Bitcoin versus other monies.

[Sparko]

Bloomberg LP, data manager for financial-market players and media company, is now including real-time Bitcoin data. Wow. Another wow: Bill Gates likes that Bitcoin is allowing poor people make trades they couldn't before because of low transaction costs. Third wow: Coinality.com is listing offers of jobs for those who want to be paid in bitcoins. [Thanks, Michael A. Robinson]

Yeah because poor people have computers and the internet but they can't afford transaction costs?

[Truthseeker]

Yeah because poor people have computers and the internet but they can't afford transaction costs?

Smart phones. I don't understand how, but many poor people do have them.

[Sparko]

Smart phones. I don't understand how, but many poor people do have them.

maybe because they are not so "poor" after all. Just good at scamming the government.

[Truthseeker]

maybe because they are not so "poor" after all. Just good at scamming the government.

All of them?

[Truthseeker]

Richard Branson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson and Jerry Yang http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Yang_(entrepreneur) are embroiled in an investment of $30 million in Bitpay. That is thought to be the biggest VC investment in Bitcoin to date. Disclosure: I have several bitcoins.

[Truthseeker]

Disclaimer: I own some bitcoins.

Recently Fed officials said this:

"Bitcoin does not present a threat to economic activity by disrupting traditional channels of commerce; rather, it could serve as a boon."

They also said that the dollar and other similar monies themselves have the problem of being used in illegal trades.

[Truthseeker]

iBeacon (a Bluetooth technology) and Near Field Communication (NFC) will enable your next smart phone to function as your wallet. You will be able to carry cash safely in it. Not just cash--birth certificate, ID, baby photo, business card, tickets, coupons, insurance card, etc. I just read something that says the inaugural of mobile payment systems using iBeacon or NFC is only a matter of months now (that is why I am posting this update).

One upshot is the eventual full digitalization of the monetary systems around the world. I am not sure what it would do to bitcoin.

[Sparko]

iBeacon (a Bluetooth technology) and Near Field Communication (NFC) will enable your next smart phone to function as your wallet. You will be able to carry cash safely in it. Not just cash--birth certificate, ID, baby photo, business card, tickets, coupons, insurance card, etc. I just read something that says the inaugural of mobile payment systems using iBeacon or NFC is only a matter of months now (that is why I am posting this update).

One upshot is the eventual full digitalization of the monetary systems around the world. I am not sure what it would do to bitcoin.

um NFC has been around in phones for a few years now, as well as tap and pay and digital wallets.

[Truthseeker]

I'm sorry I wasn't clear. To be sure, what I read is not clear either at least to me. I was discussing mobile payment systems in the sense that you no longer have to carry around cash, credit cards, debit cards, IDs, driver's license, insurance certificate, etc.

[Truthseeker]

I neglected the safety aspect. Mobile payment systems are supposed to be far safer than credit cards, being based on fingerprints, eyeball iris patterns and the like. Supposed to greatly diminish identity theft, or so I understand.

[Sparko]

I neglected the safety aspect. Mobile payment systems are supposed to be far safer than credit cards, being based on fingerprints, eyeball iris patterns and the like. Supposed to greatly diminish identity theft, or so I understand.

Until someone hacks your phone, or you lose it. Digital pickpocketing.

But as I said you can already just use your phone and not have to carry around cash. You can also scan your ID and insurance cards into PDFs or images and put them on the phone if you want. And geico already does the insurance card on the phone thing.

using paypal and a lot of bank apps you can send digital payments to people who are equipped to receive them. and NFC is in a lot of phones already and can be used at a lot of places.

and here is a company selling a digital wallet that does everything on your phone that you mentioned: http://www.looppay.com/

[Irate Canadian]

Until someone hacks your phone, or you lose it. Digital pickpocketing.

But as I said you can already just use your phone and not have to carry around cash. You can also scan your ID and insurance cards into PDFs or images and put them on the phone if you want. And geico already does the insurance card on the phone thing.

using paypal and a lot of bank apps you can send digital payments to people who are equipped to receive them. and NFC is in a lot of phones already and can be used at a lot of places.

and here is a company selling a digital wallet that does everything on your phone that you mentioned: http://www.looppay.com/

Well,it depends. It would be extremely hard to compromise a Apple phone, but easier to exploit a Android phone because of its openness.

[Sparko]

Well,it depends. It would be extremely hard to compromise a Apple phone, but easier to exploit a Android phone because of its openness.

riiiiigghht.

An iphone has a 4 digit passcode. really secure. and opening malware or a bad app could allow access to your phone too.

[Truthseeker]

riiiiigghht.

An iphone has a 4 digit passcode. really secure. and opening malware or a bad app could allow access to your phone too.

4-digit passcode? That's gradually becoming obsolete as biometric systems increasingly take over. Malware is still a problem, though.

[Sparko]

4-digit passcode? That's gradually becoming obsolete as biometric systems increasingly take over. Malware is still a problem, though.

fingerprint scanners are notoriously unreliable. Half the time they don't even recognize your own print, and a lot of times will register someone else's print as legit. I use my fingerprint to get into my brother's laptop all the time. Just keep swiping my finger till it registers.