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French Tobacco Shops Will Sell Bitcoin and Ethereum Starting January 2019 (venturebeat.com)

Tobacco shops are a staple of daily life across France, selling cigarettes, newspapers, magazines, and lottery tickets. Come January, these most traditional of merchants will take a plunge into the future by adding cryptocurrencies to their wares. From a report: The French Federation of Tobacco Vendors (French Confederation Nationale des Buralistes), which represents the 27,000 tobacco shops in France, announced that it has approved plans for its members to sell Bitcoin and Ethereum to customers. The program is expected to start in 3,000 locations in January, eventually rolling out to all tobacco shops across the country. Of course, the timing is somewhat less than ideal, as prices of cryptocurrencies have been in free fall most of this year. