Western Union to begin accepting Bitcoin (WSJ) - page 4.

Minor Miner

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Be A Digital Miner

Quote from: greyhawk on April 02, 2013, 07:18:58 AM

Quote from: benjamindees on April 02, 2013, 07:12:59 AM

Quote from: JordanL on April 02, 2013, 06:46:11 AM

We need to be lobbying for them to adopt Bitcoin.

/facepalm

Noooooo, please let him do it. Those are always amusing.

BTC-User: "Hey WU, please take Bitcoins, ok?"
WU: "What is a bitcoin and why should we accept it?"
BTC-User: "It is a new currency that's intended to get rid of banks and other currency transaction providers. It'll be great. Everyone will be one's own bank."
WU: "So what you're saying is we should accept a currency that's specifically built to put us out of business by circumventing us in the first place."
BTC-User: "Yes, exactly. It will be wonderful. Hello? Hellllooooo? SirMadam? Where are you going? FUCKING HATERS. WE'LL SHOW YOU!"

Finally, someone seems to understand what corps do when they find something the "overcomes" the barriers to entry they have put up in their industry. Their lobbyists now know about this threat and will work on the ways to destroy it. BTC MUST get into circulation fast. We need a way that the common man can use this easy and become comfortable with it. BTC miners should become the VC of the BTC economy (it is in their own interest).

glub0x

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Honestly this might depend on a very few poeple.
I was to think that they would hate bitcoin, but if the head of WU is a clever and open minded guy, i have no doubt that they can find a business model that will make them fire a few poeple and save loads amount of money.
And this is a very good argument for a company.

So wait and see!

Mark Oates

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Quote from: lebing on April 02, 2013, 11:10:10 AM

This was her response "David Thompson said he's interested in developing partnerships for digital currency efforts." Which seems pretty clear that they do not want to create a competitor...

Not necessarily. It's possible to interpret that as "developing partnerships with companies for creating our digital currency."

lebing

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Enabling the maximal migration

This was her response "David Thompson said he's interested in developing partnerships for digital currency efforts." Which seems pretty clear that they do not want to create a competitor...

Bitcoinpro

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bitcoin is the dissolution of banks, money transfer corporations government printing presses and embodies the true definition of "you cannot stop and idea who's time has come"

herzmeister

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Quote from: sunnankar on April 02, 2013, 03:51:43 AM

Could be a joke but I doubt it. Would not surprise me if WU were the instigator in getting FinCEN to get some guidelines published.

buy the rumor,... Wink

JordanL

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Quote from: greyhawk on April 02, 2013, 08:18:03 AM

Quote from: JordanL on April 02, 2013, 07:46:39 AM

Quote from: benjamindees on April 02, 2013, 07:43:39 AM

Quote from: greyhawk on April 02, 2013, 07:36:19 AM

Again: At what point of that transaction would Western Union even be required?

At the point at which they use their lobbying connections to make it illegal for individuals to buy/sell Bitcoins without them.

OH WAIT, YOU IDIOTS ARE ALREADY DOING A FINE JOB OF LOBBYING FOR THAT YOURSELVES.

zzzz, if only everyone were as smart as you. Illegal to trade Bitcoins without them? That doesn't even make sense.

He didn't say "trade". He said "buy/sell". World of a difference. And yes, illegality of operating as an exchange without being licensed to operate as an exchange is a very real possibility.

I used trade as shorthand for buy/sell, I apologize for any confusion.

"illegality of operating as an exchange without being licensed to operate as an exchange is a very real possibility"

What??? You lost me. If your company has to be licensed to operate an exchange... that hasn't nothing to do with whether WU is operating one or not. The more competition, the better. For such a decentralized economy we sure do seem to rely on mtgox a lot. Roll Eyes

greyhawk

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Quote from: JordanL on April 02, 2013, 07:46:39 AM

Quote from: benjamindees on April 02, 2013, 07:43:39 AM

Quote from: greyhawk on April 02, 2013, 07:36:19 AM

Again: At what point of that transaction would Western Union even be required?

At the point at which they use their lobbying connections to make it illegal for individuals to buy/sell Bitcoins without them.

OH WAIT, YOU IDIOTS ARE ALREADY DOING A FINE JOB OF LOBBYING FOR THAT YOURSELVES.

zzzz, if only everyone were as smart as you. Illegal to trade Bitcoins without them? That doesn't even make sense.

He didn't say "trade". He said "buy/sell". World of a difference. And yes, illegality of operating as an exchange without being licensed to operate as an exchange is a very real possibility.

Piper67

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Quote from: caveden on April 02, 2013, 07:49:43 AM

AFAIK, WU moves fiat around the globe, and handles currency conversion. You give them USD, and they deposit INR in some Indian account you specified, for ex.
They could potentially decrease their costs by using Bitcoin as intermediary currency. That would work particularly well if they were acting as exchanges too. They could do it incrementally, for example, at a first moment, only use BTC as intermediary for (some) USD<->EUR transactions, since the liquidity of these markets (BTC/USD and BTC/EUR) is better than any other.

WU is already a de facto exchange. If I send USD from the US, and someone in Brazil receives Reais, WU has done the exchanging (usually at a rate that is obscene to the point of vomiting). Yes, WU could maintain their business model and co-opt Bitcoin as the intermediary, as it would save them the cost associated with keeping their own WU network running, which I guess is not a trivial cost. But, as someone already mentioned, at some point it would become obvious that individuals could do exactly what WU is doing.

