Made My First Purchase with Bitcoin!

I posted about Bitcoins not too long ago (mainly about starting to mine). About a month ago I picked up a few USB ASIC miners and used one of my older systems to let it mine. I had an ok amount built up and was trying to figure out what to do with it (no one likes to let money just sit there haha). Anyhow, I'm not a huge fan of Halloween and usually go to the movies. I found an app that lets you purchase gift cards with your Bitcoins. Regal happened to be one of the providers, so I figured why not give it a spin?

I have a mobile app for my wallet, so I set my threshold for my mining pool and had it send the coins to my wallet. Top of the hour, autopay happens and just about 15 seconds later I get an email that the coins are in my wallet. Pull up the gift card app, set the amount for the purchase, and pay. Again 15 seconds later the gift card appears in the app! Small headache is Regal doesn't accept mobile gift cards yet so I'll have to print off the gift card in order to use it.

Overall, a very nice and quick experience. I tend to think Bitcoins will take off, but who knows.

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Comments

the_Grinch

I tend to believe the end goal is really a "stable" currency that isn't controlled by a central bank. Due to the limit number of coins that can be minted you won't get inflation and there's no monetary policy one can put into place. The price thus far has been fueled more by speculation then anything else. Most people are minting and/or buying then sitting on it in the hopes that the price rises. I believe that once more merchants begin to accept it, you'll see the price start to equalize a bit. I read an article a few months back which talked about Brazil when they introduced the Real due to rampant inflation. They would price items in the Real and whatever currency they had previously. While their old currency price would go up, the Real price would remain the same. Slowly, but surely more and more people began using the Real and now that is their currency (albeit it use to be pegged to the dollar, but that is no longer the case).

More spending of BTC instead of hoarding/speculating will lead to a better future for the currency.

JockVSJock

Bitcoin, to me, is exciting.

Its giving the common people a currency that isn't controlled by a central bank/shadow banking system and cannot be secrecy manipulated in order to steal wealth thru inflation/deflation.

On top of that it introduces competing currencies in order to keep it fair for everyone.

Zerohedge.com reports this morning that a coffee shop in Vancouver is introducing a Bit Coin ATM

World

I'm also a follower or Max Keier Show on RT. He's a big supported of Bitcoin and on his show often talks about it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2Cjo7CHh6w&list=SPPszygYHA9K2ZtV_1KphSugBB7iZqbFyz&index=116

lsud00d

JockVSJock wrote: »

and cannot be secrecy manipulated in order to steal wealth thru inflation/deflation.

The currency itself cannot but the exchanges are the crux point...that's how they had a coordinated DDoS/sell-off to drop the floor in the spring when it was at its previous high. I wish I was able to buy in when it got to it's most recent low of around $50...would be at the 6x profit margin today

CoolAsAFan

Anyone have any good sites that give tips on trading BTC? My last transaction I sold 5 btc when they were at $170 a few weeks ago...now they are topping $350 meh. I am really hoping to see a big dip/crash soon because how fast the price is going up right now, of course that's pure speculation.

Probably a silly question but does anyone know if Forex investing strategies apply to btc?

DevilWAH

BBC News - Major Bitcoin theft from website, claims owner

will bit-coin just fall pray to the same issues as all the other currencies? If it becomes mainstream will greed take hold and people try to take it over for there own gains?

170 to 350 in a few weeks, that's serious inflation! the value of a currency has to be reasonably stable for it to work, you can't be paid for good or service, only for it to become worthless a few weeks later. So I think there still a way to go before Bit-coin can claim its a valid alternative to the main players such as $ and £.

lsud00d

TBH wallets get stolen on a semi-often basis. There have been several exchanges that have been ponzi schemes where the guys running the site freeze all assets and make off like bandits. Then, there are others who leave their wallets online (vs cold storage) and get that information stolen, just like any other data hack.

I don't see BTC as competing with $ and £ because it is fundamentally different. True, they are all currencies, and at the end of the day they are used to trade for goods or services. That is pretty much where the similarities end, though.

lsud00d

the_Grinch wrote: »

Ah I hadn't, thanks for that! Yeah the price has definitely shot up over the weekend and this week. Was $198 on Friday and now suddenly up to $267.51. Craziness abounds!

On MTGOX it hit a high of $447.50 USD/1 BTC

the_Grinch

Big day is the 18th. Congress is having hearings on virtual currencies, might see a big crash depending on how that goes.

lsud00d

Good to know--I sold some to account for my investment and now the rest is just for play

JDMurray

Bitcoin is decentralized and worldwide. I doubt that whatever the US Congress has to say about a global virtual currency will hurt it any. Every exchange has a different exchange value for a Bitcoin. It is each exchange that controls the bid/ask pricing and sets the transaction percentage charged when customers convert their Bitcoins to dollars. That's a lot of control for a currency exchange to have over the (only) currency it is trading.

I'm guessing that the people making the most money off Bitcoin are those with the illegal good sites and the owners of the Bitcoin exchanges themselves. They might be the same people for all we know. How is it that Silkroad is back in business after being taken down by the FBI? Hmmm...

BGraves

Well I've been running this BFL Jalapeno for about 3 1/2 weeks and I'm sitting on just about .10 bitcoin. So not exactly churning out the cash...but according to the latest bitcoin numbers, I'll earn back my investment in about another 7 weeks depending on what the price of bitcoin does.

I have a friend who sold 40 bitcoins when they were around 10 bucks....he's kicking himself now!

Honestly, I think the people making the most money of bitcoins are the ones using them as investments. Buying low and selling high would have yielded an easy profit, though you could probably make more money elsewhere safer....
(Of course...they could be using them on silkroad to take hits out on their enemies....lol)

JockVSJock

JDMurray wrote: »

I doubt that whatever the US Congress has to say about a global virtual currency will hurt it any.

Disagree. US Congress has a vested interest because others will lobby them to have an interest. Remember, the US Dollar is the world's hedge currency, tied to oil trading.

Other countries, BRIC, are wanting a currency that will compete for this hedge currency status. At one time it was the British Pound, however it lost this status, due to major debt and not producing and exporting any products that were in demand.

With the US Treasury debt taking off like a rocket, long with the housing bubble and other bubbles on the horizon (student loans), there are many who are looking for an alternative currency to the US Dollar.

lsud00d

lsud00d wrote: »

On MTGOX it hit a high of $447.50 USD/1 BTC

New high on MTGOX today, $750 USD/1 BTC. Hopefully it breaks $1k USD soon.

the_Grinch

Very warm reception with Congress so I definitely have a good feeling for the future now.