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Topic: 2013-05-09 Techcrunch- Your Bitcoins are Finally Worth Something (Read 1920 times)

donator
Activity: 784
Merit: 1000
Some of my contractors are already getting paid in bitcoin and this will be really good news for them.

It's just makes a new dimension of financial freedom.
Everyone can eventually start anonymous life without the need of ssn, credit scores, credit cards. No fiat, no taxes, no hassles.

full member
Activity: 182
Merit: 100
I find this to be excellent news because as more and more places accept bitcoins, they will become much more mainstream. Though I think for bitcoins to really take off it has to be easier to convert bitcoins into giftcards than it is to convert cash into gift cards and I think right now it is harder or the same but definitely not easier.
hero member
Activity: 526
Merit: 508
My other Avatar is also Scrooge McDuck
It can be a little difficult juggling these cards... My Whopper was good but there were confusing steps getting the BK card delivered to that phone I bought it on...

The trick is you have to have a contact on your phone that you can send your gyft card to already... WITH AN EMAIL ADDY THAT YOU CAN ACCESS ON THAT PHONE.

I sent my BK gift card to some other email address of mine and it wound up in a place I couldn't access on the go and I had to go by the library to log into that email acct and send it to my phone's email addy... And in the end I wound up with two BK cards on my phone somehow, although they have the same card # and reflect the same balance...

So in short: It works but is not perfect yet... Needs streamlining.
newbie
Activity: 56
Merit: 0
Went to Burger King for lunch bought a $20 card for myself and 2 $10 cards for my buddies. 
Cost me BTC 0.3326.
Took only a few seconds to get the cards.

Got a strange look from the cashier and she had to get a manager who also had never heard of paying with your phone, but had no trouble figuring it out.
Several of the people there said they were going to try it out.
 
member
Activity: 84
Merit: 10
Agree. Although the list of places you can buy gift cards from is actually much smaller than the list of companies that you can scan cards in from. It includes Amazon, but sadly there is a lack of places that I usually buy groceries from. There's Kmart and a bunch of restaurants, which is a pretty good start though.

You can buy groceries at Target.  They're on Gyft.  And their grocery prices are mostly pretty good - their pet food prices are the best.

I downloaded the app, and it didn't list Target as a gift card that I could purchase. I could, however, upload a Target gift card.

Crap.  I saw the Target logo and figured...
hero member
Activity: 520
Merit: 500
Agree. Although the list of places you can buy gift cards from is actually much smaller than the list of companies that you can scan cards in from. It includes Amazon, but sadly there is a lack of places that I usually buy groceries from. There's Kmart and a bunch of restaurants, which is a pretty good start though.

You can buy groceries at Target.  They're on Gyft.  And their grocery prices are mostly pretty good - their pet food prices are the best.

I downloaded the app, and it didn't list Target as a gift card that I could purchase. I could, however, upload a Target gift card.
legendary
Activity: 1764
Merit: 1002
Wow, I didn't know my bitcoins were worthless day before yesterday... I was poor and I didn't even know!

lol.

yeah, all those coins Charlie converted to buy EVR must've been someone's imagination.

not to mention all those girls he hangs out with in the corner booth now...
hero member
Activity: 784
Merit: 1000
bitcoin hundred-aire
Wow, I didn't know my bitcoins were worthless day before yesterday... I was poor and I didn't even know!
member
Activity: 84
Merit: 10
Agree. Although the list of places you can buy gift cards from is actually much smaller than the list of companies that you can scan cards in from. It includes Amazon, but sadly there is a lack of places that I usually buy groceries from. There's Kmart and a bunch of restaurants, which is a pretty good start though.

You can buy groceries at Target.  They're on Gyft.  And their grocery prices are mostly pretty good - their pet food prices are the best.
legendary
Activity: 1764
Merit: 1002
Wow. I just checked this out. Looks like there isn't even a fee on the conversion rate compared with MtGox. That's huge. I'll have to play around with this some more to see how easy it is to use. It looks like there isn't an easy way to buy a gift card for yourself. Makes sense, I guess. But I guess you could buy a card, send it to someone else, and have them send it back?

Pretty nice that it includes Amazon, Walmart and Target. I'm eager to see how difficult it is to use this app in the store.

I hope these guys don't have AML problems. I can easily see them having issues though. Sad

First off, you can buy one for yourself. Just add yourself to the contacts list prior to ordering.

Second, this is the breakthrough we've all been waiting for. It is huge.

We essentially have the credit card conversion tool right on our androids now that allows us to buy just about anything in dollars.

Hold appreciating bitcoin right up to the point you really need to buy something in depreciating dollars.

Agree. Although the list of places you can buy gift cards from is actually much smaller than the list of companies that you can scan cards in from. It includes Amazon, but sadly there is a lack of places that I usually buy groceries from. There's Kmart and a bunch of restaurants, which is a pretty good start though.

Hey, why cook when you can use Foodler?  Cheesy
hero member
Activity: 520
Merit: 500
Wow. I just checked this out. Looks like there isn't even a fee on the conversion rate compared with MtGox. That's huge. I'll have to play around with this some more to see how easy it is to use. It looks like there isn't an easy way to buy a gift card for yourself. Makes sense, I guess. But I guess you could buy a card, send it to someone else, and have them send it back?

