Google Says It Has "No Current Plans Regarding Bitcoin"

An anonymous reader writes "A popular Reddit submission today suggested Google's payment team was looking to incorporate Bitcoin, naturally sparking a lot of excitement in the virtual currency community. TNW reached out to Google regarding the claim and learned that it was indeed false. 'As we continue to work on Google Wallet, we're grateful for a very wide range of suggestions,' a Google spokesperson told TNW. 'While we're keen to actively engage with Wallet users to help inform and shape the product, there's no change to our position: we have no current plans regarding Bitcoin.'"

Comments

Bitcoin?

[Zaldarr]

We all know dogecoin is the future.

It's called Gcoin now.

[RevWaldo]

Try to keep up.

.

Re:It's called Gcoin now.

[QilessQi]

You know, if a company like Amazon or Google -- with their immense server farms for mining -- did come up with its own cryptocoin, it could tilt the masses towards accepting the idea of cryptocurrencies, while simultaneously taking a huge bite out of Bitcoin's future potential.

Imagine an Amazoncoin, AZC, providing everything that BTC provides plus...
- convenient support for payment to Amazon.com or transactions throughout the web
- theft-insurance-backed online wallets for people who are unwilling to manage wallets on their own
- nice incentives for mining companies willing to partner with them to support AZC transactions in the early days.

Re:It's called Gcoin now.

[Patch86]

Loads of companies (perhaps even a majority of retailers) already do issue "their own currency"- in the form of in-store credit vouchers. In principal there's no reason why you couldn't go down to your local convenience store and pay for a loaf of bread and bottle of milk with iTunes vouchers- a currency which is "backed" by "real goods" (i.e., the currency can be redeemed at any time at the "central bank" in exchange for useful goods (music and whatnot), in the manner of a gold-backed currency).

The fact that nobody does this tells you a lot about the majority of the population's attitude towards corporate controlled private currencies. To most people, they seem like a completely unnecessary way of abstracting on top of an already perfectly valid currency system. There's no reason to assume people would feel any differently towards "Amazon Coins" than they do towards Amazon gift vouchers, regardless of the techy details behind it.

I still remain deeply sceptical that BitCoin is anything other than an enthusiast's curiosity and/or "get rich quick" scheme, and can't imagine it going the distance. I've been wrong plenty of times before, but...well, I'm not changing my mind on that one yet.

Still.

[rmdingler]

Here lately, more mainstream companies are coming out in favor of accepting it.

Casinos in Vegas was the last one I recall... maybe this thing has legs.

Can it be that our fiat monetary systems are so flawed that this is a reasonable alternative for some folks?

Match Plan

[SuperKendall]

there's no change to our position: we have no current plans regarding Bitcoin

In a strage coincidence, I have no interest in Google Wallet - so I guess that works out for everyone.

That's all they can say!

[brxndxn]

Just because they say 'we have no current plans for Bitcoin' does not mean they don't have people working on exploring the technical aspects, the legal aspects, the social, and financial aspects. It would be a huge decision for a company like Google to say anything definitive about Bitcoin at this point - considering anything positive from Google would most likely double the Bitcoin price. And, doubling the Bitcoin price would do that much more to solidify its place in the financial world.

In other words, it will happen with or without Google - starting with much smaller companies first. Two years ago, the Bitcoin community was excited to see a $1million/year revenue company announce they are taking Bitcoin. Now, Overstock.com and Tigerdirect both take Bitcoin. Don't expect anything from Google for a while..

I would be so disappointed...

[westlake]

.... if a day passed without another Bitcoin story.

Who would sign on?

[SuperKendall]

if a company like Amazon or Google -- with their immense server farms for mining -- did come up with its own crypto coin

Approximately none of the users of Bitcoin today would switch for (rightful) fear of being tracked out the wazoo. The cash-like nature of Bitcoin would undoubtedly being severely undermined if coming from a company like Google...

It's a lot harder to prop up a currency that a significant number of people will accept than most people think.

Re:Who would sign on?

[QilessQi]

Because the current users of Bitcoin are generally computer-savvy and security-minded -- except for the ones who insist on using wallets hosted in the cloud, but we can assume that they're a minority.

As for the Great Unwashed, though, they're still using passwords like "123456" and shrugging their shoulders at Snapchat's gaping security holes while they sext with friends. Because convenience.

I can't speak for Google -- its business model is a little different -- but Amazon has the customer base, market penetration, and mindshare to prop up a currency. Imagine if they just started by basing Amazon Gift Certificates off the technology. Suddenly next Christmas, several hundred million teens and twenty-somethings would have wallets and be spending Amazoncoins. Amazon trumpets the numbers, using them as proof that Amazoncoins are popular, thus setting the stage for further acceptance by people who know nothing about Bitcoin but sure as hell know Amazon.
 

Re:Who would sign on?

[Anonymous Coward]

> users of Bitcoin

> fear of being tracked

ahahahahahahahaha

it's almost like the entire world doesn't know exactly which wallet contains which bitcoins at all times

Re:Who would sign on?

[dbIII]

computer-savvy and security-minded

That's what they LIKE to think about themselves, but unless they are early adopter perpetrators of this scam they are just deluded suckers instead.

I wonder if we can use the "security" window dressing in bitcoin to track down the ransomware virus people? That may finally be a good use for bitcoin.

Re:Who would sign on?

[VortexCortex]

hey are early adopter perpetrators of this scam they are just deluded suckers instead.

