Bitcoin Merchant Account

[Twhansbury]

I wanted to share with the forum and start a thread on Bitcoin merchant accounts.
-since first following the currency it has become widely excepted and growing for transactions and as investments.
-Very low cost points.

I been with Coinbase for a personal wallet and also using them to setup merchant accounts.
I feel comfortable with them and in recommending them.
Wondering who else people are using and their thoughts on Bitcoins.

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[Freelancier]

In the USA, why would I want that instead of cash in my bank account?

[Harold Mansfield]

I've read and watched videos about Bitcoin and to be honest, the whole thing makes absolutely no sense to me.
It reminds me of the Linden Dollars thing when Second Life was hot and new. And there was another "virtual currency" fad before that, e-gold.

Simply put, I've seen this before a couple of times and it always fizzles out until someone else does it again.

Bottom line, it's not money. It's not an investment. And it's not going to do anyone any good when Google becomes self aware and takes over the internet and all wifi and we are all living in a post apocalyptic wasteland.

Gold, Silver and Cash will always reign supreme.

[nealrm]

......

Gold, Silver and Cash will always reign supreme.

There is a good episode that illustrates the fallacy of that. Two people were stranded in the desert with backpacks of gold. One had water, one did not. In the end, the person with the water had all the gold and the remaining water.

In a post apocalyptic wasteland you are welcome to all the Gold, Silver and cash you want, I would rather have chickens, cows, food, water and shelter. Of course cash would have some uses. It is high in fiber so it would be filling and it burns well so it could generate some heat.

[Harold Mansfield]

There is a good episode that illustrates the fallacy of that. Two people were stranded in the desert with backpacks of gold. One had water, one did not. In the end, the person with the water had all the gold and the remaining water.

In a post apocalyptic wasteland you are welcome to all the Gold, Silver and cash you want, I would rather have chickens, cows, food, water and shelter. Of course cash would have some uses. It is high in fiber so it would be filling and it burns well so it could generate some heat.
We could argue this all day. One would say that unless you already have cows, chickens, water, food and shelter in place...you'll need some kind of currency to get them or something to trade. But one thing is for sure, no one will be trading Bitcoins becasue there would be no way to redeem them...you know...no electricity and internet and all. You won't even be able to get money out of the bank.

[Freelancier]

no one will be trading Bitcoins

Same can be said for most currencies in the world.

There are a lot of reasons why some currencies are better than other for transactions. The biggest is the availability of the currency and currency traders. As an example, let's say you wanted to buy widgets made in Vietnam for sale in the USA. Your Vietnamese vendor will either want the local currency (the "dong") so he can use it to pay his employees or he'll want another currency he can easily convert into his local currency. Converting dollars to dong is simple, as is the euro and likely even the yuan and yen. But the Brazilian real? It'll be harder to find someone to do that, so he has to pay a higher premium to make that happen, often because he might need one trader to convert the real to dollars and another to convert dollars to dong.

Bitcoin? That's a digital universe with a limited supply of money (why do you think the price of a bitcoin is do high?). So it's more expensive to find someone to trade it for dong. And if the bitcoin people suddenly decide to expand their money supply, anyone holding bitcoin will see an immediate devaluation on their coins when they go to convert them.

So... if I'm doing business in a place where the currency is suspect -- e.g., Moscow or even China -- I might be intrigued by Bitcoin. But in a country where we're awash in the "world's currency"? I just don't see the point unless you have that apocalyptic view of the future where you have to eat your money... which I don't. And if that apocalypse were to come about... just how will the Bitcoin servers run when they have to pay dollars to keep the lights on?

[billbenson]

Something a lot of people probably don't realize is gold has a practical value. It's one of the best conductors of electricity and is used heavily in the semiconductor industry. It's value is not necessarily based on jewelry or some other abstract thing.

[Harold Mansfield]

Gold and Silver have been used as currency for thousands of years. Before paper money, before electricity, before the internet. I'll stick with the standards.
I don't think international trade will be much of an issue for a few years since communications will be down and there will probably be massive fuel shortages.

[nealrm]

Barter was used before either gold or silver. In general barter is the most basic form of trading. It is what people fall back on when things completely fall apart. As things become more stable and people get out of survival mode things like gold and silver start getting used. For paper money to have any value, there needs to be a government or some type of ruling body to give it value.

[Freelancier]

Gold and Silver have been used as currency for thousands of years.

The important thing to remember is that ALL currency is based on trust. Trust that someone else will accept the currency in exchange for what you want. If no one wants gold or silver in exchange for what you want, the gold or silver has no value. All currency is like that. We only imagine that a paper bill has some value, and it does only to the extent that someone else will take that paper bill and exchange it for something we want. If all at once everyone in the world stopped believing that the dollar had any value, then all at once the dollar would have no value.

And, man, we're diverting this topic all over the place, huh?

[nealrm]

Topic - what topic:rolleyes:

[billbenson]

And, man, we're diverting this topic all over the place, huh?

Xmas is in 3 weeks and my phone isn't ringing much :)

[nealrm]

I know the feeling. No one what to move in the winter, so few homes go on the market. Not much to photograph.