Spending Bitcoin These Days

[Sullivan456]

Do you remember 10-15 years ago when debit cards became popular and no fast food restaurant would accept plastic because fees were too high? What benefit did that have over cash? Simplicity. We moved money from a thing you had to possess (hard currency) to knowledge of a number (cc#). Now a majority of sales are plastic. The problem with pull transactions is apparent: fraud, minimal security, data breaches. Your numbers can be stolen. The benefit of bitcoin comes from the cryptography of digitally-signed push transactions.

[rjbtc2017]

I see more and more merchants accepting Bitcoin but I feel many are missing the point. I, along with the vast majority of you, hate spending my Bitcoin. The only reason I would spend Bitcoin is if I can get a 20%+ discount on an item or service that I would be purchasing anyway. This also assumes I can immediately purchase more BTC to cover what I spent. I have done this before for purchases on Purse, then buying the BTC right back on Coinbase. The headache alone is hardly worth it. So merchants! It's great that you accept BTC but give us a compelling reason to spend it at your establishment, otherwise we really don't care.

I agree with you, Merchants should really give something that makes bitcoiners and bitcoin enthusiasts spend their bitcoins to that certain establishment since bitcoin is not just a coin same with fiat, it's value has the possibility of increasing and again it's bitcoin. If i will have one bitcoin ,One of the top reasons why i will not spend it,because it is really hard earned and for me it is too precious to spend,it is really how i see bitcoin.

[Sasuke102001]

I only spend Bitcoin online, there are no merchants in my country who accept Bitcoin till now. MANY people don't like to spend their Bitcoins that even goes for me but sometimes I have to use them to buy something online only when it is urgent, if it is not urgent I don't use Bitcoins I rather like to save them.
While spending bitcoins it is also important to have an eye on the bitcoin prices I only spend bitcoin bitcoins when the price of bitcoin is high. Bitcoins are not also a currency that people would use it to buy things from the merchants.

[audrey12]

It's a good idea that merchants are now accepting bitcoin as a mode of payment but we must understand that they also need to protect themselves in incurring sudden lost due to acceptance of bitcoin, many requires to have bitcoin converted before accepting it but soon this issue can be settled if the price of bitcoin will be stable.

[Adioliver]

Spending bitcoins for buying stuff is not a good idea according to me because the value of bitcoins keep on fluctuating.For example you buy a motorcycle worth 1BTC,and you pay him with BTC.Then there is a possibility a week after you find the bitcoin prices have hiked by 500$.Beleive me guys there's nothing more depressing than this.You will really regret your loss.The prices of bitcoin may fall also, considering such cases in my country bitcoin is not accepted by any merchants due to this risk.So my advice would be to not spend bitcoins to buy stuff unless it's really urgent.And do trade your bitcoins with cash before buying stuff that would be better.Like I have plans to surprise my future girlfriend by gifting her a good gift on her birthday,so I would spent a part of my bitcoins on that occasion.

[Carlsen]

Right now spending bitcoins got a little easier. The mempools is not full, that means fast transactions and acceptable fees.
And when you look at the current price, it was kind of stable over the last three days.
That does not sound much at first, but if you want to buy bitcoin and make a transaction with them it is more than enough time.

[dificanovi]

yeah, there are many transaction and store accepting bitcoin but if we use it as today maybe we need to think twice because now is the time to buy bitcoin if you have extra money I think bitcoin is a right way to invest just trust and wait until the bitcoin price will increase then that is the right time to spend some of your bitcoin.

this is not the time to spend bitcoin but it's time to buy bitcoin to invest, because the price is falling, but if bitcoin price goes up then it's the right time to sell bitcoin. I am currently waiting for bitcoin prices to go up to sell the bitcoin I have.

