[Daily Discussion Poll] :: Spending bitcoins

[adamstgBit]

Please list where you spend your coins

I spend them at spendbitcoins.com (PP USD for ebay stuff, and amazon.ca gift cards) & bitcoincigarettes.com

[gewure]

Silkro.... forget about it 

[bracek]

100% Web development.

how much do you pay for hour ?

[BadBear]

The results are sobering. A lot that just don't spend, or spend very little. 

[Technomage]

Well is it a surprise? The speculation forum is the least productive forum section in the entire forum so how is this surprising again?

To be honest though, my spending is small as well. But I have to say that it has been increasing slowly but surely. The development is slow but I've been impressed by what we already have, from convenient mobile clients such as BitcoinSpinner to excellent payment systems such as Bitpay. The merchant side is increasing slowly but surely as well.

I'm expecting my Bitcoin spending usage to increase each month, on average.

[adamstgBit]

Well is it a surprise? The speculation forum is the least productive forum section in the entire forum so how is this surprising again?

I'm going to move this poll to the discussion forum and see if the results changes

[buck92]

The results are sobering. A lot that just don't spend, or spend very little.  

For sure I think it indicates that we need to imagine what would happen if Silk Road suddenly vanishes one day. Would BTC crash and blow like a malfunctioning rocket? because when the June gawker article on SR appeared it certainly took off like a rocket due to speculation...would we have an opposite effect if SR just disappeared? It looks like most people around here don't actually use BTC as a currency or know a thing about SR even though it is the single most important entity to the real bitcoin economy (everything else as we know is mostly speculation).

With today's Gawker article on guns being bought and sold on SR I think this issue needs to be at the very least talked and pondered about, because I believe this new article may bring some serious heat to the website.  People need to prepare for the possibility of the fall of silk road and its impact on the bitcoin economy or be prepared to be holding the bags if something does happen.

BTW Silk Road has been down since the new article was published, perhaps to implement some changes or to avoid an influx of new traffic looking to buy BTC and explore Silk Road?

[Technomage]

I have a differing opinion on Silk Road. I think it could actually benefit Bitcoin in some ways if Silk Road was gone because it would remove a lot of the negative image that Bitcoin has. To think that it would have some kind of crushing effect to the Bitcoin economy is ridiculous in my opinion. Even if Silk Road is the number one merchant site in the Bitcoin economy it's still a relatively small site.

Everyone knows Bitcoin's price is not supported by commerce, with or without Silk Road it makes no fundamental difference. What it is supported by is trust and belief. Investing and speculating. That is what the current Bitcoin price is mostly about and I really can't see how Silk Road gone would change things for the worse. Most Bitcoiners do not use Silk Road nor have they ever used it, it was a huge hype boost to the last bubble but newsflash: that bubble has burst already.

In fact as a starting Bitcoin enterpreneur and someone who believes that Bitcoin can make a difference in legal commerce I would definitely not mind if I had one less negative publicity issue to worry about when marketing Bitcoin.

[BadBear]

Well is it a surprise? The speculation forum is the least productive forum section in the entire forum so how is this surprising again?

Not really surprised no, just hoped for better numbers.  Of course it would be heavily biased being in speculation.  

[buck92]

I have a differing opinion on Silk Road. I think it could actually benefit Bitcoin in some ways if Silk Road was gone because it would remove a lot of the negative image that Bitcoin has. To think that it would have some kind of crushing effect to the Bitcoin economy is ridiculous in my opinion. Even if Silk Road is the number one merchant site in the Bitcoin economy it's still a relatively small site.

Everyone knows Bitcoin's price is not supported by commerce, with or without Silk Road it makes no fundamental difference. What it is supported by is trust and belief. Investing and speculating. That is what the current Bitcoin price is mostly about and I really can't see how Silk Road gone would change things for the worse. Most Bitcoiners do not use Silk Road nor have they ever used it, it was a huge hype boost to the last bubble but newsflash: that bubble has burst already.

In fact as a starting Bitcoin enterpreneur and someone who believes that Bitcoin can make a difference in legal commerce I would definitely not mind if I had one less negative publicity issue to worry about when marketing Bitcoin.

I understand your thoughts and agree with a lot of points you made. I sincerely hope Bitcoin is successful in the long run just for the simple fact that it is an easy, cheap, and increasingly simpler way to send money to people around the world, whether it is for family/friends or as a means of a transaction. I do think if SR disappeared it would have a negative affect on BTC exchange rates at least in the short term.

As for the long term I think something would pop right up to replace it. So although you would like to have less negative publicity around this subject, it will always be around due to the anonymous nature of bitcoin, since anonymity is something that goes hand in hand with the black/grey market.

You did make a very good point that made me think; perhaps Silk Road was just a catalyst in Bitcoins inevitable(?) rise and that the investing and speculating surrounding BTC is a signal of just how much people believe in it. Regardless I believe discounting SR like it is nothing is a mistake and that traders/speculators should at the least keep an eye on it.

[Technomage]

I don't dismiss SR as being nothing, I just don't think it would have a crushing effect on Bitcoin no matter what happens to it. I agree that it's unlikely that they can ever kill services like that, new ones would pop up eventually. I also agree that SR gone would temporarily affect the exchange rate.

Even if it isn't all that crucial to Bitcoin anymore it's still very special in one way and that is because SR is pretty much the only place where you have a significant incentive to buy with bitcoins instead of another payment method. There are incentives to do this for many reasons in other places as well, but I feel that for SR the incentives are stronger compared to anywhere else.

To adamstgBit and BadBear, I guess the numbers changed quite a bit after moving the poll here? Now they are more in line with what I would expect.

[BadBear]

To adamstgBit and BadBear, I guess the numbers changed quite a bit after moving the poll here? Now they are more in line with what I would expect.

Yes looks much better now.

[MaxSan]

Nothing wrong with not spending. People think not spending BTC has some bad effect on the value is simply wrong. Infact, id bet that it would actually push the price down.

As you pay for things with BTC 90% of the time the merchant will have to replenish stock with fiat currency and have to sell up their holding to continue running the business.

Saving (not "hoarding", stupid term, we save money, we save BTC, same thing) will increase rareity and increase price.

I spend bits and pieces but I also accept BTC for all sorts of things and dont convert. I think im helping not hindering.