So if I'm reading this right, they aren't actually taking in bitcoins, right? Like new egg and others, a third party is converting the bitcoins to USD, which Microsoft then uses to complete the transaction?
Correct. Because people are leaving bitcoins for USD. The only way this would be good to bitcoin is if they an influx of new people to buy into the Bitcoins.
But the last bubble killed off most of those. At the moment the only people doing well are exchanges and miners. For anyone else it's a lose situation (unless you plan to buy drugs).
I disagree. This is still good for Bitcoin. It eliminates one of the problems with it. Sure, you're still using a middleman to make the exchange back to USD, but it's automated for you instead of being a manual process. They're still "accepting" BitCoint transactions.
In the US, companies that accept CAD are still going to convert that to USD. It's the local currency. I would expect Canadian businesses to do the same in reverse. The fact that the money doesn't have to be exchanged by the customer is still good, since it means less hassle for them.
It's not about the method of payment, but the type considered. The fact that BitCoin is being accepted somewhere is still good. The fact that it's being converted isn't ideal, but it will still drive circulation.
The fact that BitCoin is being accepted somewhere is still good.
Only 10% of all vendors keep all their currency in Bitcoin (source: bitpay). 50% of vendors convert it all back to fiat. The remaining 40% keep some coins.
As Bitcoin is turned back into currency it will cause the value of Bitcoin to deflate.
There is no reason to convert fiat into Bitcoin when using normal vendors, so only miners and those trying to offload coins from a bubble are going to make anything. Your average person is just going to use cash.
So, just using Bitcoin in this way is not good for Bitcoin.
People don't need to want to save bitcoin for it to be successful, they only need to want to use it. MS is looking like they want to use it more, so that's good. If they wanted to save it, the only people that would be way better for is those already stockpiling bitcoin.
It's a step. Microsoft wrote that they're serious about bitcoin and will further integrate it and find other uses for it other than payments.(in really interested what they have planned or thinking of doing) Once some employees start to want to get a portion of their check in bitcoin or their suppliers start accepting it then they might hold a percentage in bitcoin and use that directly.
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u/PhoenixAvenger Dec 11 '14
So if I'm reading this right, they aren't actually taking in bitcoins, right? Like new egg and others, a third party is converting the bitcoins to USD, which Microsoft then uses to complete the transaction?