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But most people have to pay extra to acquire Bitcoins in the first place. And 10% is a promotion not a persistent discount. Why would I pay Dell in bitcoins in

But most people have to pay extra to acquire Bitcoins in the first place. And 10% is a promotion not a persistent discount. Why would I pay Dell in bitcoins in the long term given that Coinbase doesn't have any obvious cost advantage over other payment processors?

baby 12y ago
People who already have bitcoins can now spend them to get an Alienware. I know I would if I didn't lose mine.
- gambiting 12y ago
  If it means that I can get $150 off a new Alienware machine I would go and create a wallet right now to buy some bitcoins.
livingparadox 12y ago
If you don't use bitcoin, there's absolutely no reason. Same reason for paypal et al. There are a group of people who prefer to use bitcoin as their payment method, and this is for them.
mrb 12y ago
You say "why would I spend bitcoins if I don't have any?" That's the problem of bootstrapping an economy. But I would like to point out that the history of Bitcoin demonstrates it is not such a big problem. Indeed more and more merchants are accepting it, more and more users are setting up wallets, more and more people are giving bitcoins to friends and family, etc. So given this adoption, at some point you will probably receive some bitcoins. Perhaps a friend will give you bitcoins as a birthday gift, or a coworker will insist to pay you back his sandwich in Bitcoin. Then you will say to yourself "hey, why not spend it on that ergonomic Dell keyboard"? And you will have played a role in bootstrapping the Bitcoin economy.
- foobarqux 12y ago
  I don't think it is plausible that a significant number of people will receive a material portion of their income from Bitcoin. Your examples of ways in which I can receive BTC are trivial in amount and frequency.
baddox 12y ago
> But most people have to pay extra to acquire Bitcoins in the first place. What do you mean by "pay extra"? The functional exchange rate of that currency to bitcoins is the total cost of exchanging fiat currency for bitcoins.
- foobarqux 12y ago
  Trading costs are an expense and you pay Coinbase more than the market spread (they need to make money). If you use a credit card to buy BTC you pay those fees directly or indirectly.

baby 12y ago

People who already have bitcoins can now spend them to get an Alienware. I know I would if I didn't lose mine.

gambiting 12y ago
If it means that I can get $150 off a new Alienware machine I would go and create a wallet right now to buy some bitcoins.

livingparadox 12y ago

If you don't use bitcoin, there's absolutely no reason. Same reason for paypal et al. There are a group of people who prefer to use bitcoin as their payment method, and this is for them.

mrb 12y ago

You say "why would I spend bitcoins if I don't have any?" That's the problem of bootstrapping an economy. But I would like to point out that the history of Bitcoin demonstrates it is not such a big problem. Indeed more and more merchants are accepting it, more and more users are setting up wallets, more and more people are giving bitcoins to friends and family, etc. So given this adoption, at some point you will probably receive some bitcoins. Perhaps a friend will give you bitcoins as a birthday gift, or a coworker will insist to pay you back his sandwich in Bitcoin. Then you will say to yourself "hey, why not spend it on that ergonomic Dell keyboard"? And you will have played a role in bootstrapping the Bitcoin economy.

foobarqux 12y ago
I don't think it is plausible that a significant number of people will receive a material portion of their income from Bitcoin. Your examples of ways in which I can receive BTC are trivial in amount and frequency.

baddox 12y ago

> But most people have to pay extra to acquire Bitcoins in the first place. What do you mean by "pay extra"? The functional exchange rate of that currency to bitcoins is the total cost of exchanging fiat currency for bitcoins.

foobarqux 12y ago
Trading costs are an expense and you pay Coinbase more than the market spread (they need to make money). If you use a credit card to buy BTC you pay those fees directly or indirectly.