
Shopify accepts Bitcoin - rasengan
http://ecommerce.shopify.com/c/payments-shipping-fulfilment/t/bitcoin-135352
======
kristopher
For those who had a hard time finding the official information, I will repost
it here:

    
    
      Brian Alkerton
      Shopify Employee
      
      Hey Everyone,
      
      Just a quick update on this: our Bitpay integration is feature-complete and can be added to your store now.
      Due to the fact that it's a very new feature and not something we're ready to roll out to all stores just yet,
      you will need to contact me to have it enabled, and I may want to follow up with you for your feedback once
      you've been using it for a while, but it works. When active, Bitpay will appear as a credit card processor
      in the Checkout page of your shop admin - enter your access key and you'll be all set to go.
    
      One caveat: at this time, Bitpay functions in the same way as the other credit card processors on Shopify,
      meaning that you can't use Bitpay in conjunction with Authorize.net, Stripe, or other credit card processors.
      PayPal Express Checkout can be used as a secondary option with Bitpay in the same way it can be used with all
      other gateways.
    
      To activate, email me your shop URL at brian@shopify.com and I'll do my best to get everyone up and running promptly!

~~~
krrrh

      One caveat: at this time, Bitpay functions in the same way 
      as the other credit card processors on Shopify,
      meaning that you can't use Bitpay in conjunction with 
      Authorize.net, Stripe, or other credit card processors.
    

This is so half-assed, and frankly sort of typical in terms of the strange
limitations that Shopify saddles you with (similar to how it took them 5 years
to fix their database so you could modify a shipping address as a merchant).
Sure, it would be fun to have a button that allows a customer to pay with
bitcoin if they want to or are able to, but how many merchants would forgo
credit card processing in favor of bitcoin? This "feature" is link-bait, and
nothing more at this time.

------
wcummings
It's obvious to me that many of the Bitcoin critics in this thread have never
actually used it. I prefer Bitcoin for online purchases, if a vendor accepts
it, I'll use it. Purchases aren't tracked, or being sucked up by some SIGINT
program, no fees (even in exchanging, if you do it right) and I don't have to
give my CC # to the vendor.

~~~
JohnTHaller
Well, except for the fact that all bitcoin purchases are very publicly tracked
for everyone to view.

~~~
crassus
hopefully not for much longer[1]

[1] [http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bitcoin-dark-
wallet](http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bitcoin-dark-wallet)

~~~
kolinko
dark wallet doesn't change a thing in that

------
knotty66
Every story I Hear from Shopify seems good. Thanks Tobias and the rest of you
guys. And thanks for open sourcing so much. Especially Liquid templates and
Batman.js.

------
atmosx
BitCoin can be better viewed as _gold_. If you would use gold to buy something
then you will use BTC (illegal markets apart of course).

But peercoin could stand a chance to become a sort of online trading currency
because of it's inflationary[1] policy. Something BitCoin should also have in
order to become a widely accepted currency instead of a hoarding mechanism
that gives the early adopters huge advantage over anyone else.

[1]:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PPCoin#Steady_inflation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PPCoin#Steady_inflation)

[1]: [http://ppcoin.org/](http://ppcoin.org/)

~~~
negamax
Gold is inflationary. There's infinite amount of that on asteroids and other
planets. Bitcoin is totally an asset. It will probably have far wider usage
than currency.

~~~
atmosx
I wrote a 30+ words comment, but to make it shorter:

* The nature of BitCoin could make it from an asset worth 350 USD to 0 USD overnight.

* Gold has been there for centuries.

I won't even comment on the asteroid thing.

~~~
jafaku
> I won't even comment on the asteroid thing.

Because you can't refute it?

~~~
TillE
Nobody will be mining asteroids and shipping the resources back to Earth
within our lifetimes. Certainly not profitably.

It's a complete irrelevance unless you're specifically talking about 100+
years in the future.

~~~
mrosseel
this company (backed by high-profile investors) is setting out to do just
that: [http://www.planetaryresources.com/](http://www.planetaryresources.com/)

------
achalkley
This is really forward thinking Shopify! Great news.

~~~
kineticfocus
It's an interesting company... (HR vid 'Draw the Owl')
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwSe2imUyvg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwSe2imUyvg)

~~~
AlexanderDhoore
The CEO looks high as a kite.

------
knodi
Bitcoins are better not spent these days as they seem to increase in value
almost 10%-20% daily.

~~~
d4vlx
To me that means that it's time to start selling. There is no fundamental
reason why Bitcoin is rising so fast, it seems like speculation to me. I'm not
one of the Bitcoin haters either, I've been heavily involved the last 6
months, I just don't see any major reason for this spike other than the usual
speculative arguments.

If Bitcoin shouldn't be spent then what use are they?

~~~
rmc
> _There is no fundamental reason why Bitcoin is rising so fast_

Sure there is. The goal of BitCoin is to be as popular as USD and EUR. There
are maximum of 21,000,000 bitcoin. Imagine owning 1/21,000,000th of all the
USD!

~~~
petercooper
_Imagine owning 1 /21,000,000th of all the USD!_

Based on M0, you'd have about $148,090.

~~~
pdog
It probably makes more sense to compare it to the broader M2 and M3 money
supply.

~~~
meric
Why do you say that? If and when bitcoins become borrowed and deposited at
banks, there can potentially be a lot more supply of bitcoins.

------
QuasiAlon
Is this a bigger thing for Bitcoin or for Shopify. One the one hand, another
sign of bitcoin being integrated into mainstream sites. On the other hand,
quite possibly Shopify might be looking for ways to obtain discounted bitcoins
(assuming they have a profit margin). imho and everything :)

~~~
walden42
> Shopify might be looking for ways to obtain discounted bitcoins

They're using BitPay's service to instantly convert to fiat, so they're not
getting any bitcoins.

~~~
QuasiAlon
Interesting. Thank you very much for your comment.

~~~
walden42
No problem!

------
kmook
I am starting to see services like this
[http://www.freesafeip.com/bitcoin](http://www.freesafeip.com/bitcoin)

which is a more generic version of another similar service
[http://pizzaforcoins.com/](http://pizzaforcoins.com/)

It may be a matter of time before any site can accept bitcoins indirectly if
people started using these services.

------
SkyMarshal
If any shopify folks still reading this, have you had any issues with your
bank refusing to do business with merchants that accept bitcoin? Been hearing
that new bitcoin companies are having problems along these lines, due to
increasing FDIC scrutiny.

------
pbreit
Will be interesting to see if Shopify (or anyone in general ecommerce) ever
reports on the popularity of Bitcoin as a payment method considering there is
no sense at all to use Bitcoins to purchase legal items in the vast majority
of countries.

~~~
RickHull
> _considering there is no sense at all to use Bitcoins to purchase legal
> items in the vast majority of countries._

This is quite asinine. I assume you've never tried to purchase an item in
country A from merchant A' accepting currency A'', while you are in country B
using bank B' with an account denominated in B''. The hurdles, generally, are
numerous and diverse. Any lack of hurdles is quite exceptional, and completely
dependent upon international agreements between nations, banks, and any number
of permutations thereof.

Instead, you could simply transact in BTC.

~~~
jval
Right, because rather than copping the automatic forex charge that most cards
do for you, it is easier to open an account on coinbase, make a bank transfer
that converts your USD into bitcoin (at a frozen rate mind you, that could
either double or halve in value in a matter of weeks), and then transact in
bitcoin?

Not sure I'm following.

All of the rampant downvoting on this thread and blinkered discussion
regarding Bitcoin really bothers me.. it sounds like /r/bitcoin has taken over
HN.

Don't get me wrong, I believe bitcoin is the future of payments. I have
absolutely no doubt that in the coming years it will become a global payments
infrastructure that will destroy the idea of an international money transfer
and change global e-commerce and payments forever. But the idea that it is
already there is totally misguided. OP is right. There is no sense at all to
use BTC to purchase legal items in the vast majority of countries.

~~~
mike_esspe
Just a point - my bank asks 2.5% commission for automatic currency conversion
when buying with credit card.

------
jwmoz
To the moon!

~~~
shloime
Stores want bitcoin as a secondary method of payment, not a first...

