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There are some indications that at the moment the real limiting factor to Bitcoin's ascent is the ability to funnel USD into it: this is purely anecdotal, but I

There are some indications that at the moment the real limiting factor to Bitcoin's ascent is the ability to funnel USD into it: this is purely anecdotal, but I've noticed that every time a batch of Dwolla transactions clears through MtGox, BTC spikes substantially, and in between these times it does relatively little. That's not necessarily a good thing for BTC, since it means that the theoretical unrestricted market is, in fact, heavily bottlenecked at the USD faucet. From what I've heard it's just as difficult, if not more, to get money out quickly, which means this market is effed up in all sorts of ways. IMO, the best thing Bitcoin could do would be to enable an identity-connected sub-system that directly tied Bitcoins to individuals, so that transactions could be better tracked and regulated - the fact is, most people don't need anonymity in their transactions, and the legal shadiness of the current approach means that it's never going to be simple to move money in and out. When BTC is as easy to get into and out of as euros or yen, that's when things will start to get seriously interesting...

gst 15y ago
I think the bitmarket.eu approach works quite fine: The seller stores his Bitcoins at the bitmarket.eu (free) escrow service. The buyer wires the money via bank transfer directly to the seller. The seller releases the Bitcoins on bitmarket. At least in Europe bank transfers are easily possible between foreign countries and even free (or at least very cheap) between European countries. Saying that I wouldn't buy any Bitcoins right now. While there is a huge demand, I do not see any indication that those coins are used for any significant amount of real trading (i.e., buying services). Seems that most of those people just buy the Bitcoins due to speculation. When the hype is gone there is a very good chance that the market crashes again - if the real market does not grow with the current bubble.
jarin 15y ago
On a side note, if bitcoin ends up doing one thing it will be popularizing Dwolla. If they were smart, they'd get transaction notifications working ASAP so Mt. Gox and TradeHill don't have to keep processing transactions by hand.

gst 15y ago

I think the bitmarket.eu approach works quite fine: The seller stores his Bitcoins at the bitmarket.eu (free) escrow service. The buyer wires the money via bank transfer directly to the seller. The seller releases the Bitcoins on bitmarket. At least in Europe bank transfers are easily possible between foreign countries and even free (or at least very cheap) between European countries. Saying that I wouldn't buy any Bitcoins right now. While there is a huge demand, I do not see any indication that those coins are used for any significant amount of real trading (i.e., buying services). Seems that most of those people just buy the Bitcoins due to speculation. When the hype is gone there is a very good chance that the market crashes again - if the real market does not grow with the current bubble.

jarin 15y ago

On a side note, if bitcoin ends up doing one thing it will be popularizing Dwolla. If they were smart, they'd get transaction notifications working ASAP so Mt. Gox and TradeHill don't have to keep processing transactions by hand.