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Expedia has accepted Bitcoin for almost a decade: https://www.expedia.com/Checkout/BitcoinTermsAndConditions https://www.expedia.com/Checkout/BitcoinTermsAndCon

by px43 5y ago

Expedia has accepted Bitcoin for almost a decade: https://www.expedia.com/Checkout/BitcoinTermsAndConditions https://www.expedia.com/Checkout/BitcoinTermsAndConditions

namdnay 5y ago
That's not "accepting payment with bitcoin" - it's just a link for coinbase to convert your bitcoin to USD before booking. Look at the T&Cs, it's a USD booking underneath Accepting payment with bitcoin means using bitcoin as the currency in the PNR, just like you can use euros or yen or pounds or whatever
- Karrot_Kream 5y ago
  ... Why does this matter? GP asked about whether you can use Bitcoin to receive goods and services. Nobody asked what Expedia puts in their balance sheet, you're moving the goalposts.
  - namdnay 5y ago
    the fact that if you cancel they give you USD means it's not "paying with bitcoin". it's "converting bitcoin to USD then paying with USD". it's a pretty fundamental difference - Expedia aren't making any bets on the stability of BTC, as they are when they accept EUR or USD or GBP or whatever
    - Karrot_Kream 5y ago
      It's not about the bets. If BTC can transparently be converted to USD or GBP then it does actually offer value to the person using BTC to buy services. I'm not sure why you're so adamant about insisting that Expedia isn't buying into "bets" or whatever. Having parts of a transaction happen off-chain doesn't constitute a repudiation of cryptocurrency. Not everyone is a Bitcoin maximalist. Demonstrating it has value for people is enough to support the GP's comment, in this case value for people that hold BTC to purchase real goods and services, the same way any other fiat currency is used. It's not like a non-US entity that takes USD as payment is endorsing US political actions, it's just trying to receive payment for goods and services. I'm tired of these shifting goalposts in crypto conversations. They always go like this: 1. I derive value from crypto 2. There's no value in crypto! Show me a usecase! 3. <Presents usecase where crypto is used to derive value> 4. But that uses Fiat/off-chain/<something not crypto>/<vendor that doesn't know what crypto is>/<workflow that's replacable by fiat> so crypto has no value! The claim the GP made is that an individual can derive value from crypto, not that this value is untainted by fiat, off-chain movement, or any of the other incidental claims. When you use USD or GBP to buy a good, the good itself has probably traded hands between many currencies before the final product was sold to you using the fiat you paid. Does that mean USD or GBP are "useless" because input costs for your product were paid for in RMB? No, you still derive value from fiat.
      - namdnay 5y ago
        The problem isn’t that there is a fiat step, the problem is that only one side of the transaction is in crypto. Expedia aren’t “accepting crypto” - they’re sending you to someone who will swap your crypto for cash and then taking the cash. The fact that refunds are in dollars means there is no fundamental difference with just swapping the crypto yourself before booking
- Regic 5y ago
  I just want to point out the irony in falling back to good old centralized fintech companies to actually use the supposedly decentralized currency. Sorry, I know, off-topic.

by px43 5y ago

Expedia has accepted Bitcoin for almost a decade: https://www.expedia.com/Checkout/BitcoinTermsAndConditions https://www.expedia.com/Checkout/BitcoinTermsAndConditions

namdnay 5y ago

That's not "accepting payment with bitcoin" - it's just a link for coinbase to convert your bitcoin to USD before booking. Look at the T&Cs, it's a USD booking underneath Accepting payment with bitcoin means using bitcoin as the currency in the PNR, just like you can use euros or yen or pounds or whatever

Karrot_Kream 5y ago
... Why does this matter? GP asked about whether you can use Bitcoin to receive goods and services. Nobody asked what Expedia puts in their balance sheet, you're moving the goalposts.
- namdnay 5y ago
  the fact that if you cancel they give you USD means it's not "paying with bitcoin". it's "converting bitcoin to USD then paying with USD". it's a pretty fundamental difference - Expedia aren't making any bets on the stability of BTC, as they are when they accept EUR or USD or GBP or whatever
  - Karrot_Kream 5y ago
    It's not about the bets. If BTC can transparently be converted to USD or GBP then it does actually offer value to the person using BTC to buy services. I'm not sure why you're so adamant about insisting that Expedia isn't buying into "bets" or whatever. Having parts of a transaction happen off-chain doesn't constitute a repudiation of cryptocurrency. Not everyone is a Bitcoin maximalist. Demonstrating it has value for people is enough to support the GP's comment, in this case value for people that hold BTC to purchase real goods and services, the same way any other fiat currency is used. It's not like a non-US entity that takes USD as payment is endorsing US political actions, it's just trying to receive payment for goods and services. I'm tired of these shifting goalposts in crypto conversations. They always go like this: 1. I derive value from crypto 2. There's no value in crypto! Show me a usecase! 3. <Presents usecase where crypto is used to derive value> 4. But that uses Fiat/off-chain/<something not crypto>/<vendor that doesn't know what crypto is>/<workflow that's replacable by fiat> so crypto has no value! The claim the GP made is that an individual can derive value from crypto, not that this value is untainted by fiat, off-chain movement, or any of the other incidental claims. When you use USD or GBP to buy a good, the good itself has probably traded hands between many currencies before the final product was sold to you using the fiat you paid. Does that mean USD or GBP are "useless" because input costs for your product were paid for in RMB? No, you still derive value from fiat.
    - namdnay 5y ago
      The problem isn’t that there is a fiat step, the problem is that only one side of the transaction is in crypto. Expedia aren’t “accepting crypto” - they’re sending you to someone who will swap your crypto for cash and then taking the cash. The fact that refunds are in dollars means there is no fundamental difference with just swapping the crypto yourself before booking
Regic 5y ago
I just want to point out the irony in falling back to good old centralized fintech companies to actually use the supposedly decentralized currency. Sorry, I know, off-topic.