Three Paypal founders invest in BitPay

[samson]

Wow, this is big news :

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1eg51m/bitpay_raises_2_million_led_by_founders_fund/

Three Paypal founders investing in Bitpay and the conference hasn't even started yet.

I've got a feeling things could be looking up over the coming weekend.

I'm not sure about next week but in the short term I think things are looking good.

[RodeoX]

This is big. I think PayPal may be trying to capitalize on Mt.Goxes misfortune. Could bitcoin and her frienemy PayPay get married?

[fitty]

Very nice!!

[joesmoe2012]

Great just what we need, PayPal having absolutely anything to do with bitcoin.

[lysr]

Good news for Bitpay, not so much for Bitcoin.

[samson]

These guys are the founders from Paypal investing in BitPay. It's not like it's Paypal directly investing in BitPay.

The way I'm thinking is : They did the almost impossible before, maybe they'll do it again but this time with BitPay instead of PayPal.

[RodeoX]

These guys are the founders from Paypal investing in BitPay. It's not like it's Paypal directly investing in BitPay.

The way I'm thinking is : They did the almost impossible before, maybe they'll do it again but this time with BitPay instead of PayPal.

I see what your saying. But I wonder if they are buying a piece of BitPay with the intention of an eventual takeover. Why else would they invest in a competitor?

[Hawker]

These guys are the founders from Paypal investing in BitPay. It's not like it's Paypal directly investing in BitPay.

The way I'm thinking is : They did the almost impossible before, maybe they'll do it again but this time with BitPay instead of PayPal.

I see what your saying. But I wonder if they are buying a piece of BitPay with the intention of an eventual takeover. Why else would they invest in a competitor?

Paypal was started as a rebellion against the useless banks that were stifling online business. These guys may still have fire in their bellies

[samson]

These guys are the founders from Paypal investing in BitPay. It's not like it's Paypal directly investing in BitPay.

The way I'm thinking is : They did the almost impossible before, maybe they'll do it again but this time with BitPay instead of PayPal.

I see what your saying. But I wonder if they are buying a piece of BitPay with the intention of an eventual takeover. Why else would they invest in a competitor?

Paypal was started as a rebellion against the useless banks that were stifling online business. These guys may still have fire in their bellies

Do they still even own Paypal ?

[notme]

These guys are the founders from Paypal investing in BitPay. It's not like it's Paypal directly investing in BitPay.

The way I'm thinking is : They did the almost impossible before, maybe they'll do it again but this time with BitPay instead of PayPal.

I see what your saying. But I wonder if they are buying a piece of BitPay with the intention of an eventual takeover. Why else would they invest in a competitor?

Hedging/Risk Management

[Ploo]

If only they instead used their expertise to bring about a reliable bitcoin exchange.

[samson]

I wonder if this news came out today in response to WebMoney announcing that they're now accepting Bitcoin.

I think the race is on to become the 'paypal of bitcoin'.

[Hawker]

...snip...

Paypal was started as a rebellion against the useless banks that were stifling online business. These guys may still have fire in their bellies

Do they still even own Paypal ?

eBay bought them out making them richer than Croesus.

[fitty]

These guys are the founders from Paypal investing in BitPay. It's not like it's Paypal directly investing in BitPay.

The way I'm thinking is : They did the almost impossible before, maybe they'll do it again but this time with BitPay instead of PayPal.

I see what your saying. But I wonder if they are buying a piece of BitPay with the intention of an eventual takeover. Why else would they invest in a competitor?

Paypal could just integrate Bitcoin right now. They don't need to buy anyone. But this has nothing to do with Paypal.

http://www.foundersfund.com/

Luke Nosek, Ken Howery, Peter Thiel don't even work at Paypal anymore. This is a fund to help tech startups. It's just throwing the Paypal reference because it adds some weight to the whole e-commerce heavyweight angle.

[fitty]

...snip...

Paypal was started as a rebellion against the useless banks that were stifling online business. These guys may still have fire in their bellies

Do they still even own Paypal ?

eBay bought them out making them richer than Croesus.

Correct. They don't work at Paypal.

[samson]

...snip...

Paypal was started as a rebellion against the useless banks that were stifling online business. These guys may still have fire in their bellies

Do they still even own Paypal ?

eBay bought them out making them richer than Croesus.

So here they are again, about to launch something that could replace Paypal.

