goddamn groceries in Bitcoin. Groceries and gas. Thats where all my fiat goes.

It'll happen in due time...

[pretendo]

Thread is smart.

I just wish I could buy my goddamn groceries in Bitcoin. Groceries and gas. Thats where all my fiat goes.

be the change you want to see
Open up a local coop that accepts bitcoins. Specialize in organic food if you need to to attract the right kind of weird people

[Wekkel]

If this whole thing continues, entrepreneurs will themselves open up business for BTC payments. It will once they find out that it helps them paying off their current debts in fiat currency. Think about this...

[Akka]

This is exactly what I'm trying to tell people since over a year.

It's not bad if you want to save your coins, just when you want to buy something anyway, look if you can get it for BTC, when you can convert the fiat you wanted to spend anyway to BTC and buy you product for BTC. It's one extra step, but this way you help Bitcoin grow step by step.

[odolvlobo]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has been trying to explain this to people. People that say "I save my bitcoins and spend my fiat" just don't get it. If they would only realize that buying bitcoins for spending increases the value of the the bitcoins they save.

[Operatr]

Yep, BTC will only work as long as we actually spend it within the economy, if we don't it is no longer currency, but simply an asset that would be worth no real world value as they can't be used for anything being literally a pile of electrons on a hard drive.

This is the way to do it, just convert your purchase cash into BTC, then buy Or start mining, generate BTC out of electricity and it is essentially "free money" in the Bitcoin economy, though it inst in terms of electiciy use and time to generate them. Miners are getting paid for their support.

[gopher]

(Disclaimer - yes, I am hoarding ATM.)

I realized something last night.  I was looking at buying some electronics at newegg, so I was pricing those out.  Then I realized I could get the same thing and, comparing prices, for virtually the same dollar value equivalent from bitcoinstore.com.  But, I didn't want to part with my precious bitcoins! 

So, instead, I took the money earmarked for the purchase and converted it to bitcoin.  I am still evaluating which model of item I want, so in the meantime my value of those BTC has gone up in $.  However, I know I will purchase within a day or two.

In the end, I bought more BTC, contributed to the economy and supported a BTC-only merchant.  And worst case, I spent the money I was going to spend anyways.

If you are not holding the spending coins for any period of time, the fluctuations in price aren't that big a deal.  However, using them strengthens the economy, and in the current climate, I wind up saving a few $$ in the end.  Good for everyone!

I see number of flaws in your logic.

Sure, your view is very popular, shared by many on this forum, but let's see if it is true.

Today the Bitcoin economy (market cap, price) is mostly driven by speculation.

Two years ago, there were many discussions going to encourage the increase of the Bitcoin's utility value. That's the reason there was an increase in new merchants and development of merchant tools/payment gateways. No one thought at the time that in the future Bitcoin will become the best speculative market out there.  

But in January 2013 all that changed - after an explosive exposure of Bitcoin in the media, hoards of opportunistic "investors" came to Bitcoin with one single intention - short term gain. That overtook the combined miner's and merchants drive that was prevalent at the time, instantly transformed the nature of Bitcoin. Not that most on this forum noticed, nor understood.

Going forward, we all await the imminent arrival of a a new driving force - the upset, but looking good with their new hair-do ex Cypriots (add to them the Spaniards, Italians, Lichtensteinians, Maltese etc) - who are queuing on the Gox to get their moneys in, with slightly different intentions though - (1) to re-gain their fiat losses, and (2) perhaps gain a point or thousand points in their newly discovered store of value.

The Bitcoin will never be the same again.

Good for everyone!

[gopher]

This is exactly what I'm trying to tell people since over a year.

It's not bad if you want to save your coins, just when you want to buy something anyway, look if you can get it for BTC, when you can convert the fiat you wanted to spend anyway to BTC and buy you product for BTC. It's one extra step, but this way you help Bitcoin grow step by step.

I disagree.

My example - in light of the increase of Bitcoin price, I can now buy myself a business jet. I want to "help" the Bitcoin economy, so I offer Boeing to pay BTC. They then go to Gox, open an account, wait for a month or more to get verified. In the mean time, I pay them BTC 125,000 and take the jet. Eventually, some months later, Boeing now able to withdraw fiat, dumps the BTC to the market, crashing it some 10-30% (my estimate) getting less fiat to what it was worth when they accepted my BTC payment. I can just imagine the conservative financial director there having a cup of tea with the chairman of the board, saying; "you know what, I thought it was a great idea at the time".

Not going to happen!

[Akka]

This is exactly what I'm trying to tell people since over a year.

It's not bad if you want to save your coins, just when you want to buy something anyway, look if you can get it for BTC, when you can convert the fiat you wanted to spend anyway to BTC and buy you product for BTC. It's one extra step, but this way you help Bitcoin grow step by step.

I disagree.

My example - in light of the increase of Bitcoin price, I can now buy myself a business jet. I want to "help" the Bitcoin economy, so I offer Boeing to pay BTC. They then go to Gox, open an account, wait for a month or more to get verified. In the mean time, I pay them BTC 125,000 and take the jet. Eventually, some months later, Boeing now able to withdraw fiat, dumps the BTC to the market, crashing it some 10-30% (my estimate) getting less fiat to what it was worth when they accepted my BTC payment. I can just imagine the conservative financial director there having a cup of tea with the chairman of the board, saying; "you know what, I thought it was a great idea at the time".

Not going to happen!

Please be just a troll.

You can't be serious with a border line example of 1% the total BTC Value. That's just ridiculous.

So you are not buying a new with BTC because 1 Million PCs at once would increase the Price of BTC to much?

Even if a normal directly sells the BTC for Fiat, people buying and businesses selling BTC at a constant rate helps to stabilize BTC.

And the point is, that trade makes BTC more interesting for more and more Businesses.

[gopher]

I am sorry, I though you knew how the markets work...

I apologise - I've assumed wrongly!

/end sarcasm

In my example above, I am not buying Bitcoins, it just happened that I have 125,000 of them, itching my hand to spend and "help" the economy.

And yes, I am pretty certain of my estimate that creating a instant sell order for BTC125,000 will bring down the price +/- 30%, probably over few days.