Has anyone started to use Bitcoin as the payment method? Or are any providers now accepting it? It sure beats having to make withdrawals, and seems alot safer
Bitcoin has yet to receive any of the protections that are available for cash or credit cards. That is, if you lose bitcoin, or it's stolen by hackers, you cannot recover it. The risks involved with bitcoin are very real. See the linked article. Beyond that, many banks and businesses won't accept it. So if you pay a provider in bitcoin, she'd have to find someplace that accepts bitcoin to spend it; she probably would not be able to use it for things like rent, make-up, clothing, etc.
Maybe things will change in the future but I don't think I'll see bitcoin widely accepted in my lifetime.
is that its value is so inflated, there is likely to be a major crash that will leave most holders ruined.
There is another significant risk to accepting bitcoin. As mentioned, there are very few (but a growing number) business that accept bitcoin for payments. That means the provider will need to find one of the few places that will let her redeem bitcoin for their current cash value (at a slight discount to cover fees, of course). She could hold the bitcoin and speculate that it will increase in value over time, but presumably she still needs to pay the rent and buy food.
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Since the very nature of bitcoin is an anonymous, untraceable, non-revocable "currency," the few places that exchange them will conduct a very high level of vetting and scrutiny of the bitcoin being presented. This is done to ensure they stay complaint with US laws and regulations regarding preventing money laundering, supporting terrorist funding actions and other crimes. They may/will ask her some pretty invasive questions about who she is and how she got the bitcoin, as they may be required to divulge that due-diligence to law enforcement, or risk having their assets seized, their business shut down and possibly facing criminal charges.
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On a related note, and as hinted at by MrFish, IMHO bitcoin is much more correctly characterized as a commodity than a crypto currency. It's value changes based on an arbitrary perceived value of those who care, and not according to some cross border currency market forces or other more "stable" mechanisms. I try to explain this by comparing bitcoins to eggs. A provider MIGHT want to accept eggs in lieu of cash - IF - her clients wanted to pay with eggs and she could trade those eggs for other services or goods (like her rent, or gasoline). But what is an egg worth today and will it be the same tomorrow? Alternatively, she could find an "egg exchange" that will allow her to sell her eggs for cash. But I suspect that most providers will not want to make the effort to find a suitable egg exchange as the idea is extremely stupid.
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My advice is to wait. When Bank of America or Chase offer a bitcoin account in addition to a checking account and debit card, you can think about accepting them.
From my understanding, every transaction is recorded on the Bitcoin. Since I was not able to open account at Coinbase nor Gemini anonymously, all my transactions in Bitcoin would be traceable and possibly report to the US government. Unless I can buy Bitcoin anonymously, it's a lot less anonymous than cash.
yes- I just read an interesting article about why it is bad as a currency- its so volatile- it moves an average of 3% per day and on 5% of those days it moved 10%- recently most moves have been upward so the provider would get a bonus- but what goes up must come down and not sure that a provider would want to take the risk of losing over 10% overnight
told me that Bitcoin is currently the only commodity to come close to this infamous bubble:
at least for a while.
But here's another one to ponder, more recent if perhaps a bit less extreme:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/there-never-was-real-tulip-fever-180964915/
the reason why i ask, is because in most big cities now, there are Bitcoin ATM machines available now where you can pay cash in exchange for Bitcoin, and vice versa. Bitcoin by nature is secure, for the most part, and seems like it could be used in this hobby.
Have you used Bitcoin ATM? What's the requirements for using them and what's their fee and how's their exchange rate?
I personally don't know any providers that take it. However you can open a bitcoin wallet for free, and move bitcoin back and forth between bitcoin users. Then if you want to convert it to cash you just transfer the desired amount in cash to your bank. Very similar to Venmo or Paypal. It is super simple. With the way Bitcoin is growing I don't know why anyone would want to use it to buy anything. Seems like they would just sit on it and let it grow...(no pun intended)
As of yesterday, 1 bitcoin was worth US$17,900. Many predict this is a temporary high and that the value bubble will burst shortly.
But, even so, many financial experts are saying NOT to invest in bitcoin. There are numerous problems with it, including the fact that the price is volatile and not protected by any law and that acceptance comes and goes even among banks. Some services have said they will accept bitcoin only to turn around and say that they won't accept bitcoin (for example, Steam).
The volatility of the price/value, the lack of recognition by laws, courts, etc., the lack of places to spend bitcoin are all reasons why I've stayed far, far, away from them.
Bitcoin is like gambling in a casino but is gaining trust from people.
Their website seems very cheap, many believe Tron to be a pump and dump scam
Its pretty clear all anyone does is read mainstream media on Bitcoin or Crypto in general here.
I've been involved with Bitcoin since inception. Today, more than ever, you can redeem your Bitcoin for cash in anonymous ways. There are pre-paid debit cards that you can load your Bitcoin on as soon as you receive it. You can visit Bitcoin ATMs and cash out less than 2k/day and remain anonymous. You can use Bitcoin Mixers to hide your bitcoin transactions. There are OTC markets in EVERY single major city in the US, and the majority of the world. I've advised many providers how they can safely accept Bitcoin and avoid many of the volatility and anonymity risks associated with accepting the currency/asset/commodity (whatever you want to refer to it as).