SENS foundation joins those who won't take bitcoins for vague reasons

[Gareth Nelson]

Hi Gareth,

I've dug into records and consulted colleagues, and it's not looking good on this after all. We had an enquiry about bitcoin in January, which led us to explore options quite thoroughly, and the conclusion from my admin people was that we shouldn't do it - it is too volatile and insecure. I presume that anyone who deals in bitcoin themselves can accept it and donate the equivalent amount to whomever they choose in regular USD, but I don't know whether that fits the way you do your fundraiser - I'm guessing it probably doesn't.

Sorry to be rather useless on this one!

Cheers, Aubrey

My birthday is coming up (4th of august) and I intended to run a fundraiser for SENS (aging research) for it, including looking for donations via bitcoin, I advised looking at someone like bitpay to arrange the details but it seems that someone in the organisation has gotten the impression bitcoin is somehow insecure.

Anyone got any ideas?

[Littleshop]

Yes.  Bitpay.com does all the work for them. No exchange rate risk. No complex work. Lower fees then credit cards and paypal. If they are a non profit it might even be free.

[Gareth Nelson]

Yes.  Bitpay.com does all the work for them. No exchange rate risk. No complex work. Lower fees then credit cards and paypal. If they are a non profit it might even be free.

Already suggested that, the funny thing is they take paypal but are worried about security when taking bitcoin.

Anyone could pay via paypal and then dispute it or do a credit card chargeback - wonder where the "bitcoin is insecure" idea came from.

[odolvlobo]

There are also the issues that charities are heavily regulated, and that they are very dependent on government grants. It is not surprising that they are spooked by Bitcoin.

One way to counter their objections is to show them that they are turning down a large amount of money.

[Littleshop]

Yes.  Bitpay.com does all the work for them. No exchange rate risk. No complex work. Lower fees then credit cards and paypal. If they are a non profit it might even be free.

Already suggested that, the funny thing is they take paypal but are worried about security when taking bitcoin.

Anyone could pay via paypal and then dispute it or do a credit card chargeback - wonder where the "bitcoin is insecure" idea came from.

Then they need to be educated.  Bitpay is safer than paypal.  There are no security issues I know of for a simple bitpay donate button. Paypal can be charged back and even worse if your account info gets stolen money can be DRAWN out of your checking account.  Bitpay has no option to remove money from a checking account, they are one way and that is money IN.

[Gareth Nelson]

Just had a reply back from Aubrey De Grey saying he'll look into it via bitpay

I'll post here if they set something up (my original plan anyway)

[Kris]

You could suggest BIPS, have them look at the new Merchant page overview: https://bips.me/merchants

And happy birthday if I don't catch you on 4th of august.

[Gareth Nelson]

Bitpay are a bit more established

[Kris]

Bitpay are a bit more established

Probably for the best if in the US.

[Gabi]

To me it seems they just don't want bitcoins, not that they are looking for a way to accept them. Well, i suppose it is time for jokes about aging and understanding new technologies, am i right? 

[Gareth Nelson]

To me it seems they just don't want bitcoins, not that they are looking for a way to accept them. Well, i suppose it is time for jokes about aging and understanding new technologies, am i right? 

It sounds like the idea has been proposed before but someone in their team was unsure and scared - looks like he with the beard (seriously - google aubrey de grey's beard - it's heroic) has decided to investigate again though.

[solex]

To me it seems they just don't want bitcoins, not that they are looking for a way to accept them. Well, i suppose it is time for jokes about aging and understanding new technologies, am i right? 

It sounds like the idea has been proposed before but someone in their team was unsure and scared - looks like he with the beard (seriously - google aubrey de grey's beard - it's heroic) has decided to investigate again though.

I know Aubrey very well. I will explain its benefits to him and see if he will reconsider. If the SENS Foundation had started accepting BTC donations in January then they would be sitting on a 700% gain today!

[Gareth Nelson]

To me it seems they just don't want bitcoins, not that they are looking for a way to accept them. Well, i suppose it is time for jokes about aging and understanding new technologies, am i right? 

It sounds like the idea has been proposed before but someone in their team was unsure and scared - looks like he with the beard (seriously - google aubrey de grey's beard - it's heroic) has decided to investigate again though.

I know Aubrey very well. I will explain its benefits to him and see if he will reconsider. If the SENS Foundation had started accepting BTC donations in January then they would be sitting on a 700% gain today!

Good man

[id10tothe9]

Any news on this?
can somebody contact Aubrey again and tell him they can convert bitcoins to dollar directly to avoid the volatility factor if that's the problem? They must start accepting bitcoin to get more funds which they so much need, it's all of our lives at stake here  and I'm sure the bitcoin community would be the most generous and enthusiastic people who could ever support this kind of research!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsR7L5nnmFY