Get ready for a sharp rise in Bitcoin use

[Elwar]

With the new Bit-Pay mobile device it is now very very easy to accept Bitcoins as a merchant.

See a demo here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ-pqo0cLcE

You will start to see a lot of merchants with this:


https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=44468.0

A merchant can even be paid in cash so they do not even need to know anything about Bitcoins and can get paid in a way that they are used to.

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[Gerken]

Doubt that, we've all heard it before. 

[fivebells]

I thought it took about 10 minutes to fully verify a bitcoin transaction under normal conditions.  Are these transfers mediated through some kind of escrow service?

[Bigpiggy01]

I'm inclined to agree with Elwar on this one  

This is going to go fairly viral. But it's gonna be starting from almost nothing so it'll still be a while before it really snowballs

[Elwar]

I thought it took about 10 minutes to fully verify a bitcoin transaction under normal conditions.  Are these transfers mediated through some kind of escrow service?

Why it is very unlikely for someone to do a double spend at a POS purchase:
http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/1184/what-can-be-done-to-mitigate-the-risk-of-a-finney-attack/1189#1189

The merchant would also get a notice if a double spend did occur, which would likely be before the person could get out of the parking lot. And it takes a lot of resources for a small purchase.

Purchasing a car or something for several thousand dollars might require them staying an extra 10 minutes to verify the transaction.

[Technomage]

I thought it took about 10 minutes to fully verify a bitcoin transaction under normal conditions.  Are these transfers mediated through some kind of escrow service?

It takes a few seconds to go through, of course if the merchant wants to be sure he can wait for the first confirmation, or more. But the thing is, most purchases of this sort are not large amounts of money, the risk is very small because it's not worth the effort it takes to forge Bitcoin transfers. Merchants are at a larger risk of someone using a stolen credit card for example.

As far as OP's message, I do agree that Bitcoin usage will go much higher thanks to these type of services, but I feel the development will take time. We need lots of services such as bit-pay and even bit-pay is still in pilot stage. I see it coming but it might take from 6 months to a year until growth of this sort is at its highest point.

But regardless of the time it takes it's a good reason to buy coins at current prices, because when the growth happens, added with the huge potential of Bitcoin in online poker, virtual game items and anything else that benefits from the anonymity features, the price will be on another level.

This is from a long term perspective of course. If you want to trade shorter term then buying or not buying becomes a different game entirely.

[Technomage]

Purchasing a car or something for several thousand dollars might require them staying an extra 10 minutes to verify the transaction.

This is a good point. The time taken to verify should depend on the value of the item. With an expensive car I would certainly wait the whole 6 confirmations if I were a merchant, but if someone ordered a pizza or wanted a haircut, I wouldn't require any confirmations.

[sgbett]

Purchasing a car or something for several thousand dollars might require them staying an extra 10 minutes to verify the transaction.

This is a good point. The time taken to verify should depend on the value of the item. With an expensive car I would certainly wait the whole 6 confirmations if I were a merchant, but if someone ordered a pizza or wanted a haircut, I wouldn't require any confirmations.

Tell me if I have the wrong end of the stick. From what I have read this is where the transaction fees will come into play, and it is what will keep people 'mining' after all the coins are gone?

For a high value purchase such as a car, a very small % commission would translate to a reasonably large absolute commission (in terms of miner commissions) and so this should ensure the transaction is verified fairly quickly.

If it doesn't work like that then it should! Viva la capitalism and all that. Those that can pay, get stuff (e.g. quicker transactions!)

[payb.tc]

Purchasing a car or something for several thousand dollars might require them staying an extra 10 minutes to verify the transaction.

This is a good point. The time taken to verify should depend on the value of the item. With an expensive car I would certainly wait the whole 6 confirmations if I were a merchant, but if someone ordered a pizza or wanted a haircut, I wouldn't require any confirmations.

Tell me if I have the wrong end of the stick. From what I have read this is where the transaction fees will come into play, and it is what will keep people 'mining' after all the coins are gone?

For a high value purchase such as a car, a very small % commission would translate to a reasonably large absolute commission (in terms of miner commissions) and so this should ensure the transaction is verified fairly quickly.

