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Khan Academy now accepts Bitcoin via Coinbase

146 points by FredEE 13y ago

citricsquid 13y ago
Tangentially related Matt from Wordpress did an AMA on reddit yesterday and mentioned the Bitcoin integration they've done: in the last 9 months there's been 94 total Bitcoin transactions. Hopefully Khan academy will release figures too so we can see how the adoption of Bitcoin is going. http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1jg781/i_am_matt_mullenweg_cofounder_of_wordpress_18_of/cbeev5a http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1jg781/i_am_matt_mulle...
- thejosh 13y ago
  Its worth it just for the frontpage of HN/Reddit for PR.
- dmnd 13y ago
  Since I turned this on at 6pm today, there's been 24 transactions for a total of 6.174 BTC. There's been 4 donations of 1.0 BTC but none larger. I set the default at 1.0 BTC; perhaps I should increase it!
  - alixr 13y ago
    Don't get greedy.
ronyeh 13y ago
Cool stuff, but I wonder, even if the price of BTC stabilizes, will "normal everyday people" use it? I'm taking a coursera class (Startup 101 by Stanford) where we'll use BTC to fund our projects. But it seems like it's more confusing to the average user to see a "Donate Bitcoin" button on my page. I'd rather it just say "Donate" and have my payments processor accept any local currency. Also, the Winklevoss twins are BTC speculators. http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/07/02/beware-the-risks-of-the-bitcoin-winklevii-outline-the-downside/ http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/07/02/beware-the-risks-o...
- zanny 13y ago
  > I'd rather it just say "Donate" and have my payments processor accept any local currency. They have dealt with the ecentricities of their local money their entire life. Bitcoin is new. In the end, from an objective standpoint, scanning a QR code and confirming the transaction is easier than dealing with debit / credit cards -> bank accounts -> checkbooks, etc. I still have a POS time with routing numbers and bank account numbers and those are effectively fiat bitcoin addresses. Bitcoin is so much easier to use because all you need to use it is a bitcoin address.
  - superuser2 13y ago
    But to obtain BitCoin in the first place, you need to trust Coinbase with your account and routing number and possibly ID documents, wait a week for your BitCoin to become available, and then spend it. To my knowledge there is no way for a first-time BitCoin user to make a purchase right away.
    - zanny 13y ago
      Coinbase delays the disbursement to keep you from chargebacking. Same thing happens in Dwolla. If you send a money order over snail mail to an exchange, you can get your funds available same day (they receive it). It isn't anything bitcoin can change - it is moving money from a chargeback system to one without a way to reverse transactions. If they allowed chargebacking, they would be exploited and go bankrupt.
      - deleted 13y ago
        [deleted]
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
    - alixr 13y ago
      Transactions in person and Bitcoin ATM's will be the bread-and-butter of exchanging fiat money for BTC as it gains widespread adaptation.

146 points by FredEE 13y ago

Tangentially related Matt from Wordpress did an AMA on reddit yesterday and mentioned the Bitcoin integration they've done: in the last 9 months there's been 94 total Bitcoin transactions. Hopefully Khan academy will release figures too so we can see how the adoption of Bitcoin is going. http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1jg781/i_am_matt_mullenweg_cofounder_of_wordpress_18_of/cbeev5a http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1jg781/i_am_matt_mulle...

thejosh 13y ago
Its worth it just for the frontpage of HN/Reddit for PR.
dmnd 13y ago
Since I turned this on at 6pm today, there's been 24 transactions for a total of 6.174 BTC. There's been 4 donations of 1.0 BTC but none larger. I set the default at 1.0 BTC; perhaps I should increase it!
- alixr 13y ago
  Don't get greedy.

ronyeh 13y ago

Cool stuff, but I wonder, even if the price of BTC stabilizes, will "normal everyday people" use it? I'm taking a coursera class (Startup 101 by Stanford) where we'll use BTC to fund our projects. But it seems like it's more confusing to the average user to see a "Donate Bitcoin" button on my page. I'd rather it just say "Donate" and have my payments processor accept any local currency. Also, the Winklevoss twins are BTC speculators. http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/07/02/beware-the-risks-of-the-bitcoin-winklevii-outline-the-downside/ http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/07/02/beware-the-risks-o...

zanny 13y ago
> I'd rather it just say "Donate" and have my payments processor accept any local currency. They have dealt with the ecentricities of their local money their entire life. Bitcoin is new. In the end, from an objective standpoint, scanning a QR code and confirming the transaction is easier than dealing with debit / credit cards -> bank accounts -> checkbooks, etc. I still have a POS time with routing numbers and bank account numbers and those are effectively fiat bitcoin addresses. Bitcoin is so much easier to use because all you need to use it is a bitcoin address.
- superuser2 13y ago
  But to obtain BitCoin in the first place, you need to trust Coinbase with your account and routing number and possibly ID documents, wait a week for your BitCoin to become available, and then spend it. To my knowledge there is no way for a first-time BitCoin user to make a purchase right away.
  - zanny 13y ago
    Coinbase delays the disbursement to keep you from chargebacking. Same thing happens in Dwolla. If you send a money order over snail mail to an exchange, you can get your funds available same day (they receive it). It isn't anything bitcoin can change - it is moving money from a chargeback system to one without a way to reverse transactions. If they allowed chargebacking, they would be exploited and go bankrupt.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - alixr 13y ago
    Transactions in person and Bitcoin ATM's will be the bread-and-butter of exchanging fiat money for BTC as it gains widespread adaptation.