

Why the P2P Foundation pays salaries in Bitcoin - stuhood
http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/why-the-p2p-foundation-is-paying-its-salaries-in-bitcoin/2012/03/28

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lini
I am still wondering why Bitcon has not created a scheme for user-friendly
addresses. Remembering something like 19HcFgnnJseANJAHUjFifVwz68AGYrHc7v is
way harder than Donate.P2PF or something like that. I think there is a URL
service that offers a personalized handle, but implementing a better solution
in the Bitcoin codebase shouldn't be so hard.

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stuhood
There is an interesting scheme called 'firstbits', which uses the blockchain
(global, public, immutable) to determine the shortest prefix which uniquely
identifies an address. At this point in time, an address can usually be
identified with 5-6 hex digits.

Your 19HcFgnnJseANJAHUjFifVwz68AGYrHc7v address for example, firstbits down to
19HcFgn: <http://firstbits.com/>

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stuhood
Sorry... not hex: base64 (or whatever the bitcoin variant is.)

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rockyleal
I am the guy who got paid, AMA (seriously)

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mcherm
Was the amount you were to be paid specified in bitcoins or in some other
currency at the conversion rate on the day you were paid?

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rockyleal
The honorary was agreed in Euros before starting my employment. When I was
asked for the first invoice I included my Btc address, and wrote an email
requesting to be paid in Bitcoin. The reception to the idea was so
enthusiastic, including ending up writing a blog post about it (which I co-
wrote). An account was created in one of the exchanges and the Btc were bought
at market price, after which they were transferred to my Btc address.

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mcherm
Thanks. So from the sound of this, rather than being paid with a fixed amount
of bitcoins (treating it as a currency), you were paid with a fixed amount of
Euros (treating it as a currency) and it was transferred using bitcoins
(treating it as a financial instrument).

This satisfies my curiosity: I have seen uses of bitcoins as a financial
instrument (although this is the first time I've heard of it being used for
salary payments), but I have yet to see it used as a currency (except for
speculators).

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paulhauggis
You better convert it to $ fast. Otherwise, you many not have been paid as
much as you earned.

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sgornick
Or depending on market conditions the exchange rate could move in your favor
and those bitcoins can buy much more than what they could on the day they were
earned.

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pagekalisedown
Schrute Bucks would've been my choice. /sarcasm

