WordPress To Accept Bitcoins 205
angry tapir writes "WordPress has said it will accept payment in bitcoins, opening up the blogging platform to payments from users in countries not supported by PayPal or credit card companies. WordPress is free, open-source software, but the company Automattic offers paid-for features such as blog designs, custom domains, hosting partnerships and anti-spam measures."
Now (Score:2, Informative)
It's accepting Bitcoin "now" ;)
Seems like a no-brainer (Score:5, Informative)
They're using BitPay. Assuming BitPay's charges are reasonable, it seems like a bit of a no-brainer.
Wordpress makes some simple API calls to BitPay. If someone pays in BitCoin, BitPay converts it to dollars, takes a processing fee, and adds it to Wordpress's balance. Wordpress can treat it as dollars from that point on, so tricky tax/accounting issues.
On that basis, why would you *not* accept BitCoin, if you think there are customers keen to spend them?
BitPay has to deal with tax/accounting/legality issues, but that's their business.
Re:Bitcoin will never (Score:2, Informative)
That's already the case, at least in in New York and Berlin.
Re:Bitcoin will never (Score:5, Informative)
Re:hm (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Few replies (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/virtualcurrencyschemes201210en.pdf [europa.eu]
"On the one hand, the Bitcoin scheme is a decentralised system where – at least in theory – there is no central organiser that can undermine the system and disappear with its funds. Bitcoin users buy and sell the currency among themselves without any kind of intermediation and therefore, it seems that nobody benefits from the system, apart from those who benefit from the exchange rate evolution (just as in any other currency trade) or those who are hard-working “miners” and are therefore rewarded for their contribution to the security and confidence in the system as a whole."
"Moreover, the scheme does not promise high returns to anybody. Although some Bitcoin users may try to profit from exchange rate fluctuations, Bitcoins are not intended to be an investment vehicle, just a medium of exchange. On the contrary, Gavin Andresen, Lead Developer of the Bitcoin virtual currency project, does not hesitate to say that “Bitcoin is an experiment. Treat it like you would treat a promising internet start-up company: maybe it will change the world, but realise that investing your money or time in new ideas is always risky”. In addition, Bitcoin supporters claim that it is an open-source system whose code is available to any interested party."
Can you lose your shirt if you invest heavily in Bitcoin? Yes. Can you get scammed by other users? Yes. Is the whole thing a Ponzi scheme? No.
Re:Why?!? (Score:4, Informative)
RTFA. They want to sell to customers in countries where banks/paypal/etc. don't serve.
But WordPress wrote on its blog that PayPal doesn't serve more than 60 countries, and credit card companies have restrictions due to political, fraud and other reasons.
"Whatever the reason, we don't think an individual blogger from Haiti, Ethiopia, or Kenya should have diminished access to the blogosphere because of payment issues they can't control," WordPress said. "Our goal is to enable people, not block them."
Re:hm (Score:2, Informative)
Re:hm (Score:3, Informative)
Re:hm (Score:2, Informative)
So, we are supposed to take government propaganda as fact? Why should we let them have all the fun [fas.org]? What's good for the goose...
We have a right not to be tracked, regardless of your hysteria about 'criminals'.
Bitcoin has never been hacked (Score:4, Informative)
Sites and people handling bitcoins have had their compters hacked - exactly the same thing that would happen if banks had the same low lever of security as these victims (and indeed, this has happened to banks as well). If someone breaks into a physical bank, or steals your wallet, would you call paper money "hacked"? This analogy is apt, btw, because bitcoin behaves a lot like paper money in many ways, and if you store your paper money where someone can nick it, it's bound to happen sooner or later.
The actual currency bitcoin has so far not been hacked. So, just like you don't ask any guy on the street to keep your money and keep it safe, you should only store your bitcoins with someone you actually trust - or have good security on your own (equivalent to having good locks on your home).