Bit-Pay.com + new Android app = Mainstream Bitcoin

[evoorhees]

The pieces of the bitcoin infrastructure are coming together quickly.  Two weeks ago, it was hard to imagine how someone could pay a brick & mortar store on site with Bitcoins. The solution seems to now be here. Let's use Sarah's Hair Salon as an example...

Step 1) Winston has the new Android app  (https://market.android.com/details?id=com.bitcoinandroid) that was all over the news today

Step 2) Sarah sets up account with Bit-Pay.com, and selects the "deposit as USD" option, so that btc payments instantly convert to USD in her account (she's unsure of btc and would prefer dollars for the time being).

Step 3) Sarah puts out a "We Accept Bitcoin" sign with a QR code of her bit-pay.com wallet address

Step 4) After the haircut, Winston scans the QR code at the cash register, and sends payment in btc to Sarah's Hair Salon.


Result: Sarah has received the money as US dollars, and Winston paid with Bitcoins from his pocket. No credit card fee, no chargebacks, no fraud. This is pretty damn simple. Vendors have incentive to accept Bitcoin because it will enable them to steal customers from competitors who don't. Nobody needs to "switch" to Bitcoin either... it grows organically alongside normal payments with credit cards and cash.

I think Bit-Pay.com is still in beta (and the android app is still "experimental") but you can see the functionality is ready. Proof of concept completed.

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[Phinnaeus Gage]

The pieces of the bitcoin infrastructure are coming together quickly.  Two weeks ago, it was hard to imagine how someone could pay a brick & mortar store on site with Bitcoins. The solution seems to now be here. Let's use Sarah's Hair Salon as an example...

Step 1) Winston has the new Android app  (https://market.android.com/details?id=com.bitcoinandroid) that was all over the news today

Step 2) Sarah sets up account with Bit-Pay.com, and selects the "deposit as USD" option, so that btc payments instantly convert to USD in her account (she's unsure of btc and would prefer dollars for the time being).

Step 3) Sarah puts out a "We Accept Bitcoin" sign with a QR code of her bit-pay.com wallet address

Step 4) After the haircut, Winston scans the QR code at the cash register, and sends payment in btc to Sarah's Hair Salon.


Result: Sarah has received the money as US dollars, and Winston paid with Bitcoins from his pocket. No credit card fee, no chargebacks, no fraud. This is pretty damn simple. Vendors have incentive to accept Bitcoin because it will enable them to steal customers from competitors who don't. Nobody needs to "switch" to Bitcoin either... it grows organically alongside normal payments with credit cards and cash.

I think Bit-Pay.com is still in beta (and the android app is still "experimental") but you can see the functionality is ready. Proof of concept completed.

Grandma smiles. 

[SmokeAndMirrors]

I have been considering accepting bitcoins as a payment method at my powder coating shop. More so for the smaller jobs than anything, but I've been contemplating it mostly just to spread the word around a bit more in my city/country. My shop's been on the news a few times for other various topics but I think it would really be great for my city if there was an episode on CJOH talking about how companies are starting to accept bitcoins as payment methods. This breakthrough today will really make it that much easier if I go through with it in the end.

[Bobnova]

Wouldn't this still leave Sarah's Hair Emporium at risk for fake/nonexistent bitcoins?  Seems to me that they still would have to be confirmed before Sarah's Hair actually receives any money.

[evoorhees]

Wouldn't this still leave Sarah's Hair Emporium at risk for fake/nonexistent bitcoins?  Seems to me that they still would have to be confirmed before Sarah's Hair actually receives any money.

Yes the confirmation delay is still an issue. Repeat customers who the vendor knew, would probably not require confirmation delay. I'm confident this problem, too, will be overcome soon.

[cypherdoc]

Wouldn't this still leave Sarah's Hair Emporium at risk for fake/nonexistent bitcoins?  Seems to me that they still would have to be confirmed before Sarah's Hair actually receives any money.

Yes the confirmation delay is still an issue. Repeat customers who the vendor knew, would probably not require confirmation delay. I'm confident this problem, too, will be overcome soon.

i think the confirmation thing is overblown.  probably 90% of the tx's i do are local and if someone tried to stiff me i'd be in his face along with everyone in town within a day.

[datafish]

Wouldn't this still leave Sarah's Hair Emporium at risk for fake/nonexistent bitcoins?  Seems to me that they still would have to be confirmed before Sarah's Hair actually receives any money.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but once the transaction shows up in the client, doesn't it take a massive amount of hashing power to reverse the transaction?  Why would someone bother for anything less than $1,000 or some arbitrarily-large figure?

[geek-trader]

I'd say the risk of a double-spend or fraudulent bitcoin transaction, once the 0/unconfirmed shows up in the receiver's wallet, is way less than the risk of credit card refusal / chargeback.

Maybe if the total is over X BTC (25?)  then you wait for 1 or 2 confirmations, otherwise go with 0/unconfirmed.  Similar to Rite Aide (drug store chain) only requiring you to sign your credit card slip for transactions over $25.

[wegotpickles]

There is also the ability to exchange MtGox vouchers via the MtGox Live app. This could be for USD or BTC and is instant.

[GeniuSxBoY]

This is where banks and mtgox come in.


All the bitcoins are stored in the bank's/mtgox's vault of bitcoin so we know the bitcoins exist.

There needs to be no transfer of the bitcoins since they're in the same pot. The only thing that's updated is both user's bank account figures.


Instant! Safe! Complete!