So, I want to pay someone in the UK for helping with some development work, and I transfer them some Dollars by way of Bitcoin and they get it in their bank account as Pounds... Then how am I being a scammed deluded sucker instead of benefiting from Bitcoin's cheap (currently free) decentralized electronic global transaction system?

Re:Who would sign on?

[dbIII]

Free? Look at a real transaction instead of an imaginary one.

Dogecoin is performance art

[SuperKendall]

And not even particularly good performance art.

How long can a joke possibly go on before it grows stale? Dogecoin seeks to find the answer.

Re:Dogecoin is performance art

[Salgat]

Dogecoin has a huge community driving it. On reddit it /r/dogecoin has 40,000 subscribers versus /r/litecoin's 17,000 subscribers (/r/bitcoin has 98,000 subscribers). On top of that, they tip and donate like crazy. As of now hype and popularity are *everything* to the price and adoption of a cryptocoin. You'd be foolish not to recognize that Dogecoin is, at the very least, successful thus far.

Here is how to get Google to support Bitcoin

[SuperKendall]

1) Buy 100 USB sticks.

2) Put a wallet on each with .01 Bitcoin, and the password in a text file.

3) Leave laying about Google campus.

Now all sorts of Google engineers have a vested interest in Bitcoin rising in value...

Re:Here is how to get Google to support Bitcoin

[Anonymous Coward]

1) Buy 100 USB sticks.

2) Put a wallet on each with .01 Bitcoin, and the password in a text file.

3) Leave laying about Google campus.

Now all sorts of Google engineers have a vested interest in Bitcoin rising in value...

If you left $1000 USD worth of Canadian Dollars in Google's parking lot, they'd just take it to a bank and exchange it for $1000 USD.

Why would bitcoin be different, because they can spend it directly online? Then why wouldn't they do that?

I don't get it...
If I recommended investing in penny stocks, that would be a bad idea.
If I recommended stockpiling an unstable foreign currency, that would be a bad idea
Using any of the above to buy local goods, bad idea.

But bitcoin is cool because bitcoin.

of course

[drunk_punk]

... Because where's the money in bitcoin anymore? They're more concerned with Gcoin. You heard it here first.

Jedi Mind Trick?

[multimediavt]

These aren't the Bitcoin miners you're looking for. First thing in my head when I read the title of the post.

Transaction system not a monetary system

[perpenso]

Here lately, more mainstream companies are coming out in favor of accepting it. Casinos in Vegas was the last one I recall... maybe this thing has legs. Can it be that our fiat monetary systems are so flawed that this is a reasonable alternative for some folks?

The casino and various other companies are accepting bitcoins as payment but they do not hold any bitcoins. For the casino your bill is computed in $US, they compute the current bitcoin equivalent when you are ready to pay, accept payment and immediately have the bitcoins converted to $US. The casino avoids the bank/credit card transaction fees and surcharges. The bitcoin payment processor used has no transaction fees, just a flat monthly fee.

It seems that bitcoins are more of a replacement for credit cards, in other words a transaction system rather than a replacement monetary system.

Translating Googlespeak

[TheloniousToady]

As we continue to work on Google Wallet...we have no current plans regarding Bitcoin.

Translation: "We're ignoring the new monetary system that no one controls so we can push onto you the new monetary system that we control."

Re:Why do nerds like the Boorgle?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's possible to dislike Google and Microsoft. I refuse to use either one.

Google cancelled Wallet for 3rd parties

[DogDude]

Google just folded up their Google Wallet service for merchants a few weeks ago. I think they've just finished up their venture into online payments to anybody other than themselves. I would think that anybody who actually had any real information about the current state of online payment stuff would know that,

Besides, the article is on Reddit, a website that currently has, as it's top story, "This actually happened on MSNBC today (youtube.com)"

This was a horribly uninformed Slashdot article, all around.

Please keep all this under the bitcoin topic

[dbIII]

Could someone please pull Samzenpus into line and make sure that his daily bitcoin advertising story is blockable by topic instead of creeping into other topics.

Some of the attraction of Bitcoin

[DrYak]

The fact that nobody does this tells you a lot about the majority of the population's attitude towards corporate controlled private currencies.

Bitcoin is attractive in that it's not a corporate private currency. It's not even controlled by anybody (which has some advantage in the eyes of some anarchist or people living with corrupt government, but which also means that currently BTC exchange rates are prone to much more fluctuation).

I still remain deeply sceptical that BitCoin is anything other than an enthusiast's curiosity and/or "get rich quick" scheme, and can't imagine it going the distance.

Well it has a value (at least the bitcoin protocol, not the BTCs themselves) as a system to send money abroad.
More or less the advantages that SEPA has brought to easily push money between european banks, bitcoin brings the same advantage to push around money between any 2 individuals on the internet:
- you're not bound a a peculiar bank (in case of SEPA) or to a peculier service (in case of bitcoin). Whereas if a merchant uses Paypal, the customer are forced to use Paypal too.
- no chargeback fraud
- no need to leave leakable/exploitable data at the merchant, you just have an account number/public key.
etc.

The value fluctuation of BTC is only problematic for people holding BTC to speculate on them.

Merchants aren't affected if they use a payment processor to convert BTC back into the currency they work with.
Same for customers (and they don't need to use the same service to convert currency into BTC, as mentionned above).

A Non-Story

[weilawei]

Literally.