4 ms·

That is my sentiment exactly. There is much talk of growing bitcoin adoption, but I've yet to see anything beyond a few web-based services(which, beyond their t

That is my sentiment exactly. There is much talk of growing bitcoin adoption, but I've yet to see anything beyond a few web-based services(which, beyond their time, are almost free for the operators to begin with).

virgil_disgr4ce 14y ago
It's always been my suspicion/assumption that the majority of BTC usage is for black/gray-market drugs...?
- niggler 14y ago
  The anonymity feature (and subsequent fees involved in the the transaction) is useful primarily for illicit activities. Maybe 1% of people are legitimately worried about privacy (the true libertarians). But most just want transactions that can't be traced back to them.
mrb 14y ago
"A few web-based services" ?? Here is a list of more than a thousand merchants accepting Bitcoin: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Trade https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Trade And there are a lot more not on this list. Bitpay alone (a Bitcoin payment processor) claims to have multiple thousands of merchants.
- knowaveragejoe 14y ago
  Yes, I've seen it. Have you given it a serious look? It looks great in quantity, but would you ever consider purchasing anything for a decent sum from any of them? The only remotely reputable merchant I'm aware of on there is BitcoinStore. Furthermore, there is noone offering general groceries, household supplies or clothing, just niche approximations of those categories. Also critically lacking are complex B2B services(their professional services section is...well, not much to look at - I certainly would not be investing my business's money in any of them at this time).
  - mrb 14y ago
    If I showed you a list of non-Bitcoin-accepting merchants picked at random, you would almost certainly have the same reaction: you would not trust most of them, because they are all too tiny and you have never heard of them. You have to realize that the web is a long-tail ecosystem. There are tons of small merchants you have never heard of, while the biggest ones (Amazon, Newegg, etc) are just a few and represent <1%. What you call a "reputable" merchant exclude 99% of all merchants. Plus, the most reputable/biggest merchants will probably be the last ones to adopt Bitcoin (the bigger you are, the less likely you are to adopt a disruptive technology).

virgil_disgr4ce 14y ago

It's always been my suspicion/assumption that the majority of BTC usage is for black/gray-market drugs...?

niggler 14y ago
The anonymity feature (and subsequent fees involved in the the transaction) is useful primarily for illicit activities. Maybe 1% of people are legitimately worried about privacy (the true libertarians). But most just want transactions that can't be traced back to them.

mrb 14y ago

"A few web-based services" ?? Here is a list of more than a thousand merchants accepting Bitcoin: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Trade https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Trade And there are a lot more not on this list. Bitpay alone (a Bitcoin payment processor) claims to have multiple thousands of merchants.

knowaveragejoe 14y ago
Yes, I've seen it. Have you given it a serious look? It looks great in quantity, but would you ever consider purchasing anything for a decent sum from any of them? The only remotely reputable merchant I'm aware of on there is BitcoinStore. Furthermore, there is noone offering general groceries, household supplies or clothing, just niche approximations of those categories. Also critically lacking are complex B2B services(their professional services section is...well, not much to look at - I certainly would not be investing my business's money in any of them at this time).
- mrb 14y ago
  If I showed you a list of non-Bitcoin-accepting merchants picked at random, you would almost certainly have the same reaction: you would not trust most of them, because they are all too tiny and you have never heard of them. You have to realize that the web is a long-tail ecosystem. There are tons of small merchants you have never heard of, while the biggest ones (Amazon, Newegg, etc) are just a few and represent <1%. What you call a "reputable" merchant exclude 99% of all merchants. Plus, the most reputable/biggest merchants will probably be the last ones to adopt Bitcoin (the bigger you are, the less likely you are to adopt a disruptive technology).