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Arguably, these institutions aren't failing at the accepting Bitcoin part - which is usually a seamless transaction as the restaurant/bar should accept the mone

Arguably, these institutions aren't failing at the accepting Bitcoin part - which is usually a seamless transaction as the restaurant/bar should accept the money on zero confirmations. Rather, they're failing at the getting bitcoin to people who don't already have it portion. If this author had bitcoin ready to use on a mobile wallet with him already, he wouldn't have run into the delayed-receipt-of-bitcoin issue with the Bitcoin ATM - which is a well known and documented issue that won't be solved until layer two solutions reliably allow for "zero confirmation" transactions. What institutions like this should/could be doing is ringing up the total in btc and including the restaurant's bitcoin address on the receipt and having the first-time-bitcoin-using patron go to the Bitcoin ATM to pay cash to the Bitcoin ATM and send the resulting bitcoin to the restaurant's wallet - that way it doesn't matter if the transaction doesn't fully clear until later. Typing it out, that sounds like a nightmare that might not be worth the 10% discount (especially as the ATM is likely taking a cut, too) and is it really paying in bitcoin at that point? I guess this just shows my point that these places are meant for people who already have bitcoin to come in and use.

microtherion 7y ago
> If this author had bitcoin ready to use on a mobile wallet with him already, he wouldn't have run into the delayed-receipt-of-bitcoin issue with the Bitcoin ATM But wouldn't he then have run into the confirmation delay of his transaction with the bar, i.e. either he would have to stay behind after payment until confirmations rolled in, or the bar would have had to eat the transaction risk?
- nybble41 7y ago
  The bar would have to eat the transaction risk, at least until the first confirmation (typically under 30 minutes). On the other hand, if they accept any other form of payment besides cash in hand then they are already accepting that risk in the form of chargebacks—which can occur months after the transaction. The scenario in this article is akin to opening a brand-new account at your local bank and then trying to spend from it with a debit card immediately afterward. You're likely to incur an overdraft penalty, if the transaction isn't simply declined. If you want to pay with Bitcoin you need to have Bitcoin—confirmed—at the the time you make the payment. This is not a problem in practice but it can trip up people experimenting with the system for the first time.

microtherion 7y ago

> If this author had bitcoin ready to use on a mobile wallet with him already, he wouldn't have run into the delayed-receipt-of-bitcoin issue with the Bitcoin ATM But wouldn't he then have run into the confirmation delay of his transaction with the bar, i.e. either he would have to stay behind after payment until confirmations rolled in, or the bar would have had to eat the transaction risk?

nybble41 7y ago
The bar would have to eat the transaction risk, at least until the first confirmation (typically under 30 minutes). On the other hand, if they accept any other form of payment besides cash in hand then they are already accepting that risk in the form of chargebacks—which can occur months after the transaction. The scenario in this article is akin to opening a brand-new account at your local bank and then trying to spend from it with a debit card immediately afterward. You're likely to incur an overdraft penalty, if the transaction isn't simply declined. If you want to pay with Bitcoin you need to have Bitcoin—confirmed—at the the time you make the payment. This is not a problem in practice but it can trip up people experimenting with the system for the first time.