[mrcash02]

I see more and more merchants accepting Bitcoin but I feel many are missing the point. I, along with the vast majority of you, hate spending my Bitcoin. The only reason I would spend Bitcoin is if I can get a 20%+ discount on an item or service that I would be purchasing anyway. This also assumes I can immediately purchase more BTC to cover what I spent. I have done this before for purchases on Purse, then buying the BTC right back on Coinbase. The headache alone is hardly worth it. So merchants! It's great that you accept BTC but give us a compelling reason to spend it at your establishment, otherwise we really don't care.

I think it doesn't make much sense for the seller to give you at least 20% discount, it's not interesting for him... And if it's not interesting for one of the sides tehre isn't deal. Bitcoin can worth a lot on long term, even knowing this I don't think most sellets are crazy to sell their stuff much cheaper just because they are selling for Bitcoins. Remember that when dealing with BTCs you are already skipping some fees and extra costs.

[aardvark15]

I see more and more merchants accepting Bitcoin but I feel many are missing the point. I, along with the vast majority of you, hate spending my Bitcoin. The only reason I would spend Bitcoin is if I can get a 20%+ discount on an item or service that I would be purchasing anyway. This also assumes I can immediately purchase more BTC to cover what I spent. I have done this before for purchases on Purse, then buying the BTC right back on Coinbase. The headache alone is hardly worth it. So merchants! It's great that you accept BTC but give us a compelling reason to spend it at your establishment, otherwise we really don't care.

It is probably helpful for Bitcoin for it to be used for purchases. If businesses start to accept it as payment and people actually use it that way, it will probably make it go more mainstream. However, I think most of us are holding the majority of our Bitcoins rather than spending them. I've only used Bitcoin a couple of times for purchases. The way around this is that we could buy more Bitcoins than we want to hold and have the rest for spending just to help promote Bitcoin.

[HabBear]

I see more and more merchants accepting Bitcoin but I feel many are missing the point. I, along with the vast majority of you, hate spending my Bitcoin. The only reason I would spend Bitcoin is if I can get a 20%+ discount on an item or service that I would be purchasing anyway. This also assumes I can immediately purchase more BTC to cover what I spent. I have done this before for purchases on Purse, then buying the BTC right back on Coinbase. The headache alone is hardly worth it. So merchants! It's great that you accept BTC but give us a compelling reason to spend it at your establishment, otherwise we really don't care.

Where do you live? There are no merchants accepting Bitcoin for payment around where I live.

You have a point on the opportunity cost of spending bitcoin today. It's quite often that bitcoin will be worth more tomorrow than it is today. Or to truly abandon the fiat anchor of our thinking, goods purchased with Bitcoin will likely be cheaper tomorrow then they are today (because of the steady increase in Bitcoin's value)

We are truly in the midst of a battle between Bitcoin as a currency and Bitcoin as a store of value.

[covfefe_]

I see more and more merchants accepting Bitcoin but I feel many are missing the point. I, along with the vast majority of you, hate spending my Bitcoin. The only reason I would spend Bitcoin is if I can get a 20%+ discount on an item or service that I would be purchasing anyway. This also assumes I can immediately purchase more BTC to cover what I spent. I have done this before for purchases on Purse, then buying the BTC right back on Coinbase. The headache alone is hardly worth it. So merchants! It's great that you accept BTC but give us a compelling reason to spend it at your establishment, otherwise we really don't care.

Where do you live? There are no merchants accepting Bitcoin for payment around where I live.

You have a point on the opportunity cost of spending bitcoin today. It's quite often that bitcoin will be worth more tomorrow than it is today. Or to truly abandon the fiat anchor of our thinking, goods purchased with Bitcoin will likely be cheaper tomorrow then they are today (because of the steady increase in Bitcoin's value)

We are truly in the midst of a battle between Bitcoin as a currency and Bitcoin as a store of value.

But assuming bitcoin would always rise too would be wrong. It would attain a value, at least when the supply riches 21 million.

[_noname_]

I fully agree with the author. to spend bitkoiny today there is no sense. it is not profitable.

