Will Meh accept Bitcoin?

To me the only way to truly "accept Bitcoin" is if you are going to hold said bitcoin and buy something else with said bitcoin. Retailers who say they are accepting it at whatever to-the-second-exchange-rate-for-dollars it has are basically just saving you a few minutes. They aren't really supporting a bitcoin economy any more than taking paypal supports a paypal economy. Not very innovative or remarkable at all in my opinion.

To me this question is the same as you asking if you can pay in Pork Bellies. Sure, if we did the work you could do that.

make your pitch as to why accepting Bitcoin would please you (given every US business has to convert to $ per the IRS.)

@caffeine_dude
You make a good point, one of the reasons Bitcoin in particular, and the other similar *coin cryptocurrencies, work is because there is a finite supply. The way the technology works everyone knows where every coin is (it's anonymous, but tracked by long ID codes). So no one can just "create" a bunch, there is a total amount possible. The actual mining is a reactive thing, the amount of electricity required to mine the coin roughly equals the value of the coin. The idea is as computers become more powerful and efficient mining gets harder, so no one can just blow everyone else away with a sufficiently fancy machine.

People have absolutely created new currencies for that exact reason, to try to get in on the ground floor. The problem there is adoption. Bitcoin only has real-world value because enough people/companies agree to trade cash or goods for it. You can create all the *-coins you want, but if no one is willing to swap those for cash (or keep it within it's own ecosystem) they are essentially worthless.

@snapster
I agree with you, but there are two important points. Bitcoin is anonymous, so for people who want to send money without being watched (bad guys as well as people who live in countries with oppressive governments) it facilitates that. It's been a big thing in China, the Chinese government strictly controls currency exchange to control their inflation, and other reasons. But for a while Chinese citizens could change the Yuan to Bitcoin, then Bitcoin to USD. It gives people liquidity their country might otherwise prohibit.

Secondly for retailers Bitcoin has a very low process cost. A credit card company will charge rates up to 10% for transactions (more often 3-5 for small companies, but big guys like Walmart can use its market to leverage very low rates). A small company has a hard time eating even 3% of every transaction so they raise costs to cover it. If the transaction rate was only 0.5% it's more money for the seller and, one hopes, cheaper products for the buyer. Charitable organizations can really use the savings as well.

I also agree Bitcoin is not it's own self-contained currency yet, but these are steps into making it so. When I first got involved I saw it as an investment, I put my money in, when it got high enough I took it out. After retailers started taking it I would buy things and ended up keeping a fair amount in my wallet. Yes it's not a stable currency yet, but I think "yet" is the key word. Plus Pork Bellies start to smell if you leave them in your computer for too long.

Lastly I am totally not an expert, I think it's a neat thing, I use it in my online transactions and I will politely push for adoption wherever I think it fits. Woo...err... Meh seems to be run by tech-savvy people who like new ideas and I think it fits with the overall tone of the place.

Accept Dogecoin and I'm in.