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Topic: Headline: Bitcoin Buzz Draws Western Union, MoneyGram (Read 3983 times)

donator
Activity: 1731
Merit: 1008
They could somewhat easily act as escrow,

Sender add the signature of the contract in the transfer note.

BTC Seller sign the message of "10btc at 1500$ via WU to "buyer address"" with the address the BTC are to be sent from.

When Mr Seller goes to get his money verification is made that the transaction has been made.

There will never be any ambiguity so verification shouldn't add much to the cost.

Edit : There need to be a publicly available confirmation that the buyer sent the money with the correct note.
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
FIAT LIBERTAS RVAT CAELVM
Price ceilings are set by competition, not cost.

Price floors are set by cost, though. Wink
legendary
Activity: 1036
Merit: 1000
Price ceilings are set by competition, not cost.
legendary
Activity: 1722
Merit: 1217
its a shame that you feel that way =( Buying gift cards and a vending machine and renting a spot in the mall and paying electricity and driving back and forth to empty out the machine is all pretty expensive. I'm praying that ill turn a profit at 5%.

For you, 5% is reasonable. Significant capital outlay and overhead. For WU, 5% is a bit excessive, given that they would have almost no marginal cost to add Bitcoin processing.

true
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
FIAT LIBERTAS RVAT CAELVM
its a shame that you feel that way =( Buying gift cards and a vending machine and renting a spot in the mall and paying electricity and driving back and forth to empty out the machine is all pretty expensive. I'm praying that ill turn a profit at 5%.

For you, 5% is reasonable. Significant capital outlay and overhead. For WU, 5% is a bit excessive, given that they would have almost no marginal cost to add Bitcoin processing.
legendary
Activity: 1722
Merit: 1217
I think you guys fail to understand the gravity of the situation.

WU literally could, with extremely little effort, turn every single WU place into the equivalent of a Bitcoin ATM.

yep this is what is happening. they know there time is up. they are going to die here within the year or two so better buck up and turn there company into an exchange place. it will be like an atm. you put your money in and then type the bitcoin address in and bam five-ten minutes and you have your BTC(money)sent to whomever you need to. and just like you say no need to change it to yen/euro/frank/lirea etc just sends it. you know what this means??? for dear god hold onto your bitcoins they are literally worth gold now. ok no literally but they will be in one year just you wait.

If they did do this, it would be huge. However, if they do, expect insane exchange fees, like 5%.
I wonder what their withdraw limits would be. If you could get out huge chunks of money quickly from them I would take the 5% fee instead of waiting damn well forever for gox to wire the damn money.

you really think 5% is that bad? i was planning on charging 5% with my vending machine and i thought i was being reasonable =(

5%? Thats almost 10 times the goxxian fee. When you take into account the fact that there is two sides to any exchange that means they are essentially taking 10% on every trade. If 10% fees aren't ridiculous I don't know what is.

its a shame that you feel that way =( Buying gift cards and a vending machine and renting a spot in the mall and paying electricity and driving back and forth to empty out the machine is all pretty expensive. I'm praying that ill turn a profit at 5%.
legendary
Activity: 1036
Merit: 1000
Perhaps the company itself would use bitcoin as a tool to transfer funds internationally, and as a result cut down on their overhead so they can put more money in their own pockets while charging customers the same fees?
It's a pretty smart move, if you think about it. Customers would still just work with their fiat, and WU would insulate them from the bitcoin part of it, while the bitcoin is used simply to speed up the transfer. Then the customer can be told their $ can now be transfered in mere minutes.

Yes, this. Their immediate interest can only be in boosting their profits in existing business, not jumping into Bitcoin exchange as a business (hardly anyone uses Bitcoin yet!). Bitcoin can drive their back end invisibly from the customer's perspective.

Or customers could choose a "fast cash" option "powered by the Bitcoin network" that is cheaper and faster than usual.

We have people emailing them...we need to appeal to their bottom line, not try to convince them to get into Bitcoin as a business. Once they start using it they may make that decision on their own, but for now it's just a tool to streamline their operations (massively).
newbie
Activity: 32
Merit: 0
Sent them an e-mail. Any kind of integration with WU would be huge for bitcoin.

huge for bitcoin and huge for WU, and WU cares about being good for WU curious as to what your email was as they are already showing interest in btc.

