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I remember reading an article that pointed out that despite the large investment in Bitcoin startups and so on in 2014 that the number of non-speculation transa

by jahnu 11y ago

I remember reading an article that pointed out that despite the large investment in Bitcoin startups and so on in 2014 that the number of non-speculation transactions stayed pretty flat. It sounds like a decent metric and I wonder if that is still the case.

mike_hearn 11y ago
Traffic did grow. Hence the block size debates now playing out. However its growth was not wildly unanticipated or anything like that. I agree that Bitcoin and Greece have nothing to do with each other. They have a form of "hard-ish money" at the moment in the Euro and Greece's problems would not really be fixed by Bitcoin. The Bitcoin reddit is pretty cultish at times, yes.
StavrosK 11y ago
That's sad, I tried to buy a plane ticket the other day and keep reminded how horrible the process is every time. I need to remember the Visa Secure thing password, and charging the CC fails three out of four times for no reason, and I have to restart the whole process again, etc. Half of it is shitty website UI, but the other half is card-related. I wish I could just scan a QR code and pay. It's amazingly easy with Bitcoin, and integration is very easy, too, especially with Stripe, but it hasn't caught on. Too bad...
- yc1010 11y ago
  All my hotel purchases in last year have been with bitcoin via Expedia, using a credit card form (and trusting it doesnt get "mistreated") feels like something from another era to me.
  - StavrosK 11y ago
    Expedia is one of the few sites I know that accepts BTC, but I don't think it's very popular in Europe. I'll have to give it a go, though, thanks.
    - yc1010 11y ago
      I am in Europe too, here there is not as much need for Bitcoin now that SEPA exists and not many people care for credit cards but its still has its uses. You can use sites like https://giftoff.com/ https://giftoff.com/ (EU) or https://www.gyft.com/ https://www.gyft.com/ (US) to get giftcards and spend your bitcoins that way in shops such as Amazon which do not yet take Bitcoin
      - StavrosK 11y ago
        Huh, thanks for giftoff, I'll give it a try.

by jahnu 11y ago

mike_hearn 11y ago

Traffic did grow. Hence the block size debates now playing out. However its growth was not wildly unanticipated or anything like that. I agree that Bitcoin and Greece have nothing to do with each other. They have a form of "hard-ish money" at the moment in the Euro and Greece's problems would not really be fixed by Bitcoin. The Bitcoin reddit is pretty cultish at times, yes.

StavrosK 11y ago

That's sad, I tried to buy a plane ticket the other day and keep reminded how horrible the process is every time. I need to remember the Visa Secure thing password, and charging the CC fails three out of four times for no reason, and I have to restart the whole process again, etc. Half of it is shitty website UI, but the other half is card-related. I wish I could just scan a QR code and pay. It's amazingly easy with Bitcoin, and integration is very easy, too, especially with Stripe, but it hasn't caught on. Too bad...

yc1010 11y ago
All my hotel purchases in last year have been with bitcoin via Expedia, using a credit card form (and trusting it doesnt get "mistreated") feels like something from another era to me.
- StavrosK 11y ago
  Expedia is one of the few sites I know that accepts BTC, but I don't think it's very popular in Europe. I'll have to give it a go, though, thanks.
  - yc1010 11y ago
    I am in Europe too, here there is not as much need for Bitcoin now that SEPA exists and not many people care for credit cards but its still has its uses. You can use sites like https://giftoff.com/ https://giftoff.com/ (EU) or https://www.gyft.com/ https://www.gyft.com/ (US) to get giftcards and spend your bitcoins that way in shops such as Amazon which do not yet take Bitcoin
    - StavrosK 11y ago
      Huh, thanks for giftoff, I'll give it a try.