Mrbitco.in ATM Collective starts to sell Litecoin today

[skorek]

We manage yesterday to get 4 minutes prime time on dutch tv, to tell about atm and promote bitcoin:

http://www.uitzendinggemist.nl/afleveringen/1414701

[skorek]

Chaumy is geting more and more happy bitcoin owners.

Tomorrow (25.05.2014) we will have mini meetup in Hofje van Wijs at 19.30.

[zimmah]

i 100% agree with you, but centralizing merchant adoption around bitpay and coinbase (any others?) is not a solution to the problem, it is just building a problem on top of a problem. Real merchant adoption of bitcoin can't happen until the price is more stable, which will probably be when people stop using Bitcoin as a store of value( i am guilty of this) and actually as a method of transacting online.

Coinkite

[zimmah]

i 100% agree with you, but centralizing merchant adoption around bitpay and coinbase (any others?) is not a solution to the problem, it is just building a problem on top of a problem. Real merchant adoption of bitcoin can't happen until the price is more stable, which will probably be when people stop using Bitcoin as a store of value( i am guilty of this) and actually as a method of transacting online.

and guys we have to realize that there will be not much transactions this year at bitcoin accepting cafes or restaurants, maybe few people a months, so we are talking 100.00 maybe 200.00 euro, if there is bitcoin conferance in the city maybe more. So there is not so much risk for this small bussines to accepted and take a small risk or maybe big reward. coinbase and bitpay are concentrating on the big fishes, they are not much interested in small merchants, they just made a website for them and they charge 1% transaction fee for useing it, i think they should be free solution to this

Well, with 1% fee it's still cheaper than the card networks. However I understand that some businesses (like cafés) are get paid mainly in cash, where they don't have to pay any transaction fees - so it might seem like they're losing money.

But when you look at the problem, you'll notice accepting Bitcoin, even with a 1% fee, will drive customers to your business (maybe not many yet, but definitely some) which it would never had otherwise had - so that 1% is basically nothing compared to not having had those sales to start with.

You're being overly simplistic if you say cash does not apply fees.

Indeed if you accept cash there's no company who will charge fees on the cash, however, if you deposit the cash at the bank you will need to pay a high price (banks are not happy with cash transactions), and the cash needs to be transported securily (not cheap either), and on top of that cash is a hassle (you need to have plenty of change) and a risk (the more cash you have in your store, to more likely it is you will get robbed).

So with all those disadvantages of cash, I doubt they will see a 1% fee as a disadvantage.

[Cryptopher]

I'm heading to Amsterdam in July, I may have to pay a visit and see how it works. I'm guessing that there are some local businesses that accept BTC as payment?

[wachtwoord]

We manage yesterday to get 4 minutes prime time on dutch tv, to tell about atm and promote bitcoin:

http://www.uitzendinggemist.nl/afleveringen/1414701

Difficult to explain this in four minutes especially to the target audience of Kassa (general consumers). I think he/you did fine although I'm always disappointed if the following are not discussed:

1) The paper wallets you showed is just a representation and the private key is the lock. With it, ANYONE can take your money (use the vault + lock metaphor)
2) She asked about who guarantees Bitcoin. You could have told her that no-one does because no single entity is behind it (and you avoided saying anything negative about banks )

[Beyonce]

Are there many shops in amsterdam that accept bitcoin yet?

[kokoarm]

I live near Amsterdam and the answer is no. occasional head shop yes maybe

[DonnyMontana]

Nice, although the Netherlands hardly needed a way to obtain bitcoin. It's probably in the top 3 of easiest places in the world to obtain bitcoin.
Anyone know the fees on this thing?

[zimmah]

Are there many shops in amsterdam that accept bitcoin yet?

relatively, yes. absolutely, no.

The Netherlands has, compared to other countries in the world, quite a lot of shops that accept bitcoin, but it's still not anywhere near mass adoption.

I'm still waiting for the first supermarket chain to adopt it. I have contacted one of the largest chains around December, but they never acted on it, sadly.

[Silly Money]

Amsterdams a pretty cool place. I look forward to going there and spending some coins. Hopfully some of the coffeeshops will accept them too.

[Cryptopher]

Amsterdams a pretty cool place. I look forward to going there and spending some coins. Hopfully some of the coffeeshops will accept them too.

I would have expected the independent coffee shops to have been the most inclined to accept Bitcoin payments, unless it causes them a legal headache, of course.

[21pilot]

a few weeks ago I read about a Dutch city where a whole street of vendors introduced BTC payment option.
Anyone knows if this was in Amsterdam or in another Dutch town?

[Brooker]

a few weeks ago I read about a Dutch city where a whole street of vendors introduced BTC payment option.
Anyone knows if this was in Amsterdam or in another Dutch town?

I read about those over in the press section. Forgot what they were calling them though,.

[NotAtOld]

Any more info on this? What type of ATM is this? Can you do in & out? Travelling to Europe and would be ideal to just exchange my euros back into BTC when I leave.

[elasticband]

as mentioned in the OP and many times during this thread, the machine is one way only, you can buy btc with your euro, not sell btc for euro.

[Cryptopher]

as mentioned in the OP and many times during this thread, the machine is one way only, you can buy btc with your euro, not sell btc for euro.

Can you imagine if it was two ways. People would be stood at the machine all day trading away, using it as their own personal exchange. Imagine the disputes between people in the queue!

[wachtwoord]

as mentioned in the OP and many times during this thread, the machine is one way only, you can buy btc with your euro, not sell btc for euro.

Can you imagine if it was two ways. People would be stood at the machine all day trading away, using it as their own personal exchange. Imagine the disputes between people in the queue!

The same machine has a two-way version!

[Cryptopher]

as mentioned in the OP and many times during this thread, the machine is one way only, you can buy btc with your euro, not sell btc for euro.

Can you imagine if it was two ways. People would be stood at the machine all day trading away, using it as their own personal exchange. Imagine the disputes between people in the queue!

The same machine has a two-way version!

Oh, so the manufacturer has made a two way version? Hmm, I'm curious to hear how these would perform and how often the exchange rate is refreshed.

[snarlpill]

as mentioned in the OP and many times during this thread, the machine is one way only, you can buy btc with your euro, not sell btc for euro.

Can you imagine if it was two ways. People would be stood at the machine all day trading away, using it as their own personal exchange. Imagine the disputes between people in the queue!

I really don't see that happening, as the maker of the ATM probably has it set to sell its BTC to customers at slightly higher than average market prices, and buying BTC from customers at slightly lower than average market prices. So the profit margin is probably absorbed by the ATM makers or whoever runs it.

As far as the coffee shop that it is next to, you really need to find a way to offer at least a temporary discount to customers paying in BTC. You (skorek) might need to absorb these costs, maybe for a month or two. But there needs to be some kind of incentive for these people to buy BTC so that they can buy coffee cheaper. Otherwise -yes BTC is cool- but "why wouldn't I just walk in with cash and buy coffee with cash?" is what these customers might think/say.

Props to you though! I hope your venture is very successful, and every other maker of BTC ATMs. Mass adoption, baby.