Topic: So if you want to help the economy... - page 2. (Read 2043 times)

be the change you want to see
Open up a local coop that accepts bitcoins. Specialize in organic food if you need to to attract the right kind of weird people

It'll happen in due time...

Thread is smart.

I just wish I could buy my goddamn groceries in Bitcoin. Groceries and gas. Thats where all my fiat goes.

If I sell something, it's going to be on bitmit.com now on instead of ebay. My first go at this is in my signature, check it out

People who say "Nobody spends bitcoins, everyone hoards, nobody spends deflationary currencies, and because of this, it's a speculatory bubble and is gonna CRASH" are full of it and need to wipe Paul Krugman's semen off of their lips.

Lots of people buy stuff with bitcoins, just look around. Heck, one merchant I regularly purchase from announced that with very little advertisement, they made $50,000 in bitcoin sales this last month. Bitcoin is just that cool. It's hip. People use it. In case you hadn't ventured outside your mom's basement in a while - it's darned popular.

Why do people spend deflationary currencies? Are they stupid? No, it's because of this simple reason: When the need for a good/service in the present outweighs the potential benefit of putting off the purchase indefinitely due to potential future gains, the purchase will be made.
There is a finite supply of gold, yet it was used as a currency for thousands of years.

Now, some of us have a little mental struggle going on, but OP's method seems to work perfectly for those folks. In the end, I spend a small fraction of my bitcoins each month on "stuff" that I need/want, and the rest is saved and appreciates in value. That's the way it's supposed to work, anyways. None of this USD hot potato stuff "It's inflating, spend it as fast as you can, spend spend spend, consume consume consume, stimulate the useless stagnant economy and all its ridiculous bubbles." Sure you might get 1% interest in your USD savings account but true inflation is way higher than 1% per year. Who wants a hot potato when you can grow a potato plant? Lol analogy.

Oh yeah, any time I have to place an order with a merchant that only accepts USD, I leave a note in the order comments (or send a feedback email) requesting that they accept BTC. Any time I get a donation request in the mail, I send the letter back with a handwritten note explaining how I don't use fiat currencies and I would gladly donate were they to accept BTC, with a URL for Bitpay's free 501(c)3 program.

but would you use your bitcoin if you knows bitcoin is going up and govt currency is going down?

FWIW I just dropped an email to Newegg customer service to let them know they lost that sale precisely because they didn't accept bitcoin. Now that one email probably means nothing but the more they hear it the more they might realize.

Show merchants you don't want to use fiat.  Show them you want to use Bitcoin.  When Merchant A realizes Merchant B accepts Bitcoin, and he's making good money from it, Merchant A will realize he's losing customers by not accepting Bitcoin.

To do this, simply favor the BTC Merchant over the Fiat Merchant.  They'll fall in line as adoption grows.

Don't be too sure you're helping the economy in that way. The current rise in bitcoin exchange rate is not because of real added value. It's just a shift from fiat currencies to bitcoin. Up to now, bitcoin is too small to obviously impact USD or EUR. But imagine bitcoin performing at the current doubling rate for a while. There will be a devaluation of other currencies going along with the valuation of bitcoin.

Done!  That worked great - and saved about 15% in the process.  I didn't know there was a sale on today

Seriously though - smooth as silk.  I already mentioned this to the guys I work with (who are also into bitcoin) and this is definitely the route we will take in the future.  First time I used bitpay, but they have it down!

THIS. This is what I've been trying to tell everyone. You can hoard all you want, but if you do it's also in your interest to participate in the Bitcoin economy to show merchants that people actually want to use Bitcoin to buy stuff. Keep a separate small balance for purchases, and replenish it from another currency as you need to.

(Disclaimer - yes, I am hoarding ATM.)

I realized something last night.  I was looking at buying some electronics at newegg, so I was pricing those out.  Then I realized I could get the same thing and, comparing prices, for virtually the same dollar value equivalent from bitcoinstore.com.  But, I didn't want to part with my precious bitcoins! 

So, instead, I took the money earmarked for the purchase and converted it to bitcoin.  I am still evaluating which model of item I want, so in the meantime my value of those BTC has gone up in $.  However, I know I will purchase within a day or two.

In the end, I bought more BTC, contributed to the economy and supported a BTC-only merchant.  And worst case, I spent the money I was going to spend anyways.

If you are not holding the spending coins for any period of time, the fluctuations in price aren't that big a deal.  However, using them strengthens the economy, and in the current climate, I wind up saving a few $$ in the end.  Good for everyone!