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Apple is doing the right thing in regards to Bitcoin. I can't believe anyone would hold a contrary opinion. Apple always puts the interests of consumers at the very heart of their business.
 
I love Apple products, but they are much too controlling. That is why I have Android devices also.

And you thought parents blamed Apple for costly in-app purchases, just wait until your kid taps the wrong button, inadvertently investing your life savings in magic beans, er, bitcoins. :eek:


"We're ruined! Damn you, Apple!”
 
perhaps when your business grows to multinational, multi billion dollar status, you can choose to let it become the wild west, so as to not be considered "controlling". obviously you will have a legal team capable of defending you against all the ramifications of what you probably think aren't your responsibility.

you might think google is just this free spirited company that lets you do whatever you want, but that's only because they rummage through every emerging technology and ditch whatever becomes inopportune for them at the drop of a hat. you label Apple controlling over their decision to not support a platform that has an extremely limited user base and wavering legal implications, yet you fall back on google, who basically controls everyone in America's internet search results, choosing which sites deserve exposure and which don't. this whole "they're trying to limit my freedoms" argument in America is getting so old and people conveniently apply it only to the areas of discussion that are beneficial to themselves.

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i would have to imagine that in the event that the only usable currency is bitcoin, there would be no governing agency to collect taxes anymore.


I love these responses, "when you own your own company...blah blah blah...". I'd be interested to know what Apple would be responsible for if they allowed an app in their store that allowed a user to purchase and transfer bitcoins? Please enlighten us all, you seem to know so much about it.

I bet it would be a different story if they got 30% from each transaction ;)
 
Big fan of Bitcoin/Litecoin, but I totally get why Apple wants nothing to do with it.



edit: I should add. IMHO, the biggest problem with crypto currency at the moment is people are just looking to make more fiat off of it, and not actually USE it as a standalone currency.

If all you do is USE it, you must have something illegal to hide. :rolleyes:
 
i just happened to buy my first litecoin today. Litecoin is bit coin's little brother. Cryto currency is the future. Transactions are so easy its like sending someone a text. Crypto currency is great since the whole world can all use the same currency without a government being in charge of it. plus other countries get bent out of shape cause no one is using theirs. Of course governments will want this stopped cause it has the potential to make their currency pretty much forgotten.

the app you use to buy and sell your coins is like your wallet. download the app on another mac then you have another wallet. you secure your app/wallet (encrypt & backup) or risk losing your coins. just like your real wallet. lose it with a $100 in it, then your money is gone.


its the people's currency
 
Am I the only one who still doesn't totally understand this bitcoin thing?

It's really very simple. You buy a bit coin online for $400. The next day it's worth $800. The next day it's worth $200. It's a lot of fun. The trick is to try and buy something that is worth more than you paid for the bit coin. If you succeed and buy something worth more than your initial investment...You win the game. :) Wanna Play?
 
there also isn't an unlimited supply of coins. bit coins will stop at 21 million. litecoins will stop at 84 million. coins that are lost in peoples wallets stay dormant forever. coins will become more valuable over time due to supply & demand

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LOL - Good luck with that.

if you were one of the people who bought bit coin for under $50 and now selling them at $1000, well you know
 
I'm up to 0.1 BTC by bitcoin mining with a Butterfly Labs miner :) Honestly regardless of what Apple does with bitcoin apps, the BTC will thrive with or without their approval. I can still access my coinbase wallet via Safari to see how much my miner has mined so it's all good!
 
LOL do you even know how bitcoin works? It's completely decentralized by a vast network of independently controlled supercomputers throughout the globe. And even if somebody could control it then people would just switch to other digital currencies because bitcoin has no intrinsic value, unlike real commodities. You should take five minutes to google the basic way that bitcoin works before spouting of some reactionary objections to it.

Bitcoin is used for:
1. Buying drugs or weapons
2. Online-Gambling
3. Profiting from stupid people who hope to get rich by mining or hoarding Bitcoins, by buying BC low and selling high or by selling mining equipment :p

Most of the people who got rich in the gold rush were people who sold pickaxes...



While the currency itself is not illegal, most of the uses for it are at least not exactly legal, so i can understand Apple in this case.

There's also another reason why they might be against Bitcoin apps:

Bitcoin is a virtual currency and there's no real way to defend against theft of Bitcoins.

People had Bitcoins stolen by malware in the past and when a single file on your computer is worth a few hundred or thousand dollars, with no banks or other institution to double-check transactions or a way to track down thieves/hackers, Apple doesn't want the liability that could result from having Bitcoins stolen by a security hole that wasn't fixed quick enough.
 
american dollars are also used to buy guns, drugs, porn, hookers, best healthcare for politicians, A-Rod's 300 million contract.

people have their cash stolen too, by con artists, street thugs, churches, IRS, charities and by deadbeat relatives

if someone placed malware on your mac and it stole your coins, then the problem is with that thief and malware.


Lets get rid of the Dollar too
 
2 sides to the coin

Discussions surrounding bitcoin focus too much on the coins themselves. The really cool aspect of bitcoin is the invention of the first working decentralized timestamped proof-of-work-- in the form of a public ledger. This ledger happens to be backed by an incredibly powerful network of computing power.

The first application of this technology is transfer of value between any two people on the planet without any third party standing in the way. That by itself is really cool.

But this technology has the potential to replace all kinds of legal institutions that were needed before this technology existed. Proof of ownership, proof of existence, legal contracts, and other things can be built on top of these non-reversible transactions.

Yes the "currency called bitcoin" runs on top of the bitcoin network, and the currency itself isn't stable and is prone to internet flame wars, but that doesn't mean the underlying cryptography isn't unstable. The serious amount of investment already put into the bitcoin network, in the mining machines and the software created for the bitcoin economy, are a good indication that a lot of people see a lot of potential in it.
 
Which Government will accept bitcoin for tax purposes?

That's the biggest reason the US Dollar has value -- it's the only currency which the US Government will accept for its debts, and the only currency which it will use for payments.

If you want to do business with the US Government in any fashion, which every citizen and visitor must do, you need to have US Dollars. Thus, value.

I thought the US was paying China back in Bitcoin's???? :D

Honestly… this bitcoin sounds soooo silly… I guess it's like token for the arcade machine so someone is getting real money for fake. Silly… even worse, someone is manipulating the price by the looks of it and people want this??? Double silly.
 
Bitcoin is used for:

3. Profiting from stupid people who hope to get rich by mining or hoarding Bitcoins, by buying BC low and selling high or by selling mining equipment :p
Not much different from stock trading in that respect. But I'm not sure why you label all of these people as "stupid". But yeah how stupid can you be, running a computer that generates money :)
While the currency itself is not illegal, most of the uses for it are at least not exactly legal, so i can understand Apple in this case.
Most of the uses for it? It's not different from cash in the legality aspect.
There's also another reason why they might be against Bitcoin apps:

Bitcoin is a virtual currency and there's no real way to defend against theft of Bitcoins.

People had Bitcoins stolen by malware in the past and when a single file on your computer is worth a few hundred or thousand dollars, with no banks or other institution to double-check transactions or a way to track down thieves/hackers, Apple doesn't want the liability that could result from having Bitcoins stolen by a security hole that wasn't fixed quick enough.
This app doesn't keep a bitcoin wallet on your iPhone though- which wouldn't be a good idea. And I definitely wouldn't trust one on an Android phone. But in any case, I don't think Apple would accept liability if the Bank of America app had a security hole that allowed someone to access your account and steal your $USD either.
 
Hello, this is Rob from Gliph.

I'm happy to answer questions about the app.
 
Bitcoin is obviously not a currency. It's a commodity, like gold. Thus, the internet libertarian fascination with bitcoin.
 
Bitcoin is used for:
1. Buying drugs or weapons
2. Online-Gambling
3. Profiting from stupid people who hope to get rich by mining or hoarding Bitcoins, by buying BC low and selling high or by selling mining equipment :p

Most of the people who got rich in the gold rush were people who sold pickaxes...



While the currency itself is not illegal, most of the uses for it are at least not exactly legal, so i can understand Apple in this case.

There's also another reason why they might be against Bitcoin apps:

Bitcoin is a virtual currency and there's no real way to defend against theft of Bitcoins.

People had Bitcoins stolen by malware in the past and when a single file on your computer is worth a few hundred or thousand dollars, with no banks or other institution to double-check transactions or a way to track down thieves/hackers, Apple doesn't want the liability that could result from having Bitcoins stolen by a security hole that wasn't fixed quick enough.

Wow, the monitor I'm looking at right now doesn't look like drugs, or gambling! (bought with bitcoin!)

Seriously, people at the beginning did hold a lot of coins, because they didn't have much use for them. Who can fault them for selling when the price shot up? If I had started mining in 2009 or 2010 I'd be a millionaire at this moment.


I do agree that (unless your power is free) mining is dead for mortals. Selling mining equipment is where the money is, and even that won't last long.



edit: There is no easier way to instantly send "money" anywhere in the world for free outside of Bitcoin/Litecoin. If you can name any other way please inform me.
 
i just happened to buy my first litecoin today. Litecoin is bit coin's little brother. Cryto currency is the future. Transactions are so easy its like sending someone a text. Crypto currency is great since the whole world can all use the same currency without a government being in charge of it. plus other countries get bent out of shape cause no one is using theirs. Of course governments will want this stopped cause it has the potential to make their currency pretty much forgotten.

the app you use to buy and sell your coins is like your wallet. download the app on another mac then you have another wallet. you secure your app/wallet (encrypt & backup) or risk losing your coins. just like your real wallet. lose it with a $100 in it, then your money is gone.


its the people's currency

And that's the beauty of encrypted BTC wallet's like Coinbase. Why store your wallet on your computer when you can get someone to store it for you for free, and not risk getting your BTC's out of your wallet stolen?
 
perhaps when your business grows to multinational, multi billion dollar status, you can choose to let it become the wild west, so as to not be considered "controlling". obviously you will have a legal team capable of defending you against all the ramifications of what you probably think aren't your responsibility.

you might think google is just this free spirited company that lets you do whatever you want, but that's only because they rummage through every emerging technology and ditch whatever becomes inopportune for them at the drop of a hat. you label Apple controlling over their decision to not support a platform that has an extremely limited user base and wavering legal implications, yet you fall back on google, who basically controls everyone in America's internet search results, choosing which sites deserve exposure and which don't. this whole "they're trying to limit my freedoms" argument in America is getting so old and people conveniently apply it only to the areas of discussion that are beneficial to themselves.

Apple seems to be doing just fine with OS X, and that is an open platform.
Apple should have something like OS X's Gatekeeper for iOS, and set the default setting to "App Store Only." They can have a big scary warning message if users try to switch the setting to allow other apps.

With my secondary tablet, an Android device, I've bought bundles of Android games from Humble Bundle. I can back Kickstarter campaigns and get an included Android app. I can buy media in-app without a 3rd party taking a cut. I don't have to go through iTunes to put media on the device.

I'm fine with Apple not selling me a bitcoin app, but I'm not fine with them not allowing me to put a bitcoin app on my own device.
 
there also isn't an unlimited supply of coins. bit coins will stop at 21 million. litecoins will stop at 84 million. coins that are lost in peoples wallets stay dormant forever. coins will become more valuable over time due to supply & demand
Just what the world needs: deflation. Because that worked so well before.
 
Wow, the monitor I'm looking at right now doesn't look like drugs, or gambling! (bought with bitcoin!)

I do agree that (unless your power is free) mining is dead for mortals. Selling mining equipment is where the money is, and even that won't last long.

Not quite so. Mining bitcoin directly is a bit of a bust unless you're lucky (and had the captial) enough to get an ASIC... But mining Litecoin is still well within the reach of normal people, especially if they're geeky enough to have an extra dirt cheap PC or two with a few video cards. I'd guess a single pair of Radeon 7950's could net someone about $400 a month after paying for electricity - at least at the current price and difficulty of mining Litecoin.
 
LOL do you even know how bitcoin works? It's completely decentralized by a vast network of independently controlled supercomputers throughout the globe. And even if somebody could control it then people would just switch to other digital currencies because bitcoin has no intrinsic value, unlike real commodities. You should take five minutes to google the basic way that bitcoin works before spouting of some reactionary objections to it.

I know how bitcoin works and it's still dumb.
 
And that's the beauty of encrypted BTC wallet's like Coinbase. Why store your wallet on your computer when you can get someone to store it for you for free, and not risk getting your BTC's out of your wallet stolen?

Well, keep in mind, most (All?) of the big bitcoin thefts have been done from online wallets. I wouldn't keep any in one longer than I needed to buy or sell. Coinbase is probably pretty safe, but still... It's probably safer to keep your encrypted wallet on encrypted media somewhere only you have access to (just don't contract some kind of keylogging, disk scanning malware :)
 
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