I would expect Paypal to do something about this. We already know they've been looking into Bitcoin.

[nicolazza]

this will put some pepper in paypal ass

[Ozymandias]

Bitpay is having some week! First they hire Jeff Garzik and now they're being bankrolled by paypal founders. Good for them!

[Chalkbot]

This is great news, mainly for the publicity it offers, as I read that Bitpay wasn't necessarily looking for further funding right now.

Bitcoiners will often put down Bitpay, as they are bridging the gap between ecommerce and bitcoins with dirty fiat currency, but that is a critical step toward mainstream adoption. Imagine Bitpay becoming so prolific that nearly everyone accepts bitcoin through Bitpay, because, why not? At that point they are no longer necessary, users/suppliers/merchants will start to realize that they can save a little money/time by just sending the bitcoins directly to each other instead of routing through a third party. Thus true adoption begins, and the transition is quite painless.

[BTC Books]

If you do a little research, you discover that once upon a time, Peter Thiel was quite the firebrand.  His concept of what PayPal was created for, and what it could become, was remarkably revolutionary and disruptive.  He was essentially an anarcho-bitcoin fanatic, with the goal of ending what he saw as a totally corrupt world financial system.

So there's two possibilities here.  Either 1.) he's back on track and hoping to right his past failure, or 2.) he's hoping to sell out again for even more this time.

I can't say that I favor the odds of either one of those over the other.

[samson]

If you do a little research, you discover that once upon a time, Peter Thiel was quite the firebrand.  His concept of what PayPal was created for, and what it could become, was remarkably revolutionary and disruptive.  He was essentially an anarcho-bitcoin fanatic, with the goal of ending what he saw as a totally corrupt world financial system.

So there's two possibilities here.  Either 1.) he's back on track and hoping to right his past failure, or 2.) he's hoping to sell out again for even more this time.

I can't say that I favor the odds of either one of those over the other.

Maybe he's not so happy with the direction Paypal took since it went to Ebay and this is his chance to put it right.

I'm optimistic. He doesn't need the money, he's trying to change the world.

[BTC Books]

If you do a little research, you discover that once upon a time, Peter Thiel was quite the firebrand.  His concept of what PayPal was created for, and what it could become, was remarkably revolutionary and disruptive.  He was essentially an anarcho-bitcoin fanatic, with the goal of ending what he saw as a totally corrupt world financial system.

So there's two possibilities here.  Either 1.) he's back on track and hoping to right his past failure, or 2.) he's hoping to sell out again for even more this time.

I can't say that I favor the odds of either one of those over the other.

Maybe he's not so happy with the direction Paypal took since it went to Ebay and this is his chance to put it right.

I'm optimistic. He doesn't need the money, he's trying to change the world.

I hope so.

[Theraty]

I was looking up Bitpay the past few days. Great service with the potential to accelerate the adoption of bitcoin on and offline. I not the biggest fan of paypal either but this service seems brilliant.

[Sitarow]

I was looking up Bitpay the past few days. Great service with the potential to accelerate the adoption of bitcoin on and offline. I not the biggest fan of paypal either but this service seems brilliant.

Bitpay provides a great service, and as you may already know other such services have been used by Avalon ASIC creators to promote awareness of these service type companies.

[600watt]

These guys are the founders from Paypal investing in BitPay. It's not like it's Paypal directly investing in BitPay.

The way I'm thinking is : They did the almost impossible before, maybe they'll do it again but this time with BitPay instead of PayPal.

I see what your saying. But I wonder if they are buying a piece of BitPay with the intention of an eventual takeover. Why else would they invest in a competitor?

Paypal could just integrate Bitcoin right now. They don't need to buy anyone. But this has nothing to do with Paypal.

http://www.foundersfund.com/

Luke Nosek, Ken Howery, Peter Thiel don't even work at Paypal anymore. This is a fund to help tech startups. It's just throwing the Paypal reference because it adds some weight to the whole e-commerce heavyweight angle.

i would put it a little different. peter thiel first made paypal big and then facebook. he is the one with weight in this game. if he goes into bitcoin, the financial world will take notice.

[Brunic]

I have the utmost respect for Peter Thiel and if this guy is on our side, this is big.

[impulse]

Peter Thiel also sits on the Facebook Board of Directors. If Peter and Chamath Palihapitiya were to become advocates inside of Facebook, you never know what could happen. Chamath does not work at Facebook anymore but I'm sure he still has close ties to it.

