Friday, February 21, 2014

Bitcoin ATMs, Oh Yeah This Is Really Great

There is a lot of news out announcing the installation of Bitcoin ATMs in the United States.

Robocoin is installing one in Austin, TX.

But, get this, in order to use the ATM you must provide your cell phone number, a government issued ID and your face and palm will be scanned.

Is is any wonder that prosecutors are calling Bitcoin "prosecution futures."

Please Bitcoin fanboys, tell me again what the advantage is to such a trackable payment process.

Personally, I'm sticking to brown paper bags.

9 comments:

  1. Yeah, here is one Wenzel. Don't use them. Dozens of ways to get coins. If trackable is your problem, don't pick this method.

    I'm wondering though. Why do you spend sop much time on this topic? It is insanely out of proportion to the influence you profess Bitcoin will have on the world. Just curious.

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    1. I believe Wenzel spends a lot of time addressing the topic because it is a "hot topic" in the libertarian/austrian economic sphere. I also find it fascinating personally - even though my views on bitcoin hue closely to Wenzel's. Its just a wonderful subject to discuss/debate vis a vis money, the nature of money and the state's acts

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    2. Exactly. People who want privacy would never use this service. Just like cash today, bitcoin can be used where it is tracked and where it is not. That is why they call it "user-defined" privacy.

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  2. Lamassu ATMs have no ID features... plus, all you need to sell bitcoins is a smartphone.

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  3. Because once you have bitcoins, its totally impossible to send them to an anonymous wallet that mixes the coins. If you were to try that, Jesus would incarnate and smite you with lightning bolts.

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    1. It's just that any interaction with such mixer service immediately places you on the list of confirmed and soon-to-be-convicted money launderers.

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    2. @ averros February 21, 2014 at 6:25 PM

      So do tell us how this interaction would be tracked? The whole point of a mixing service is to break the tracking. Not to mention, there are many other ways to mix coins as well. Anonymous crypto exchanges allow you to go from bitcoin to coin x and then back to bitcoin which would break the blockchain trail. There are just too many ways to create plausible deniability. Best of luck to prosecutors.

      There are so many easy ways to mix your coins.

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  4. why waste anytime with this step. trading cash for shitcoins? you could put $200 in to get 1 shitcoin and an hour later it might be worth $50. cut out the useless middleman that is shitcoins and just use cash.

    BUY GOLD!

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  5. "The majority of bitcoin transactions will be for reasons that are perfectly legal"

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