watch out Paypal ... Square accepts bitcoin now

[BTCtrader71]

http://corner.squareup.com/2014/03/square-market-accepts-bitcoin.html

http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/2014/03/31/why-square-bitcoin-integration-big-deal/

[chessnut]

great!

and nobody even noticed amid the china panic!

yet the sellers are exhausted in the face of disaster.

the fundamentals are catching up fast!

[BTCtrader71]

great!

and nobody even noticed amid the china panic!

yet the sellers are exhausted in the face of disaster.

the fundamentals are catching up fast!

Fast is right. I would not be surprised if this spurs Paypal to adopt bitcoin in a few months, just in time for the next big rally.

[durrrr]

how would paypal accept bitcoin? just as a deposit and witdrawl method? but i feel that would defeat the purpose of paypal i tought bitcoin would remove paypal from the scene

[cosmofly]

who gives a shit, no one actually uses Bitcoin to buy stuff. Only ones doing are the bitcoin millionaires few who want to avoid taxes

[BTCtrader71]

how would paypal accept bitcoin?

They could make it another payment option alongside Visa, MC, Discover, etc.

[m3g4tr0n]

how would paypal accept bitcoin? just as a deposit and witdrawl method? but i feel that would defeat the purpose of paypal i tought bitcoin would remove paypal from the scene

It would have been better for VHS manufacturers to start producing DVDs than try to ignore them and cling stubbornly to old technology.

Paypal could sell BTC at a markup like coinbase, and they would probably become the world leader in online BTC wallets. People trust them. Not everyone wants to manage their own private keys (sad, right?) but at least paypal can offer the world class security. Maybe I'm just naive, but I think they should offer bitcoin services rather than bury their head while it destroys them. Knowing capitalism the way I do, the most likely scenario is funding an anti-bitcoin lobby in washington.

[BTCtrader71]

Knowing capitalism the way I do, the most likely scenario is funding an anti-bitcoin lobby in washington.

Assuming Square does not have a bad experience with bitcoin, I think the cat's out of the bag on this. Paypal will find they are losing marketshare to Square and will conclude that it will be more fruitful for them to adopt bitcoin than to lobby against it. It wasn't THAT long ago that Paypal was the innovative kid on the block ... surely they haven't COMPLETELY forgotten those roots!

[porcupine87]

I never heard of Square before. It is tiny compare to Paypal but it might get a bigger deal in the future. As far as I understand they specialized in mobile payments and this will be a deal in the next years...

[seleme]

Yeah, few days ago when this news appeared it was the first time I heard for Square. But it never hurts to have new kids on the block 

[galbros]

I think the reason this is not a bigger deal like it would have been a few months ago is the IRS ruling in the US about bitcoins.  Since any exchange of them is not considered a capital gain/loss type situation it really hurts BTC as a currency.

Still on balance a good thing.

[porcupine87]

I think the reason this is not a bigger deal like it would have been a few months ago is the IRS ruling in the US about bitcoins.  Since any exchange of them is not considered a capital gain/loss type situation it really hurts BTC as a currency.

Still on balance a good thing.

I cannot believe why this IRS ruling is a big deal. A few days ago the FED said it had no influence on Bitcoin because it is no money. And money is defined as a medium of exchance,store of value, unit of account and measure of value. Be serious. What of these function provide Bitcoin at this point? Maybe it is a high risk store of value (investment) and medium of exchance? Nowerdays you only buy something with Bitcoin as an experiance. I can remember that guy you drove 100 miles to a Subway just to pay with Bitcoin. This Subway had it since 1-2 weeks and this was the first customer to buy stuff with bitcoin. Now, yes, Overstock was a bigger deal but for Europeans not a real option. I will not buy with Bitcoin if it is cheaper to cash out and buy at Amazon.com...

So calm down. At this stage you have to be a dreamer to see Bitcoin as a currency rather than commodity. That Germany saw it as currency (like the UK, too) is rather lucky. Or the decicion makers there see more potential for the future^^

So after all, this IRS ruling was no news after the FED ruling.

[BTCtrader71]

I cannot believe why this IRS ruling is a big deal.