[impulse]

Also interesting about Peter, from his Wikipedia page:

According to Eric Jackson's account of PayPal in his book The PayPal Wars, Thiel viewed PayPal's mission as liberating people throughout the world from the erosion of the value of their currencies due to inflation. Jackson recalls an inspirational speech by Thiel in 1999:

"We're definitely onto something big. The need PayPal answers is monumental. Everyone in the world needs money - to get paid, to trade, to live. Paper money is an ancient technology and an inconvenient means of payment. You can run out of it. It wears out. It can get lost or stolen. In the twenty-first century, people need a form of money that's more convenient and secure, something that can be accessed from anywhere with a PDA or an Internet connection. Of course, what we're calling 'convenient' for American users will be revolutionary for the developing world. Many of these countries' governments play fast and loose with their currencies," the former derivatives trader [referring to Thiel] noted, before continuing, "They use inflation and sometimes wholesale currency devaluations, like we saw in Russia and several Southeast Asian countries last year [referring to the 1998 Russian financial crisis and 1997 Asian financial crisis], to take wealth away from their citizens. Most of the ordinary people there never have an opportunity to open an offshore account or to get their hands on more than a few bills of a stable currency like U.S. dollars. Eventually PayPal will be able to change this. In the future, when we make our service available outside the U.S. and as Internet penetration continues to expand to all economic tiers of people, PayPal will give citizens worldwide more direct control over their currencies than they ever had before. It will be nearly impossible for corrupt governments to steal wealth from their people through their old means because if they try the people will switch to dollars or Pounds or Yen, in effect dumping the worthless local currency for something more secure."

Hmm... what does it sound like he is describing?

[samson]

Also interesting about Peter, from his Wikipedia page:

According to Eric Jackson's account of PayPal in his book The PayPal Wars, Thiel viewed PayPal's mission as liberating people throughout the world from the erosion of the value of their currencies due to inflation. Jackson recalls an inspirational speech by Thiel in 1999:

"We're definitely onto something big. The need PayPal answers is monumental. Everyone in the world needs money - to get paid, to trade, to live. Paper money is an ancient technology and an inconvenient means of payment. You can run out of it. It wears out. It can get lost or stolen. In the twenty-first century, people need a form of money that's more convenient and secure, something that can be accessed from anywhere with a PDA or an Internet connection. Of course, what we're calling 'convenient' for American users will be revolutionary for the developing world. Many of these countries' governments play fast and loose with their currencies," the former derivatives trader [referring to Thiel] noted, before continuing, "They use inflation and sometimes wholesale currency devaluations, like we saw in Russia and several Southeast Asian countries last year [referring to the 1998 Russian financial crisis and 1997 Asian financial crisis], to take wealth away from their citizens. Most of the ordinary people there never have an opportunity to open an offshore account or to get their hands on more than a few bills of a stable currency like U.S. dollars. Eventually PayPal will be able to change this. In the future, when we make our service available outside the U.S. and as Internet penetration continues to expand to all economic tiers of people, PayPal will give citizens worldwide more direct control over their currencies than they ever had before. It will be nearly impossible for corrupt governments to steal wealth from their people through their old means because if they try the people will switch to dollars or Pounds or Yen, in effect dumping the worthless local currency for something more secure."

Hmm... what does it sound like he is describing?

I'll tell you what he's not describing and that's Paypal in 2013.

[impulse]

Also interesting about Peter, from his Wikipedia page:

According to Eric Jackson's account of PayPal in his book The PayPal Wars, Thiel viewed PayPal's mission as liberating people throughout the world from the erosion of the value of their currencies due to inflation. Jackson recalls an inspirational speech by Thiel in 1999:

"We're definitely onto something big. The need PayPal answers is monumental. Everyone in the world needs money - to get paid, to trade, to live. Paper money is an ancient technology and an inconvenient means of payment. You can run out of it. It wears out. It can get lost or stolen. In the twenty-first century, people need a form of money that's more convenient and secure, something that can be accessed from anywhere with a PDA or an Internet connection. Of course, what we're calling 'convenient' for American users will be revolutionary for the developing world. Many of these countries' governments play fast and loose with their currencies," the former derivatives trader [referring to Thiel] noted, before continuing, "They use inflation and sometimes wholesale currency devaluations, like we saw in Russia and several Southeast Asian countries last year [referring to the 1998 Russian financial crisis and 1997 Asian financial crisis], to take wealth away from their citizens. Most of the ordinary people there never have an opportunity to open an offshore account or to get their hands on more than a few bills of a stable currency like U.S. dollars. Eventually PayPal will be able to change this. In the future, when we make our service available outside the U.S. and as Internet penetration continues to expand to all economic tiers of people, PayPal will give citizens worldwide more direct control over their currencies than they ever had before. It will be nearly impossible for corrupt governments to steal wealth from their people through their old means because if they try the people will switch to dollars or Pounds or Yen, in effect dumping the worthless local currency for something more secure."

Hmm... what does it sound like he is describing?

I'll tell you what he's not describing and that's Paypal in 2013.

Haha. Agreed.

[minimalB]

Wow, this is great news! I think these guys know what they are doing...  

[notme]

Wow, this is great news! I think these guys know what they are doing... 

FTFY

[Hfleer]

This is great news for Bitcoin businesses.  Legitimizes them as more worthwhile.

[Zangelbert Bingledack]

BitPay is the hero of the Bitcoin business world. Thiel is fixing to finally get this financial revolution stuff right. Two people close to the facebook board of directors are gung-ho probitcoiners. BTC price: Soon to be going UP, back to the exponential growth trendline.

[gogxmagog]

yeah, they were just the start-up guys at paypal. no longer have any financial interest in it. they are obviously ahead of the curve here. precisely what btc needs.

[vokain]

need. more. coins. 

[notme]

need. more. coins. 

sell, put bid at $108, pray

[vokain]

need. more. coins. 

sell, put bid at $108, pray

so sell, put bid at 109, and pray? 

[notme]

need. more. coins. 

sell, put bid at $108, pray

so sell, put bid at 109, and pray? 

sure, if you want to over pay

[wopwop]

Soon: 4% fee on bitpay

No more advantage over PayPal

[lebing]

Soon: 4% fee on bitpay

No more advantage over PayPal

They have stated publicly that their fees will only go down over time and have already made good on the promise once so far.

[Zaih]

Amazing news. Let's hope the follow up doesn't let us down

[wopwop]

Soon: 4% fee on bitpay

No more advantage over PayPal

They have stated publicly that their fees will only go down over time and have already made good on the promise once so far.

Lol and what are you going to do when they are well established and start raising the fees? Cry they lied to you?

[Malawi]

Soon: 4% fee on bitpay

No more advantage over PayPal

They have stated publicly that their fees will only go down over time and have already made good on the promise once so far.

Lol and what are you going to do when they are well established and start raising the fees? Cry they lied to you?

It's much easier for a merchant to switch to another provider of bitcoin exchange than it is to switch the userbase into another payment service.

IOW - Paypal is not mainly about delivering payment services to merchants, but to have a ready-made system with a large userbase.
With bitcoins the userbase part is made into a public good, and the merchants can tap into that userbase with whatever tool they choose.
The payments can be bitcoin by itself, bitcoins trough coinbase or bitcoin trough <insert random bitcoin conversion service here>

[lebing]

Soon: 4% fee on bitpay

No more advantage over PayPal

They have stated publicly that their fees will only go down over time and have already made good on the promise once so far.

Lol and what are you going to do when they are well established and start raising the fees? Cry they lied to you?

They lose alot of customers to the next in line (and there will be plenty soon enough).

[BCB]

This is great news. Tony Gallippi the founder of Bitpay, is one of the good guys and a terrific bitcoin advocate.

To my knowelege Bitpay is a "payment processor" and not subject to finCEN regulation that now requires bitcoin businesses that buy and sell bitcoins to be registered as a Money Service Business (MSB).

Finally, Paypal did not invest in Bitpay, the very wealthy and influential founders of Paypal invested which is clearly great news for Bitpay specifically and Bitcoin in general.

Congrats!

[wopwop]

Soon enough BitPay will introduce online wallets for customers

[Gordonium]

Soon enough BitPay will introduce online wallets for customers

And that would end the debate about long confirmation time. I hope they will do it.

[Hfleer]

Soon enough BitPay will introduce online wallets for customers

Good news for bitcoin adoption for commoners, many who wouldn't want to bother with a regular wallet.  Bitpay could really take off.