[Xunloo]

Spending it does not make sense using it to invest in other things that does makes sense and that is what we all want i think to invest and secure our future so dont spend but invest or save.

[Jolyquinzel]

nowadays there is no sense in spending bitcoins.

[hatshepsut93]

I see more and more merchants accepting Bitcoin but I feel many are missing the point. I, along with the vast majority of you, hate spending my Bitcoin. The only reason I would spend Bitcoin is if I can get a 20%+ discount on an item or service that I would be purchasing anyway. This also assumes I can immediately purchase more BTC to cover what I spent. I have done this before for purchases on Purse, then buying the BTC right back on Coinbase. The headache alone is hardly worth it. So merchants! It's great that you accept BTC but give us a compelling reason to spend it at your establishment, otherwise we really don't care.

Why would merchants who face volatility and maybe even legal risks for accepting Bitcoin should give people a discount on top of that? If people don't want to spend their coins, than it's just easier for merchants to stop supporting Bitcoin at all. Also, viewing Bitcoin spending as an opportunity loss is wrong, because in that case your every fiat spending would be the same opportunity loss, since you could have just bought BTC instead. If you don't want your BTC portfolio to diminish, than just buyback every BTC you spend.

[LenyaPoker]

it's pointless now to spend the bitcoins that are so hard to earn.

[PacePay]

Mostly not for convinience or because it's cheaper, but because I value not having to give information to intermediaries, about my buying habits and not having to rely on them deciding whether my transfer is legit or not.
When you see a business accepting Bitcoin, ask them if they convert it immediately or if they hodl. If they hodl, then there is your incentive to buy, because it locks up more Bitcoin with hodlers and makes the available supply of sellable coins go down and the price up.

We all know this thing very well that the market price of Bitcoin is not that much good now a days which means you are not going to get a good profit if you will sell your Bitcoins or even spend them. As far as I think, these days are like the days for taking a deep breath. There is no point of selling your Bitcoins or even spending them at low cost.

[Vaculin]

it's pointless now to spend the bitcoins that are so hard to earn.

Not really pointless because i personally still use bitcoin if ever i have shortages in my own pocket.But yes bitcoin is really hard to earned that's why we should refrain from buying all those things that are not really important to us so we can save bitcoin and hold it for long.It may be giving us huge profit in the future.

[Pearls Before Swine]

OP, I agree with you about not wanting to spend bitcoin, however I do think when merchants accept
it, it's a good thing all around.  And some do, as you said, give big discounts to people who pay via
crypto.  Not many, but enough to stimulate interest.

I dislike spending crypto immensely but I have done it (and then regretted it).  On the other hand, none
of us knows when bitcoin's going to crash, and spending it could seem like the smartest thing in the
world in hindsight.  That's happened to me as well.  I think of crypto as an asset, not as a currency, and
I know a lot of people here share my view. We don't spend gold coins anymore, do we?  Nor silver ones.
Those things are commodities now, not cash.  So it is with bitcoin.

[bncbnc]

Mostly not for convinience or because it's cheaper, but because I value not having to give information to intermediaries, about my buying habits and not having to rely on them deciding whether my transfer is legit or not.
When you see a business accepting Bitcoin, ask them if they convert it immediately or if they hodl. If they hodl, then there is your incentive to buy, because it locks up more Bitcoin with hodlers and makes the available supply of sellable coins go down and the price up.

We all know this thing very well that the market price of Bitcoin is not that much good now a days which means you are not going to get a good profit if you will sell your Bitcoins or even spend them. As far as I think, these days are like the days for taking a deep breath. There is no point of selling your Bitcoins or even spending them at low cost.

although you can use bitcoin for anything you want to use, but i think that in present time it may not be a good decision, because in present time we can see that the price of bitcoin has gain the accelerator and now the price of bitcoin can increase too much in next few weeks, therefore i think that in current time it will be a good decision to hold bitcoin and not to sell it in current time.