I agree that the IRS ruling is not such a bad thing.

I mean, think about it. If we were back in 2011 and hashing out a list of the 5 most likely attitudes of the US government towards bitcoin as of 2014, this (bitcoin as a commodity) would probably be the number one best of all possible outcomes. What more could we expect, honestly?? Treating it as a currency would actually result in a HIGHER tax burden. And in the early days, many bitcoin enthusiasts thought that bitcoin would be seen as an existential threat to the dollar (because in their eyes, it WAS an existential threat to the dollar) and it would be outlawed.

The market right now is overreacting to bad news - even taking favorable news and making it bad. In a few months, it will be overreacting to good news (again), and the cycle will repeat itself.

[durrrr]

how would paypal accept bitcoin?

They could make it another payment option alongside Visa, MC, Discover, etc.

oh i get it now. that would be cool. and it would probly make paypal more money  win win situation

[~Coinseeker~]

who gives a shit, no one actually uses Bitcoin to buy stuff. Only ones doing are the bitcoin millionaires few who want to avoid taxes

^This.  Merchant adoption is an illusion to keep people believing in the "moon" delusion, but the general public is catching on to the pyramid promotion model, and they aren't buying.  At the end of the day, people can't spend what they don't have.  

[bassclef]

Yeah, few days ago when this news appeared it was the first time I heard for Square. But it never hurts to have new kids on the block 

Lots of small businesses accept Square. It's used a lot at farmers markets and for people who want to accept physical CC cards (they give a free card reader that plugs into your smartphone's headphone jack) without the hassle of signing up for a merchant account. My barber accepts it, and I just paid a cab driver today using it. It's pretty common in the US.

[BTCtrader71]

At the end of the day, people can't spend what they don't have.  

They may not have bitcoin yet, but they will buy some and use it when they realize its advantages. And I'm not talking about investment potential. Here are two:

1) Payment processors like Square will probably offer a discount to people who pay using bitcoin instead of credit cards. They are able to do this because they can avoid paying 3% to the credit card companies. Fundamentally, the technology behind bitcoin is superior to the legacy credit card system and that is why it will win this battle.

2) They can buy stuff without entering any of their personal information. That means that when they buy porn, it won't show up on their credit card statements. And when they go to Target, they won't worry that their credit card info is going to get stolen.

[troy112]

Great ... Some new to stop the freefall of prices...
if Paypal accepts bircoin.. It will be its biggest step in the history and will get bitcoin to more people. Also the price willget over 1000

[~Coinseeker~]

At the end of the day, people can't spend what they don't have.  

They may not have bitcoin yet, but they will buy some and use it when they realize its advantages. And I'm not talking about investment potential. Here are two:

1) Payment processors like Square will probably offer a discount to people who pay using bitcoin instead of credit cards. They are able to do this because they can avoid paying 3% to the credit card companies. Fundamentally, the technology behind bitcoin is superior to the legacy credit card system and that is why it will win this battle.

2) They can buy stuff without entering any of their personal information. That means that when they buy porn, it won't show up on their credit card statements. And when they go to Target, they won't worry that their credit card info is going to get stolen.

1)  My debit card doesn't cost me anything to use.  Buying Bitcoin costs me 1% or more to get and that's if the price hasn't crashed by the time it clears Coinbase.  So, accepting all that risk, paying more and maybe getting a discount, is a non-starter.    

2)  Porn?  Is that really the best you can come up with.    

The tech is sound.  Satoshi solved the double-spend problem and now it can be duplicated into useful solutions.  Bitcoin isn't useful because people don't buy Bitcoin to spend them.  The buy them to hold because that's the message Bitcoiners push.  "Buy and hold"  This means poor distribution of Bitcoin and most people will never have them to spend.  Cryptocurrencies are here to stay, it's just going to be something that actually has a clue what it takes to make a useful currency.  Actually, Dogecoin (as crazy as that sounds to me) has a better chance at mass adoption by the general public, because of it's wide spread capabilities and it's usefulness to people.

It's not the feds that will kill Bitcoin, it'll be greed and monetary ignorance.

[Ibian]

Someone doesn't understand how supply and demand works.