It's been down for 3 days...

That said I'm enjoying this thread again. People who were once hyped up about merchants accepting bitcoin (TomCollins) now realize that it is bad for bitcoin. I've been happily short bitcoin for a long time now and have done quite well -- ever since posting on facebook at 1100/coin that it was about to crash and not recover. Bitcoin pretty much solves nothing, and I'm happy to see its inflationary pressures finally cause it to devalue while the USD gains value from little inflation and a monetary policy that has started to begin a tightening phase (though it is still, by all metrics, loose for the time being.) Inflation basically never came, and now oil prices are rocketing to the ground from a huge US energy boom and massive oversupply.

Merchant adoption is not "bad" for bitcoin. It may be bad for the short term price, but that's not the same thing. I'm looking forward to the next block reward halving myself. The good things going for the USD are also in the "this too shall pass" category.

Thank you for reiterating a few of the reasons for my near term duration short on bitcoin that has worked out quite nicely.

2 years to wait on that block reward, chief.

Two years to accumulate on BTC poker sites.

Don't lump me in with the clowns who think merchant adoption beyond initial adoption legitimizing it is some kind of good thing. That being said, lol @ USD gaining value.

Good luck getting adoption when you lose value faster than the USD. I view more of the mentality of "spend BTC to stimulate the BTC economy!" as a bad thing. The more mainstream and accepted Bitcoin is, great. But that's not going to get anyone to adopt, and people who think that are fools. Give people something to do that they couldn't do without Bitcoins, and they won't care that it's Bitcoins or peanuts or sea shells.

Merchants accepting bitcoins is a good thing. To think anything else is short sighted. It also forgets the fact that someone who was on the market for a computer would have cashed out bitcoins to buy it anyway, even if Dell did not accept them. That retailers accept bitcoins does not mean more get spent, it just means there is no conversion process and they are easier to spend. The amount of people who spend money that they would not have otherwise spent, simply to show support to a retailer, is incredibly small.

So BTC has lost over 50% of its value vs. the USD since the time mentioned (and time stamped on social media.) This is the equivalent of the USD gaining value vs. the BTC. The USD has also happened to gain value against every other major currency, and in fact hit new highs against them. Are you laughing because you think its funny that the USD has gained value when you didn't think it would, or are you just being TomCollins again and turning a blind eye to reality?

Seems like the real potential for the bolded is in africa or argentina or immigrants doing remittance, yet it seems like we hear very little about this from bitcoin entrepreneurs. Is it just that these problems are too big, not lucrative enough, or are these projects in the works yet no btc news sites report on them, or something else?

my impression is that yes, it is happening. it has been reported a lot, but it is taking time.

a recent summary article with some companies in the space...
http://www.theguardian.com/global-de...t-digital-cash

as an aside, 1 yr ago there was 1 bitcoin atm... now there are over 200.

(also cool) https://www.coinsafe.com/
and now even more merchants can act as ATMs (fiat gateways), similar to just selling bitcoin as a product in your store...

of course its a good thing. and its happening regardless. the benefits are likely too great.

for ex,

overstock, benefits for them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Po55Yq5uEU

i think i read amagi does about 40% of its business in crypto aleady
http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/news/...017/2014/08/21

agora commodities giving up credit cards.
http://www.coindesk.com/precious-met...redit-bitcoin/

No, they wouldn't have cashed out anyway. Many people are buying to "support companies". Many are purchasing because it's easier than going through an exchange to cash out. There is a conversion process, it just happens at Bitpay/Coinbase instead of an exchange. It is far easier to convert through paying a merchant than otherwise would. There are people who are lazy and just pay the easiest means necessary (I have done this on small purchases before, and wouldn't have cashed out, just did it because it was easier).

Bitcoins going price to the USD in value does not mean the USD went up in value. USD going up in price compared to other currencies does not mean the USD went up. Purchasing power is decreasing of USD. Simple as that. You can try to twist my words to make them mean something I did not say, but it does not make it true.

There are projects on this, it's just hard to do. Remittance will still have a lot of expensive pieces, such as having a physical presence, or exchanging Bitcoins for local currency in these places. There are likely large fees/taxes/bribery costs to operate in those countries. It takes a lot to be built to work, as a bunch of poor Africans aren't going to be spending Bitcoins and keeping them on their own. Maybe someday, but that's tough to jumpstart.

This is very very wrong. Many, I repeat many, early adopters spend coins at these places to show support, those coins would never have been 'sold' to buy a laptop otherwise. These are people who are holding large amounts with no intention to sell anytime soon.

Pretty decent discount:
http://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Info...ID=1354&Type=3

I saw that. Trying to decide if I want anything from newegg.

I think it's not exactly right to say merchant adoption is "bad for bitcoin." It is most certainly great for bitcoin. It does create a downward pressure on the price, but "bad for the price of bitcoin" is much different than "bad for bitcoin."

I should keep reading before I reply to posts. :\

Yes I don't disagree. To be more proper, it is bad for the reason most people utilize bitcoin currently -- a speculative investment vehicle. Increasing merchant adoption and subsequent usage leads to people indirectly converting bitcoin to dollars, which as you said, increases sell pressure in the market.

Fair enough. Although I would imagine that merchants will also at some point stop converting it all into fiat as well. (For instance, if they can save X% by paying their suppliers in BTC) This is less likely to happen if the price falls, obviously

We're a long way from any legit merchants paying their suppliers in BTC.

Thanks for posting this. I just bought a new monitor on newegg and was planning on buying some more stuff soon. I'll definitely take advantage of this.

Merchant adaptation of biticoin is obviously great for the long-term prospects of bitcoin.

Hoping merchants don't accept it so it can only be bought and held as a speculative currency without much usefulness is bad and extremely short-sighted.

Check out recent article on coindesk about the effects of merchant adoption.

I doubt very much this is the case.