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The bar doesn't want to price its drinks in bitcoin, and it doesn't want to hold bitcoin either. The BitPay intermediary is needed to display the bar's USD pri

by caf 14y ago

The bar doesn't want to price its drinks in bitcoin, and it doesn't want to hold bitcoin either. The BitPay intermediary is needed to display the bar's USD price as a bitcoin price to the customer, and to convert the customers bitcoin payment into a USD receipt for the bar.

shmerl 14y ago
Pricing doesn't need to be in bitcoin, the rate can be obtained at the time of purchase, but the purchase still can happen wallet to wallet. If the bar doesn't want to hold bitcoins - that's a different story of course.
- nandemo 14y ago
  Of course the bar doesn't want to hold bitcoins. Rent, booze and salaries are still denominated in U$.
  - shmerl 14y ago
    Sure, it doesn't need to hold them forever, but they can manage them in their own pace, instead of instantaneously converting them to $. This is just a sign that bitcoins are still very volatile and don't have wide usage (otherwise the bar wouldn't rush to convert them instantaneously through an intermediary, but instead would find how to use them for their needs as bitcoins, converting them to $ only when needed to pay the salaries and etc.). It's still great that they even offer an option to pay in bitcoins.
    - caf 14y ago
      "Manage them in their own pace" entails accepting exchange rate risk, at least until their inputs are priced in bitcoin. Their core business is mixing drinks, not currency speculation, so it makes perfect sense that they don't want to hold bitcoin. From the bar's point of view this is really no different to a Canadian coming in to the bar and buying a drink with their Canadian credit card - in that case, the customer is debited a $CAD amount by their bank (plus a currency conversion fee) and the bar receives $USD in their account.
      - shmerl 14y ago
        > "Manage them in their own pace" entails accepting exchange rate risk, at least until their inputs are priced in bitcoin. That's exactly my point. Dollars are viewed (and are) way more stable and less risky at present. For real bitcoin economy to expand though, this needs to change, so more and more bitcoins are used for direct transactions, rather than for such instantaneous conversion.

by caf 14y ago

shmerl 14y ago

Pricing doesn't need to be in bitcoin, the rate can be obtained at the time of purchase, but the purchase still can happen wallet to wallet. If the bar doesn't want to hold bitcoins - that's a different story of course.

nandemo 14y ago
Of course the bar doesn't want to hold bitcoins. Rent, booze and salaries are still denominated in U$.
- shmerl 14y ago
  Sure, it doesn't need to hold them forever, but they can manage them in their own pace, instead of instantaneously converting them to $. This is just a sign that bitcoins are still very volatile and don't have wide usage (otherwise the bar wouldn't rush to convert them instantaneously through an intermediary, but instead would find how to use them for their needs as bitcoins, converting them to $ only when needed to pay the salaries and etc.). It's still great that they even offer an option to pay in bitcoins.
  - caf 14y ago
    "Manage them in their own pace" entails accepting exchange rate risk, at least until their inputs are priced in bitcoin. Their core business is mixing drinks, not currency speculation, so it makes perfect sense that they don't want to hold bitcoin. From the bar's point of view this is really no different to a Canadian coming in to the bar and buying a drink with their Canadian credit card - in that case, the customer is debited a $CAD amount by their bank (plus a currency conversion fee) and the bar receives $USD in their account.
    - shmerl 14y ago
      > "Manage them in their own pace" entails accepting exchange rate risk, at least until their inputs are priced in bitcoin. That's exactly my point. Dollars are viewed (and are) way more stable and less risky at present. For real bitcoin economy to expand though, this needs to change, so more and more bitcoins are used for direct transactions, rather than for such instantaneous conversion.