Now, if WU were to slightly adapt its business model to become more of a Bitinstant, and to continue to offer payment remittances as part of that business, they would save themselves a ton of money and make another ton as an exchange.

Will they do it, or even consider it? If I were a betting man, my money would be on no, but who knows, perhaps there are some enlightened souls within the WU walls who are ready to consider it.

caveden

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AFAIK, WU moves fiat around the globe, and handles currency conversion. You give them USD, and they deposit INR in some Indian account you specified, for ex.
They could potentially decrease their costs by using Bitcoin as intermediary currency. That would work particularly well if they were acting as exchanges too. They could do it incrementally, for example, at a first moment, only use BTC as intermediary for (some) USD<->EUR transactions, since the liquidity of these markets (BTC/USD and BTC/EUR) is better than any other.

JordanL

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Quote from: benjamindees on April 02, 2013, 07:43:39 AM

Quote from: greyhawk on April 02, 2013, 07:36:19 AM

Again: At what point of that transaction would Western Union even be required?

At the point at which they use their lobbying connections to make it illegal for individuals to buy/sell Bitcoins without them.

OH WAIT, YOU IDIOTS ARE ALREADY DOING A FINE JOB OF LOBBYING FOR THAT YOURSELVES.

zzzz, if only everyone were as smart as you. Illegal to trade Bitcoins without them? That doesn't even make sense.

benjamindees

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Quote from: greyhawk on April 02, 2013, 07:36:19 AM

Again: At what point of that transaction would Western Union even be required?

At the point at which they use their lobbying connections to make it illegal for individuals to buy/sell Bitcoins without them.

OH WAIT, YOU IDIOTS ARE ALREADY DOING A FINE JOB OF LOBBYING FOR THAT YOURSELVES.

JordanL

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Quote from: greyhawk on April 02, 2013, 07:36:19 AM

Quote from: kangasbros on April 02, 2013, 07:33:05 AM

Quote from: Piper67 on April 02, 2013, 07:24:06 AM

Yes, they could blow everyone else out of the water and make an incredible amount of money in the process, but only if they have the intelligence and the balls to significantly alter their business model. Large corporations don't have a stellar track record when it comes to that, I'm afraid.

I don't really know how much they would have to alter their business model. They could just add bitcoin payment option via bit-pay to allow sending money with bitcoin, that would be fairly trivial. For the receiving end, they could partner with a company such as Bitinstant.

Again: At what point of that transaction would Western Union even be required?

How often do we see complaints from people having problems buying bitcoins? I think WU has a slight edge over bitinstant.

greyhawk

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Quote from: kangasbros on April 02, 2013, 07:33:05 AM

Quote from: Piper67 on April 02, 2013, 07:24:06 AM

Yes, they could blow everyone else out of the water and make an incredible amount of money in the process, but only if they have the intelligence and the balls to significantly alter their business model. Large corporations don't have a stellar track record when it comes to that, I'm afraid.

I don't really know how much they would have to alter their business model. They could just add bitcoin payment option via bit-pay to allow sending money with bitcoin, that would be fairly trivial. For the receiving end, they could partner with a company such as Bitinstant.

Again: At what point of that transaction would Western Union even be required?

kangasbros

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Quote from: Piper67 on April 02, 2013, 07:24:06 AM

Yes, they could blow everyone else out of the water and make an incredible amount of money in the process, but only if they have the intelligence and the balls to significantly alter their business model. Large corporations don't have a stellar track record when it comes to that, I'm afraid.

I don't really know how much they would have to alter their business model. They could just add bitcoin payment option via bit-pay to allow sending money with bitcoin, that would be fairly trivial. For the receiving end, they could partner with a company such as Bitinstant.

Piper67

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Quote from: the founder on April 02, 2013, 07:20:55 AM

Don't laugh they could be a valid exchange If they take that direction

Yes, they could blow everyone else out of the water and make an incredible amount of money in the process, but only if they have the intelligence and the balls to significantly alter their business model. Large corporations don't have a stellar track record when it comes to that, I'm afraid.

the founder

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Bitcoin

Don't laugh they could be a valid exchange If they take that direction

greyhawk

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Quote from: benjamindees on April 02, 2013, 07:12:59 AM

Quote from: JordanL on April 02, 2013, 06:46:11 AM

We need to be lobbying for them to adopt Bitcoin.

/facepalm

Noooooo, please let him do it. Those are always amusing.

BTC-User: "Hey WU, please take Bitcoins, ok?"
WU: "What is a bitcoin and why should we accept it?"
BTC-User: "It is a new currency that's intended to get rid of banks and other currency transaction providers. It'll be great. Everyone will be one's own bank."
WU: "So what you're saying is we should accept a currency that's specifically built to put us out of business by circumventing us in the first place."
BTC-User: "Yes, exactly. It will be wonderful. Hello? Hellllooooo? SirMadam? Where are you going? FUCKING HATERS. WE'LL SHOW YOU!"

benjamindees

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Quote from: JordanL on April 02, 2013, 06:46:11 AM

We need to be lobbying for them to adopt Bitcoin.

/facepalm

JordanL

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Quote from: bootlace on April 02, 2013, 06:34:06 AM

Some serious reading comprehension fail by the OP. If they introduced something, it would be a competitor to Bitcoin, never says they will begin accepting Bitcoin.

Quote

The company is looking at the use of digital currencies like Bitcoin

Sounds like that has not been decided (assuming this is not a joke). We need to be lobbying for them to adopt Bitcoin.

Topic: Western Union to begin accepting Bitcoin (WSJ) - page 4. (Read 8106 times)