[wopwop]

Soon enough BitPay will introduce online wallets for customers

Good news for bitcoin adoption for commoners, many who wouldn't want to bother with a regular wallet.  Bitpay could really take off.

bitpay opening online wallets for customers means they become a bitcoin bank

it would be like banks are to hard cash:
1. fractional reserve
2. credit

if you understand that bitcoin's nemesis are banks, then you see that that bitcoin's survival requires that there will not be bitcoin banks

bitcoin banks becomes more popular than bitcoin itself -> bye bitcoin


too bad this will happen anyway, with or w/o bitpay, because bitcoin is too user unfriendly in different core aspects

if bitcoins would somewhat catch on in popularity it will be in such banks and not bitcoin itself

[notme]

Soon enough BitPay will introduce online wallets for customers

Good news for bitcoin adoption for commoners, many who wouldn't want to bother with a regular wallet.  Bitpay could really take off.

bitpay opening online wallets for customers means they become a bitcoin bank

it would be like banks are to hard cash:
1. fractional reserve
2. credit

if you understand that bitcoin's nemesis are banks, then you see that that bitcoin's survival requires that there will not be bitcoin banks

bitcoin banks becomes more popular than bitcoin itself -> bye bitcoin

If you understand wallets are not the same as bank accounts, then you see that you are jumping to conclusions that will likely not play out in reality.

Do some research on the blockchain.info wallet model.  It doesn't support fractional reserve, credit, nor does it even give the operators access to any funds.


That said, fractional reserve bitcoin accounts will probably happen eventually, but when a bank run happens those who gave up control of their money will learn their lesson instead of being baled out.  We will always have the choice to avoid such institutions.

[Gordonium]

Soon enough BitPay will introduce online wallets for customers

Good news for bitcoin adoption for commoners, many who wouldn't want to bother with a regular wallet.  Bitpay could really take off.

bitpay opening online wallets for customers means they become a bitcoin bank

it would be like banks are to hard cash:
1. fractional reserve
2. credit

if you understand that bitcoin's nemesis are banks, then you see that that bitcoin's survival requires that there will not be bitcoin banks

bitcoin banks becomes more popular than bitcoin itself -> bye bitcoin


too bad this will happen anyway, with or w/o bitpay, because bitcoin is too user unfriendly in different core aspects

if bitcoins would somewhat catch on in popularity it will be in such banks and not bitcoin itself

Commercial/Investment Banks aren't the enemy. Central Banks are the enemy.

[kokojie]

That's how it goes, they want to own all the competition.

[Theraty]

Soon enough BitPay will introduce online wallets for customers

Good news for bitcoin adoption for commoners, many who wouldn't want to bother with a regular wallet.  Bitpay could really take off.

bitpay opening online wallets for customers means they become a bitcoin bank

it would be like banks are to hard cash:
1. fractional reserve
2. credit

if you understand that bitcoin's nemesis are banks, then you see that that bitcoin's survival requires that there will not be bitcoin banks

bitcoin banks becomes more popular than bitcoin itself -> bye bitcoin


too bad this will happen anyway, with or w/o bitpay, because bitcoin is too user unfriendly in different core aspects

if bitcoins would somewhat catch on in popularity it will be in such banks and not bitcoin itself

Commercial/Investment Banks aren't the enemy. Central Banks are the enemy.

What if the users own the bank say with shares giving them the control decision making involved int he running of the bank and accounts

[hubbabubbabaker]

If you do a little research, you discover that once upon a time, Peter Thiel was quite the firebrand.  His concept of what PayPal was created for, and what it could become, was remarkably revolutionary and disruptive.  He was essentially an anarcho-bitcoin fanatic, with the goal of ending what he saw as a totally corrupt world financial system.

So there's two possibilities here.  Either 1.) he's back on track and hoping to right his past failure, or 2.) he's hoping to sell out again for even more this time.

I can't say that I favor the odds of either one of those over the other.

It's the latter, history tells us that it's always the latter. To believe otherwise is naive. I'd wager that his initial pro-anarcho position was simply a fabrication to garner support for his business.

[XXthetimeisnowXX]

Great just what we need, PayPal having absolutely anything to do with bitcoin.

+1 haha no doubt. I hate paypal with a passion!!!

[freedomno1]

So a second chance not to screw up hope they do it right
I know paypals popular so not a true screw up but I mean follow their ambitions