This makes me excited!
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 1008
time is money
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
FIAT LIBERTAS RVAT CAELVM
5%? Thats almost 10 times the goxxian fee. When you take into account the fact that there is two sides to any exchange that means they are essentially taking 10% on every trade. If 10% fees aren't ridiculous I don't know what is.

Give cash, get bitcoins, pay 5%

Wait 3 weeks for bank transfer, get goxxed, pay .6%

I know which I'd pick.

Don't worry, they'll still charge you the normal WU fees.

Its just like any other form of currency exchange. Normal transfer fees PLUS exchange fees.
Still worth it. Wink
full member
Activity: 168
Merit: 100
5%? Thats almost 10 times the goxxian fee. When you take into account the fact that there is two sides to any exchange that means they are essentially taking 10% on every trade. If 10% fees aren't ridiculous I don't know what is.

Give cash, get bitcoins, pay 5%

Wait 3 weeks for bank transfer, get goxxed, pay .6%

I know which I'd pick.

Don't worry, they'll still charge you the normal WU fees.

Its just like any other form of currency exchange. Normal transfer fees PLUS exchange fees.
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
FIAT LIBERTAS RVAT CAELVM
5%? Thats almost 10 times the goxxian fee. When you take into account the fact that there is two sides to any exchange that means they are essentially taking 10% on every trade. If 10% fees aren't ridiculous I don't know what is.

Give cash, get bitcoins, pay 5%

Wait 3 weeks for bank transfer, get goxxed, pay .6%

I know which I'd pick.
full member
Activity: 168
Merit: 100
I think you guys fail to understand the gravity of the situation.

WU literally could, with extremely little effort, turn every single WU place into the equivalent of a Bitcoin ATM.

yep this is what is happening. they know there time is up. they are going to die here within the year or two so better buck up and turn there company into an exchange place. it will be like an atm. you put your money in and then type the bitcoin address in and bam five-ten minutes and you have your BTC(money)sent to whomever you need to. and just like you say no need to change it to yen/euro/frank/lirea etc just sends it. you know what this means??? for dear god hold onto your bitcoins they are literally worth gold now. ok no literally but they will be in one year just you wait.

If they did do this, it would be huge. However, if they do, expect insane exchange fees, like 5%.
I wonder what their withdraw limits would be. If you could get out huge chunks of money quickly from them I would take the 5% fee instead of waiting damn well forever for gox to wire the damn money.

you really think 5% is that bad? i was planning on charging 5% with my vending machine and i thought i was being reasonable =(

5%? Thats almost 10 times the goxxian fee. When you take into account the fact that there is two sides to any exchange that means they are essentially taking 10% on every trade. If 10% fees aren't ridiculous I don't know what is.
legendary
Activity: 1722
Merit: 1217
I think you guys fail to understand the gravity of the situation.

WU literally could, with extremely little effort, turn every single WU place into the equivalent of a Bitcoin ATM.

yep this is what is happening. they know there time is up. they are going to die here within the year or two so better buck up and turn there company into an exchange place. it will be like an atm. you put your money in and then type the bitcoin address in and bam five-ten minutes and you have your BTC(money)sent to whomever you need to. and just like you say no need to change it to yen/euro/frank/lirea etc just sends it. you know what this means??? for dear god hold onto your bitcoins they are literally worth gold now. ok no literally but they will be in one year just you wait.

If they did do this, it would be huge. However, if they do, expect insane exchange fees, like 5%.
I wonder what their withdraw limits would be. If you could get out huge chunks of money quickly from them I would take the 5% fee instead of waiting damn well forever for gox to wire the damn money.

you really think 5% is that bad? i was planning on charging 5% with my vending machine and i thought i was being reasonable =(
hero member
Activity: 532
Merit: 500
FIAT LIBERTAS RVAT CAELVM
I think you guys fail to understand the gravity of the situation.

