5 ms·

One further clarification, you don't need to wait for 6 confirmations (~1hr) if you don't want to. A typical bitcoin client will receive the transaction within

One further clarification, you don't need to wait for 6 confirmations (~1hr) if you don't want to. A typical bitcoin client will receive the transaction within 5-60 seconds, with 0 confirmations. Even 1 confirmation (~10min) is probably safe enough for small or low-risk transactions. If it's someone you trust not to double-spend, then you can get by with just seeing the transaction on your end with 0 confirmations.

anologwintermut 14y ago
Except you can't convert it into USD that quickly. If the price tanks well you are waiting for Magic the Gathering exchange (yes, Mt.Gox, the main place people do bitcoin conversion started out as a place to trade magic cards), you get screwed. This wouldn't be a problem if there was large economy denominated in bitcoin since they'd still have value there. But there isn't.
- tlrobinson 14y ago
  In the meantime, you're free to use one of several merchant services (BitPay, Coinbase, MtGox) that automatically convert BTC to USD immediately (and take on the exchange risk, for a small percentage)
  - anologwintermut 13y ago
    That fixes an individual's volatility problem but it doesn't fix the problem: there is some limit to how much volatility those places can absorb for some small percentage.
    - tlrobinson 13y ago
      They said they were fine last week, and I'm not sure it gets much more volatile than that: http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1ccbet/ama_request_the_bitpay_team/c9f6dva http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1ccbet/ama_request_...
      - anologwintermut 13y ago
        That say's the handled Mt. Gox going down, but not that they handled the volatility . I'd imagine they took some large loss moving as the price fell. Now thats the risk with that service and I'd imagine they have enough cash on hand to cover it. But if it happens too many times, i'd imagine they are screwed.
- drivebyacct2 14y ago
  >If the price tanks well you are waiting for Magic the Gathering exchange (yes, Mt.Gox, the main place people do bitcoin conversion started out as a place to trade magic cards), you get screwed. Repeating this crap is getting as old as the Republican trolls I know calling the President Hussein Obama.
  - anologwintermut 13y ago
    Except the problem with the latter is the racist implication that someone named Hussein isn't qualified to run the country. So the analogous troll would be to point out that the guys who run Magic the Gathering Exchange play magic the gathering or are on Wow or some other negative nerdy stereotype On the other hand, the claim that a website originally built as a trading card platform probably is not something you want being a critical currency exchange for your bitcoin economy is certainly one worth considering. When was the last time you heard of someone successfully inducing panic by DDOSing a real currency exchange? Or the last time a currency exchange was hacked? These are real problems. They apply to other exchanges too, but I think point out its Magic the Gathering Exchange is at least starting point to cause people to ask questions. And its a lot shorter than this paragraph.

anologwintermut 14y ago

Except you can't convert it into USD that quickly. If the price tanks well you are waiting for Magic the Gathering exchange (yes, Mt.Gox, the main place people do bitcoin conversion started out as a place to trade magic cards), you get screwed. This wouldn't be a problem if there was large economy denominated in bitcoin since they'd still have value there. But there isn't.

tlrobinson 14y ago
In the meantime, you're free to use one of several merchant services (BitPay, Coinbase, MtGox) that automatically convert BTC to USD immediately (and take on the exchange risk, for a small percentage)
- anologwintermut 13y ago
  That fixes an individual's volatility problem but it doesn't fix the problem: there is some limit to how much volatility those places can absorb for some small percentage.
  - tlrobinson 13y ago
    They said they were fine last week, and I'm not sure it gets much more volatile than that: http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1ccbet/ama_request_the_bitpay_team/c9f6dva http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1ccbet/ama_request_...
    - anologwintermut 13y ago
      That say's the handled Mt. Gox going down, but not that they handled the volatility . I'd imagine they took some large loss moving as the price fell. Now thats the risk with that service and I'd imagine they have enough cash on hand to cover it. But if it happens too many times, i'd imagine they are screwed.
drivebyacct2 14y ago
>If the price tanks well you are waiting for Magic the Gathering exchange (yes, Mt.Gox, the main place people do bitcoin conversion started out as a place to trade magic cards), you get screwed. Repeating this crap is getting as old as the Republican trolls I know calling the President Hussein Obama.
- anologwintermut 13y ago
  Except the problem with the latter is the racist implication that someone named Hussein isn't qualified to run the country. So the analogous troll would be to point out that the guys who run Magic the Gathering Exchange play magic the gathering or are on Wow or some other negative nerdy stereotype On the other hand, the claim that a website originally built as a trading card platform probably is not something you want being a critical currency exchange for your bitcoin economy is certainly one worth considering. When was the last time you heard of someone successfully inducing panic by DDOSing a real currency exchange? Or the last time a currency exchange was hacked? These are real problems. They apply to other exchanges too, but I think point out its Magic the Gathering Exchange is at least starting point to cause people to ask questions. And its a lot shorter than this paragraph.