Why would a major, established business like Amazon want to deal with Bitcoin? Transaction times of 10 minutes? Questions about how to pay their taxes (yes, believe it or not, a business as enormous as Amazon is not going to fail to pay taxes) and what taxes should be paid on BTC transactions are probably enough to keep them away. Amazon issues lines of credit to their customers, and only a fool would issue a line of credit in a currency that has built-in deflation.
I think it is more likely that Congress will dismantle the military industrial complex.
Transaction times would be irrelevant for Amazon as they could tell customers their order is placed with zero confirmations (a few seconds), and then check for more confirmations before shipping. There is already a delay of hours or even days between when a customer orders and when they pay because credit cards are charged when the order ships.
>and what taxes should be paid on BTC transactions
I would guess the same taxes paid on other non-USD transactions. Amazon already deals with many non-USD currencies.
>Amazon issues lines of credit to their customers
I don't think this applies to most orders/customers. Amazon could choose not to offer lines of credit in BTC.
> only a fool would issue a line of credit in a currency that has built-in deflation.
Is backwards. Deflation is bad for borrowers, not creditors. This should be self evident; in periods of deflation, one unit of currency can buy more tomorrow than it can today. As a borrower, you are paying a second interest rate.
Further, deflation and inflation are only damaging when they occur unpredictably. Predictable amounts of either can easily be built into the interest rate of the transaction.
Generally you can accept transactions with zero confirmations without a huge issue. For someone like Amazon the small loss you might make from a couple of double-spends is outweighed by the almost instantaneous transaction.
In an ideal circumstance, you'd average five minutes for a confirmation anyway. Blocks are usually generated every 10 minutes or so.
Bitcoin is not replacing credit card companies. It is replacing the electronic transfer of cash between banks which currently takes several days. A credit card company built upon bitcoin could offer instant transactions with a vastly superior underlying architecture.
Why is bitcoin the one "true" alternative? If payment services like Balanced and Stripe solve most of the problems of PayPal (frozen accounts, pleasant APIs, etc) then why are they less worthy alternatives?
I feel like there are more problems at PayPal than just frozen accounts. The inherent issues I have with PayPal is a: they're a middleman and bump up prices. and b: they facilitate chargebacks which lead to an ever increase amount of fraud.
More fraud equals more cost. As the conventional alternatives continue to grow they'll face more and more fraud. Bitcoin has no chargeback fraud. It never will.
Until the value of Bitcoin is more stable and technology illiterate people start to use it, there is no way that something like this can replace PayPal.
Another favorite geek service that touted as the end of something that regular folks use. Do folks around her realize yet that we're not regular folks and our interest, desires and accommodations are often not connected at all with those of the average non-geek person?
I'm pretty sure average non-geek persons will receive with open arms a currency that can't be manipulated by the government, among other benefits, once they are sure it's safe and not a scam, like some people even here in HN sometimes suggest.
It seems to me that the beauty (and probably the downfall) of bitcoin is that it is equivalent to cash. If you're careful, you can use it anonymously. No charge-backs - just like cash.
You need to use the same care with bitcoin as we used to use with cash. Credit cards are far more forgiving, thanks mainly to the charge-back mechanism (which incidentally is a US thing - in most countries it is un-heard of).
My biggest fear for bitcoin is that governments will kill it, because they have no control over it. They've been delighted to see cash fading away, but I predict that if bitcoin ever does get traction with the general public, we'll see a deluge of "bitcoin is the currency of the terrorists and child-molesters" propaganda which will make copyright scaremongering seem quaint.
Exactly. They've stacked the deck against any startup. I recall that one startup in California, facecash or something, that couldn't get licensing even though they're entirely qualified.
That's the beautiful thing about Bitcoin, it isn't just any startup, it's an open source project. If one exchange can't get a banking license, another one will. Everyone can use it and no one can shut it down at a centralized location.
[+] [-] betterunix|13 years ago|reply
I think it is more likely that Congress will dismantle the military industrial complex.
[+] [-] csense|13 years ago|reply
Really? I've always paid with credit card.
> Questions about how to pay their taxes
A "business as enormous as Amazon" probably has a horde of accountants to answer those questions.
> what taxes should be paid on BTC transactions
The same as on any other transactions in non-USD currency perhaps?
[+] [-] Coinabul1|13 years ago|reply
Most Bitcoin Processors give confirmation fairly quickly. The customer doesn't have to wait 10 minutes.
Taxes shouldn't be too big of an issue. They just get reported like accepting any other foreign currency.
As for line of credit... you should check out Ripple.com
[+] [-] dustcoin|13 years ago|reply
Transaction times would be irrelevant for Amazon as they could tell customers their order is placed with zero confirmations (a few seconds), and then check for more confirmations before shipping. There is already a delay of hours or even days between when a customer orders and when they pay because credit cards are charged when the order ships.
>and what taxes should be paid on BTC transactions
I would guess the same taxes paid on other non-USD transactions. Amazon already deals with many non-USD currencies.
>Amazon issues lines of credit to their customers
I don't think this applies to most orders/customers. Amazon could choose not to offer lines of credit in BTC.
[+] [-] AnIrishDuck|13 years ago|reply
> only a fool would issue a line of credit in a currency that has built-in deflation.
Is backwards. Deflation is bad for borrowers, not creditors. This should be self evident; in periods of deflation, one unit of currency can buy more tomorrow than it can today. As a borrower, you are paying a second interest rate.
Further, deflation and inflation are only damaging when they occur unpredictably. Predictable amounts of either can easily be built into the interest rate of the transaction.
[+] [-] nwh|13 years ago|reply
In an ideal circumstance, you'd average five minutes for a confirmation anyway. Blocks are usually generated every 10 minutes or so.
[+] [-] newnewnew|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jareau|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Coinabul1|13 years ago|reply
More fraud equals more cost. As the conventional alternatives continue to grow they'll face more and more fraud. Bitcoin has no chargeback fraud. It never will.
[+] [-] betterunix|13 years ago|reply
It is not, who said that it is? We have known how to make secure digital cash systems since the 1980s.
[+] [-] sethist|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] astrodust|13 years ago|reply
There is no way Bitcoin will ever displace Paypal without serious, fundamental changes.
[+] [-] SpikeDad|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] throwawayG9|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] foxylad|13 years ago|reply
You need to use the same care with bitcoin as we used to use with cash. Credit cards are far more forgiving, thanks mainly to the charge-back mechanism (which incidentally is a US thing - in most countries it is un-heard of).
My biggest fear for bitcoin is that governments will kill it, because they have no control over it. They've been delighted to see cash fading away, but I predict that if bitcoin ever does get traction with the general public, we'll see a deluge of "bitcoin is the currency of the terrorists and child-molesters" propaganda which will make copyright scaremongering seem quaint.
[+] [-] mootothemax|13 years ago|reply
Buyers can perform fraud. Sellers can perform fraud. Sometimes they're the same person. None of this is easy. But articles like this pretend it is.
[+] [-] thinkcomp|13 years ago|reply
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5295236
[+] [-] Coinabul1|13 years ago|reply
That's the beautiful thing about Bitcoin, it isn't just any startup, it's an open source project. If one exchange can't get a banking license, another one will. Everyone can use it and no one can shut it down at a centralized location.
[+] [-] ndonnellan|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] spqr|13 years ago|reply
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