WU literally could, with extremely little effort, turn every single WU place into the equivalent of a Bitcoin ATM.

yep this is what is happening. they know there time is up. they are going to die here within the year or two so better buck up and turn there company into an exchange place. it will be like an atm. you put your money in and then type the bitcoin address in and bam five-ten minutes and you have your BTC(money)sent to whomever you need to. and just like you say no need to change it to yen/euro/frank/lirea etc just sends it. you know what this means??? for dear god hold onto your bitcoins they are literally worth gold now. ok no literally but they will be in one year just you wait.

If they did do this, it would be huge. However, if they do, expect insane exchange fees, like 5%.
For walk in convenience?

Worth it.
legendary
Activity: 840
Merit: 1000
I think you guys fail to understand the gravity of the situation.

WU literally could, with extremely little effort, turn every single WU place into the equivalent of a Bitcoin ATM.

yep this is what is happening. they know there time is up. they are going to die here within the year or two so better buck up and turn there company into an exchange place. it will be like an atm. you put your money in and then type the bitcoin address in and bam five-ten minutes and you have your BTC(money)sent to whomever you need to. and just like you say no need to change it to yen/euro/frank/lirea etc just sends it. you know what this means??? for dear god hold onto your bitcoins they are literally worth gold now. ok no literally but they will be in one year just you wait.

If they did do this, it would be huge. However, if they do, expect insane exchange fees, like 5%.
I wonder what their withdraw limits would be. If you could get out huge chunks of money quickly from them I would take the 5% fee instead of waiting damn well forever for gox to wire the damn money.
full member
Activity: 168
Merit: 100
I think you guys fail to understand the gravity of the situation.

WU literally could, with extremely little effort, turn every single WU place into the equivalent of a Bitcoin ATM.

yep this is what is happening. they know there time is up. they are going to die here within the year or two so better buck up and turn there company into an exchange place. it will be like an atm. you put your money in and then type the bitcoin address in and bam five-ten minutes and you have your BTC(money)sent to whomever you need to. and just like you say no need to change it to yen/euro/frank/lirea etc just sends it. you know what this means??? for dear god hold onto your bitcoins they are literally worth gold now. ok no literally but they will be in one year just you wait.

If they did do this, it would be huge. However, if they do, expect insane exchange fees, like 5%.
legendary
Activity: 3598
Merit: 2386
Viva Ut Vivas
As much as it pains me to say it, Bitcoin is not yet ready for a Western Union sized business to use Bitcoin.

They live in the world of fiat money and fiat accounting structures. They are able to balance credits and debits and show money on paper that they do not actually have, and still be able to spend that fictitious money because it will be there in the future.

They would have to do a huge infrastructure change to deal in a currency that has to exist to be spent. And they would have to come up with some huge operational steps to allow people or systems access to private keys to move bitcoins.

We are definitely in beta when it comes to companies using bitcoins. We have seen the early results when people did not yet use cold storage.

It would not be as simple as them just starting to accept bitcoin at their kiosks or paying out bitcoin in exchange for cash.
sr. member
Activity: 252
Merit: 250
a wolf in sheeps clothing. suckerfish
I think you guys fail to understand the gravity of the situation.

WU literally could, with extremely little effort, turn every single WU place into the equivalent of a Bitcoin ATM.

yep this is what is happening. they know there time is up. they are going to die here within the year or two so better buck up and turn there company into an exchange place. it will be like an atm. you put your money in and then type the bitcoin address in and bam five-ten minutes and you have your BTC(money)sent to whomever you need to. and just like you say no need to change it to yen/euro/frank/lirea etc just sends it. you know what this means??? for dear god hold onto your bitcoins they are literally worth gold now. ok no literally but they will be in one year just you wait.
legendary
Activity: 1666
Merit: 1057
Marketing manager - GO MP

All I see is a hint that you don't like me.

To actually defend myself from this idiocy: I know little about economics and make use of the things I know, being confused about a subject is a normal process in learning something new.
But that doesn't mean that I can't use the things I am comfortable with.
Now if you have a problem with that that is your predicament. And if you were interested in the subject at all instead of looking for a fight you would have addressed the other issues I raised of why I think western union will not do something like Bitcoin ATMs.
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