Quote
Bitcoin Rushes In Where Card Companies Fear to Tread
Just as the plastic card liberated many consumers from a reliance on cash and coin, alternative payment sources are gaining enough adoption to steal transactions from plastic — with a little help from the very companies these digital currencies threaten.
Bailey Reutzel
2012-08-27
http://www.paymentssource.com/news/bitcoin-rushes-in-where-card-companies-fear-to-tread-3011707-1.html
Bitcoin, the online crypto-currency that hit the market three years ago, is still portrayed by many in the media as if it were a tabloid starlet (criticized for both its famous-for-being-famous rise to prominence and a reputation that is sometimes linked to illegal drugs), but the currency is slowly making its way into mainstream use.
...
"Unlike traditional bank currency that closes on the weekend, Bitcoin is a currency that never sleeps," Matonis said in an interview.
...
Juha Nurmi, spokesperson for Ahmia, which works on Tor-related projects, says the company avoids accepting card payments.
"Bitcoin is something we have been waiting for; unlike any national currency, Bitcoin is the real currency of the global world," says Nurmi, who plans to try to live using only bitcoins next year.
...
Perhaps the line between Bitcoin and the card companies is blurring. A company called BitInstant plans to offer a stored-value card that can fund point of sale payments using bitcoins.
Still, there is a place for a cash-like anonymity in digital payments. "Why lose [anonymity] because we've moved online?" Matonis says.
Just as the plastic card liberated many consumers from a reliance on cash and coin, alternative payment sources are gaining enough adoption to steal transactions from plastic — with a little help from the very companies these digital currencies threaten.
Bailey Reutzel
2012-08-27
http://www.paymentssource.com/news/bitcoin-rushes-in-where-card-companies-fear-to-tread-3011707-1.html
Bitcoin, the online crypto-currency that hit the market three years ago, is still portrayed by many in the media as if it were a tabloid starlet (criticized for both its famous-for-being-famous rise to prominence and a reputation that is sometimes linked to illegal drugs), but the currency is slowly making its way into mainstream use.
...
"Unlike traditional bank currency that closes on the weekend, Bitcoin is a currency that never sleeps," Matonis said in an interview.
...
Juha Nurmi, spokesperson for Ahmia, which works on Tor-related projects, says the company avoids accepting card payments.
"Bitcoin is something we have been waiting for; unlike any national currency, Bitcoin is the real currency of the global world," says Nurmi, who plans to try to live using only bitcoins next year.
...
Perhaps the line between Bitcoin and the card companies is blurring. A company called BitInstant plans to offer a stored-value card that can fund point of sale payments using bitcoins.
Still, there is a place for a cash-like anonymity in digital payments. "Why lose [anonymity] because we've moved online?" Matonis says.