I bought laundry detergent the other day, and I got only the $1 box, which is much more expensive per load than the $8 box.
Nobody had to make an incentive for me to do this - people buy this option all the time. It's the exact same decision as choosing to spend gold or Bitcoin which might be worth more tomorrow.
Topic: Incentivizing to spent Bitcoins (Read 1423 times)
Very interesting dilemma - how merchants will lure customers to buy their goods or services for Bitcoin when most people will realize about deflationary properties of the Bitcoin and will spend their BTC very hardly?
Does it means that BTC will be only investment (savings) instrument without chances to be fiat (inflationary) currency replacement? Or may be merchants will include expected BTC/$ rise and offer generous discounts to motivate spending Bitcoins?
Does it means that BTC will be only investment (savings) instrument without chances to be fiat (inflationary) currency replacement? Or may be merchants will include expected BTC/$ rise and offer generous discounts to motivate spending Bitcoins?
Hunger and cold will incentivize people to spend a deflationary currency. I'm surprised the fiat people managed to sell this. Even if the speck of gold in my pocket will be worth more tomorrow, I have to eat today! People sell stocks when they have expenses and needs. In bitcoin's case, people have 'other' needs that keep the spending going.
Buying something because money is burning a hole in your pocket hardly seems wise.
So true. People have needs, wants, etc and economies need consumer spending.
Now that my stash has increased 1000%, I have no problem spending a few coins here and there for stuff. I just paid this minute for a week in a hotel with bitcoin, that felt awesome.
I realize this increase in value can't carry on for ever, but later adopters will still spend bitcoin if they have to, or even if they just want to. I think a deflationary currency would encourage a competitive marketplace - in the same way the computing/home entertainment/mobile devices sector is doing so well. After all, these technologies costs less year on year, yet people still spend a shitload of money on them.
I realize this increase in value can't carry on for ever, but later adopters will still spend bitcoin if they have to, or even if they just want to. I think a deflationary currency would encourage a competitive marketplace - in the same way the computing/home entertainment/mobile devices sector is doing so well. After all, these technologies costs less year on year, yet people still spend a shitload of money on them.
People easily fall into the trap of believing that which enriches them is 'good', history should teach us very very suspicious of that feeling because it is usually our greed clouding our reasoning.
The comparison to Electronics is as inaccurate as it is self-serving, BTC's are not getting any better at the rate of Moor's law, their is no Billion dollar a year investment by thousands of skilled people and investment in newer chip fabrication that produce Moor's law growth in real utility and measurable physical performance. All we have here is a speculative bubble and a kind of pyramid scheme where early adopters sell to new people at the bottom of the pyramid who's only ultimate goal is to sell to some bigger fool down the line.
I'm not questioning whether Bitcoin is inherently "good" or "bad", (even though personally I do think it's a good, useful tool for the world).
As to the Moore's law analogy, OK it's not 100% accurate but Moore's law will eventually find a hard limit (like Bitcoin) unless quantum computing really takes off quickly, and the prices of comparable goods will probably still get cheaper year-on-year due to the lowering manufacturing costs. Like when CD/DVD players came out they were super expensive, but mass production made them cheaper today.
And I still think a deflationary currency would make for a competitive marketplace, even at a very high saturation/adoption level.
I agree that we're in a speculative bubble here, but that doesn't take away the utility and appeal of Bitcoin imho, and many people are betting on the future value of it. Which is fine I think.
Just wait till the next real crash. Everybody will be talking differently. At least for a while. 
I dunno, there's only one previous crash and it was hardly that bad considering how much the price increased
Did you mean the crash in 2011 or the crash in 2013?
Which crash of 2013? The one back earlier in the year? Or the one that happened 12 hours ago to drop the price by 30% then recover 4 minutes later? lol.
Now that my stash has increased 1000%, I have no problem spending a few coins here and there for stuff. I just paid this minute for a week in a hotel with bitcoin, that felt awesome.
I realize this increase in value can't carry on for ever, but later adopters will still spend bitcoin if they have to, or even if they just want to. I think a deflationary currency would encourage a competitive marketplace - in the same way the computing/home entertainment/mobile devices sector is doing so well. After all, these technologies costs less year on year, yet people still spend a shitload of money on them.
I realize this increase in value can't carry on for ever, but later adopters will still spend bitcoin if they have to, or even if they just want to. I think a deflationary currency would encourage a competitive marketplace - in the same way the computing/home entertainment/mobile devices sector is doing so well. After all, these technologies costs less year on year, yet people still spend a shitload of money on them.
People easily fall into the trap of believing that which enriches them is 'good', history should teach us very very suspicious of that feeling because it is usually our greed clouding our reasoning.
The comparison to Electronics is as inaccurate as it is self-serving, BTC's are not getting any better at the rate of Moor's law, their is no Billion dollar a year investment by thousands of skilled people and investment in newer chip fabrication that produce Moor's law growth in real utility and measurable physical performance. All we have here is a speculative bubble and a kind of pyramid scheme where early adopters sell to new people at the bottom of the pyramid who's only ultimate goal is to sell to some bigger fool down the line.