If it doesn't work like that then it should! Viva la capitalism and all that. Those that can pay, get stuff (e.g. quicker transactions!)

no, the transaction fee only has a slight correlation to the transaction amount.

it has more to do with how many inputs a transaction has, and hence how big it is in terms of storage space.

(eg. if you have one address with 1000 btc and you spend 1000 btc, then the tx fee should be low, but if you have 1000 addresses each with 1 btc, and you spend 1000 btc, then the tx fee would be much higher because it has to bundle a lot more data together for broadcast to the network)

[bitclown]

You will start to see a lot of merchants with this:
http://i56.tinypic.com/jv54rb.jpg

I'm a Bitcoin fetishist, and even I wouldn't bother to use Bitcoin at a physical POS like this. What's the advantage over using a legacy currency?

[payb.tc]

You will start to see a lot of merchants with this:
http://i56.tinypic.com/jv54rb.jpg

I'm a Bitcoin fetishist, and even I wouldn't bother to use Bitcoin at a physical POS like this. What's the advantage over using a legacy currency?

to cater to those customers who happen to only have btc on them, and no $

...it could happen... maybe later.

[vuce]

I thought it took about 10 minutes to fully verify a bitcoin transaction under normal conditions.  Are these transfers mediated through some kind of escrow service?

Why it is very unlikely for someone to do a double spend at a POS purchase:
http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/1184/what-can-be-done-to-mitigate-the-risk-of-a-finney-attack/1189#1189

If I hack the client and broadcast a transaction from an empty wallet, wouldn't that also show up as 0 confirmations at first (exactly the same as it would with a regular transaction), until the next block is found? At that point in time I'd be long gone.

[wareen]

If I hack the client and broadcast a transaction from an empty wallet, wouldn't that also show up as 0 confirmations at first (exactly the same as it would with a regular transaction), until the next block is found? At that point in time I'd be long gone.

No it wouldn't - the receiving client would not accept the transaction, since it could not have contained a valid input. You would have to have the matching private key to an unspent output from a previous transaction in the blockchain to generate a valid transaction - but at that point your wallet would not have been empty anymore because you actually had the corresponding coins.

Don't worry - counterfeiting Bitcoins is actually pretty damn hard

[EhVedadoOAnonimato]

You will start to see a lot of merchants with this:
http://i56.tinypic.com/jv54rb.jpg

I'm a Bitcoin fetishist, and even I wouldn't bother to use Bitcoin at a physical POS like this. What's the advantage over using a legacy currency?

http://falkvinge.net/2011/07/03/bitcoins-four-drivers-part-3-merchant-trade/

Besides, that can allow you to pay less taxes, to improve your banking secrecy etc, not to mention the main point of bicoin, avoiding inflation.

[RodeoX]

That looks sharp dude!  I have always thought that the ability to pay via cellphone would be an important step in the bitcoin economy. Not only is it very handy for payments like the one in your video, imagine how the remittance market for foreign workers would adopt this. An easy wallet app may start millions of BTC/year flowing.

[fivebells]

....not to mention the main point of bicoin, avoiding inflation.

Bwahahah.

[fivebells]

This comment was posted in error.  Please delete.

[Elwar]

That looks sharp dude!  I have always thought that the ability to pay via cellphone would be an important step in the bitcoin economy. Not only is it very handy for payments like the one in your video, imagine how the remittance market for foreign workers would adopt this. An easy wallet app may start millions of BTC/year flowing.

Not my video, the hard working folks at bit-pay are doing wonders for Bitcoin.

[Nagle]

Doubt that, we've all heard it before. 

Yes. Bit-Pay has two customers, one of which is owned by the people behind Bit-Pay. This is the other one.

[Elwar]

I'm a Bitcoin fetishist, and even I wouldn't bother to use Bitcoin at a physical POS like this. What's the advantage over using a legacy currency?

The transaction is easier.

You do not need to carry around your credit card (you do not even need your wallet if you have no need for ID).

Everyone carries their cell phones with them, even on the beach.

You could have POS sales anywhere that you have cell service (beach, farmer's market, craigslist transaction, etc.)

No handing your personal information and credit card info to a complete stranger.

Lower cost of goods due to lower transaction fees.