Pretty nice that it includes Amazon, Walmart and Target. I'm eager to see how difficult it is to use this app in the store.

I hope these guys don't have AML problems. I can easily see them having issues though. Sad

First off, you can buy one for yourself. Just add yourself to the contacts list prior to ordering.

Second, this is the breakthrough we've all been waiting for. It is huge.

We essentially have the credit card conversion tool right on our androids now that allows us to buy just about anything in dollars.

Hold appreciating bitcoin right up to the point you really need to buy something in depreciating dollars.

Agree. Although the list of places you can buy gift cards from is actually much smaller than the list of companies that you can scan cards in from. It includes Amazon, but sadly there is a lack of places that I usually buy groceries from. There's Kmart and a bunch of restaurants, which is a pretty good start though.
legendary
Activity: 1764
Merit: 1002
Wow. I just checked this out. Looks like there isn't even a fee on the conversion rate compared with MtGox. That's huge. I'll have to play around with this some more to see how easy it is to use. It looks like there isn't an easy way to buy a gift card for yourself. Makes sense, I guess. But I guess you could buy a card, send it to someone else, and have them send it back?

Pretty nice that it includes Amazon, Walmart and Target. I'm eager to see how difficult it is to use this app in the store.

I hope these guys don't have AML problems. I can easily see them having issues though. Sad

First off, you can buy one for yourself. Just add yourself to the contacts list prior to ordering.

Second, this is the breakthrough we've all been waiting for. It is huge.

We essentially have the credit card conversion tool right on our androids now that allows us to buy just about anything in dollars.

Hold appreciating bitcoin right up to the point you really need to buy something in depreciating dollars.
hero member
Activity: 520
Merit: 500
Wow. I just checked this out. Looks like there isn't even a fee on the conversion rate compared with MtGox. That's huge. I'll have to play around with this some more to see how easy it is to use. It looks like there isn't an easy way to buy a gift card for yourself. Makes sense, I guess. But I guess you could buy a card, send it to someone else, and have them send it back?

Pretty nice that it includes Amazon, Walmart and Target. I'm eager to see how difficult it is to use this app in the store.

I hope these guys don't have AML problems. I can easily see them having issues though. Sad

Edit: Looks like you can buy a gift card for yourself by buying it with BTC, sending it to your own email, log out of the app, open the email and accept the card by logging back into the account. Yeah, if this thing ever gets popular, it'll be heavily regulated because trading gift cards ~= money exchanging in the eyes of regulators.
legendary
Activity: 1764
Merit: 1002
Literally every day that goes by your dollars are being debased.

You should hold your bitcoins right up until you need to spend them and check the ticker right before you convert .   Grin
newbie
Activity: 56
Merit: 0
There is nothing about this I do not like.  Full of win!

I downloaded the app and bought a couple gift cards, everything works prefectly and quick.
Think I will try to use it for all my lunches next week.
hero member
Activity: 526
Merit: 508
My other Avatar is also Scrooge McDuck
Wow, this is pretty freaking awesome news!

At first I was thinking that you'd have to wait for the gift card to be shipped to your or even go pick it up at a store like walmart... But then I read that Gyft has a smartphone app that you can pay with directly, no card required!

Therefore, with a smartphone and some bitcoins, you can see something like a Burger King, decide you want a whopper at a moment's notice, transfer some bitcoin to BK Gift certificate on the Gyft app, and then go inside and buy that whopper... Just awesome.

Quote from: The TC Article
Gyft allows you to purchase gift cards at more than 50,000 retail locations in the U.S., including Brookstone, Lowe’s, GAP, Sephora, Gamestop, American Eagle, Nike, Marriott, Burger King and Fandango.


GAME. ON.   Shocked Cheesy


Edit: Just downloaded the app; All is golden (For android.) -But I hear that apple isn't letting you pay in BTC for their version of the same app. Sad
sr. member
Activity: 378
Merit: 250
Magic Staff
Bitcoin fans going bananas! Humble Double Fine Bundle, Now With Bitcoin!

But techcrunch couldn't report on that. No they only report on buying drugs and guns with USD.
legendary
Activity: 1148
Merit: 1008
If you want to walk on water, get out of the boat
full member
Activity: 227
Merit: 100
"Bitcoin is PayPal on steroids and geeks, who are the perfect target audience because they never give up and have plenty of resources at their disposal, are the ones leading the charge."

My favorite sentence from the article and I'm not even a geek!...I think.
legendary
Activity: 1148
Merit: 1001
http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/09/your-bitcoins-are-finally-worth-something/

Basically an article about the fact that Gyft will be accepting BTC and we can convert our BTC into gift cards.

Perhaps it will help spur on more mainstream use?  I am not sure.  I wonder how easily quickly BTC can be transferred to the card for use.  It might be a good idea to keep more "cash" used on a daily basis in BTC and only tranfer what is needed to use, especially if BTC holds it's value better and rises steadily.  Just thinking about this.

since Gyft is a mobile gift card, it looks like the transfer from BTC should be immediate.

yes, the way to do this is to preserve the value of your money by maintaining the BTC balance until you absolutely need to spend USD in the form of the Gyft card, both of which can reside on your Android.

All BTC users should begin doing this.  Gyft was brilliant in taking BTC!  Smiley
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