Now that my stash has increased 1000%, I have no problem spending a few coins here and there for stuff. I just paid this minute for a week in a hotel with bitcoin, that felt awesome.
I realize this increase in value can't carry on for ever, but later adopters will still spend bitcoin if they have to, or even if they just want to. I think a deflationary currency would encourage a competitive marketplace - in the same way the computing/home entertainment/mobile devices sector is doing so well. After all, these technologies costs less year on year, yet people still spend a shitload of money on them.
I realize this increase in value can't carry on for ever, but later adopters will still spend bitcoin if they have to, or even if they just want to. I think a deflationary currency would encourage a competitive marketplace - in the same way the computing/home entertainment/mobile devices sector is doing so well. After all, these technologies costs less year on year, yet people still spend a shitload of money on them.
Just wait till the next real crash. Everybody will be talking differently. At least for a while.
I dunno, there's only one previous crash and it was hardly that bad considering how much the price increased
Did you mean the crash in 2011 or the crash in 2013?
Just wait till the next real crash. Everybody will be talking differently. At least for a while.
I dunno, there's only one previous crash and it was hardly that bad considering how much the price increased
Did you mean the crash in 2011 or the crash in 2013?
Drug addicts need the fix now so they will spend now.
Gamblers have to bet before the game they are betting on.
People send remittances to their families to buy food and shelter.
Bitcoin has no problem with people spending it. Yes its also used for speculating but it has niche markets as a currency that are not affected by speculation at all.
Gamblers have to bet before the game they are betting on.
People send remittances to their families to buy food and shelter.
Bitcoin has no problem with people spending it. Yes its also used for speculating but it has niche markets as a currency that are not affected by speculation at all.
Just wait till the next real crash. Everybody will be talking differently. At least for a while.
I dunno, there's only one previous crash and it was hardly that bad considering how much the price increased
Very interesting dilemma - how merchants will lure customers to buy their goods or services for Bitcoin when most people will realize about deflationary properties of the Bitcoin and will spend their BTC very hardly?
The Bitcoin FAQ contains a link to an article that explains the deflationary economic model:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/FAQ#But_if_no_more_coins_are_generated.2C_what_happens_when_Bitcoins_are_lost.3F_Won.27t_that_be_a_problem.3F
Keep in mind that the reason the Bitcoin price (in fiat currency) is skyrocketing right now is not because Bitcoin is deflationary (finite supply). It is because the world is getting to know Bitcoin and the market is deciding what the proper price is. In this environment, it seems to make a lot of sense to buy and hold Bitcoin. But that has nothing to do with Bitcoin's finite supply.
Just wait till the next real crash. Everybody will be talking differently. At least for a while.
I think ultimately people will spend bitcoin, but yes, there needs to be good discounts, it's just difficult for merchants because you have to pay your on going costs which will normally need to be satisfied in a typical fiat currency. It's a little catch 22 in that respect, it takes more people spending bitcoin to get more merchants and service providers to accept bitcoin yet it requires more discounts to get people to see using bitcoin as better over using the likes of a CC provider or paypal and it requires merchants to be able to pay off costs with bitcoin over converting to fiat consistantly.
I think a key issue for bitcoin is it's main strong point is selling digital products and services, things where they're consumed and ultimately you don't want chargebacks and also bitcoin is great for micro-transactions because we all know how a few satoshis can grow over time, these also hopefully don't require as much overhead.
I think now is as good a time for new merchants though, casual bitcoin adopters will be ok with spending small fractions of bitcoin if their coins are steadily increasing in value and for the small expenditure it will help an economy grow and in itself further increase rest of the bitcoins they've hoarded.
I think a key issue for bitcoin is it's main strong point is selling digital products and services, things where they're consumed and ultimately you don't want chargebacks and also bitcoin is great for micro-transactions because we all know how a few satoshis can grow over time, these also hopefully don't require as much overhead.
I think now is as good a time for new merchants though, casual bitcoin adopters will be ok with spending small fractions of bitcoin if their coins are steadily increasing in value and for the small expenditure it will help an economy grow and in itself further increase rest of the bitcoins they've hoarded.
Very interesting dilemma - how merchants will lure customers to buy their goods or services for Bitcoin when most people will realize about deflationary properties of the Bitcoin and will spend their BTC very hardly?
Does it means that BTC will be only investment (savings) instrument without chances to be fiat (inflationary) currency replacement? Or may be merchants will include expected BTC/$ rise and offer generous discounts to motivate spending Bitcoins?
Does it means that BTC will be only investment (savings) instrument without chances to be fiat (inflationary) currency replacement? Or may be merchants will include expected BTC/$ rise and offer generous discounts to motivate spending Bitcoins?
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