Bitcoins for gambling....

Hey Van. A poster has a thread about this in the Gaming Industry thread. Check it out.

We'll all sit back at this years from now and go why the hell didn't I buy up all the bitcoins I could when I first heard of this thing back in Feb, 2013.

I actually saw this thread before I posted this - and was some of the inspiration for me posting this.

I have been investigating and have been aware of this for 6 months, and I just thought that I could create a better forum for discussing it here than contributing to that thread.  I hope he contributes here with his experiences.

We will all say why the hell didnt I buy them, or we might say thank god I didnt buy them.  Who knows.  I own exactly 3.25 bitcoins right now - so that should tell you something about how I feel.....

This might work in the short term...but question the long term thinking. Right now we are in midst of a restrictive time for gambling. If you believe this trend will continue, you would want to consider bitcoins a good investment. I personally don't think this is a long term thing.

The United State government is starting to understand the tax dollars being lost to overseas books.  States such as NJ are going to open the flood gates for legalized online gambling making it much easier for US citizens to move money to and from regulated US sportsbooks.  If this occurs the need for bitcoins is zero.

The concern for Americans now should be if the US does legalize it. In my opinion the offshores will shutdown and keep whatever money thats there. The need for a good reputation will be lost and the amount of customers they would keep would be zero.  American books would be regulated meaning Asian and European customers would also find them attractive over Costa Rican outlets.

I just can't see how bitcoins could survive if the American market reopens...and I think it will soon

One Bitcoin is divisible down to eight decimal places. There are really 2,099,999,997,690,000 (just over 2 quadrillion) maximum possible atomic units in the bitcoin design.

The value of "1 BTC" represents 100,000,000 of these. In other words, each is divisible by up to 10^8.

As the value of the unit of 1 BTC grows too large to be useful for day to day transactions, people can start dealing in smaller units, such as milli-bitcoins (mBTC) or micro-bitcoins (µBTC).

The currency was designed for "black market" things.  Meaning if gambling and pot become main stream there is little need for bitcoins.

I am not seeing a need other than for illegal things. Maybe someone can explain a scenario of where a bitcoin would be more covenient than credit on a product that is legal?

Its unfortunate they were not available about 4 or 5 years ago...maybe it could have grown into something in time to survive. Just can't see how they survive an American ruling of legal online gambling

It really wasnt.  It was designed as an alternative currency that was not devalued and regulated by government agencies.

In fact, I would say that Bitcoins founders are probably very much against it being used for drugs or gambling because it has the potential to derail their project.

Like I said before... give me a scenario where a betcoin is better than a credit card -cash or checkon an item or service that is legal  

Also why would legitimate business want to accept them? With the prices on them fluctuating with broad gaps it would make no sense for a legal business to take that chance.  If I am running a drug house- pot outfit or gambling it makes sense. Bitcoins could make laundering money easier.

There are tons of scenarios.  First - it is free for the merchant.  And anyone can use it and receive it, with no setup fees.

So if you sell flowers at a farmers market, you are currently paying 3-5% to use Visa or MC.  Bitcoin is 0%. 

But your second post is valid.  The fluctuation in value is clearly the risk that most businesses wont want to take.  But lets assume that bitcoin reaches some kind of critical mass - and it stabilizes.  It clearly is an advantage to every business to use it.  A lot of businesses would double their profit margin by getting rid of 5% transaction costs.

So for credit cards, clearly the 3-5% charge that is currently being paid could be passed on to the consumer, or shared with the consumer, or kept by the merchant.  Lower prices in the end.  Lower cost of doing business.  More business.

Credit cards also have chargebacks.  Bitcoins do not.

Cash is controlled by a government.  Governments can print more cash at will and devalue the currency.  Inflation and deflation is often artificial.  People who believe this should not be controlled by a government like an idea like bitcoin.  Also, there is no currency exchange across borders.

Checks?  People still write checks?  Well, checking accounts arent free either.  And they are totally traceable.  Retailers take a chance that a check is fake or invalid - bitcoin is immediately verified.  So if everyone took bitcoin, it would certainly be a better option for everyone than checks.

Just some examples I can think of.  And I am not an expert.  And of course - all of this assumes a critical mass of bitcoin which it is not at yet.  If somehow tomorrow - the world accepted bitcoin (just pretend for a moment) - I dont think anyone could make an argument that it wouldnt be better than credit cards, current cash, and checks.  The key is whether or not it will reach that global acceptance level - it is ovbiously a long shot - but worth keeping an eye on.

But what is the advantage for the buyer? Why should anyone use bitcoins over the things I mentioned? Bitcoins exist on the internet. At least cash-credit-checks all can be proven to have ownership. How do I prove I have bitpoints? What if your account is hacked?

From the seller standpoint it makes little sense either. Yes you have 3-5% to be charged...but you are not gambling on how bitpoints fluctuates. No way in hell any huge retailers would ever consider bitpoints...zero chance.

You mention that cash can be printed which is true...but what is to stop bitpoints from being created? Who actually knows how many have be created already? Do we just go on the word of the creators?

Gold is the currency of the world. You can get pretty much the same price for 1 ounce in any jewelry or coin shop in the world.

Bitpoints makes sense in illegal markets ....but can see no way it will ever be mainstream. The security needed to protect this sort of endeavor doesn't exist.

But what is the advantage for the buyer? Why should anyone use bitcoins over the things I mentioned? Bitcoins exist on the internet. At least cash-credit-checks all can be proven to have ownership. How do I prove I have bitpoints? What if your account is hacked?

From the seller standpoint it makes little sense either. Yes you have 3-5% to be charged...but you are not gambling on how bitpoints fluctuates. No way in hell any huge retailers would ever consider bitpoints...zero chance.

You mention that cash can be printed which is true...but what is to stop bitpoints from being created? Who actually knows how many have be created already? Do we just go on the word of the creators?

Gold is the currency of the world. You can get pretty much the same price for 1 ounce in any jewelry or coin shop in the world.

Bitpoints makes sense in illegal markets ....but can see no way it will ever be mainstream. The security needed to protect this sort of endeavor doesn't exist.

Price went from 30 to 35 in a week since writing the original post.

The volatility is crazy.

I thought about this as well.  If there are 21 million, the market value at 35 dollars is about 700 milliion dollars.

So if some evil billionaire (Dr Doofenshmirtz maybe) wanted to buy them all - they could attempt to do so.  The issue is in the execution.  After they bought some, the run on the market would drive the price up on the remaining.  And after they bought enough, the price would go down because of lack of interest and use from the market.

Thats my halfwit opinion anyway.

That is one of the main characteristics of bitcoin.  Totally anonymous.

Alright its up to 37.

Seriously.  From 30 to 37 in about 7 days?  Close to 25% in a week, and up 700% in 3 months?

I wish I had more than 3 bitcoins.

Quote Originally Posted by lbcake:

Now it's in overbought territory.

Short the mother.

50 bucks today.

50!!!!!

This thread is about a week old.  It went from 30 to 50. 

Hell - it went from 40-50 overnight.  WTF????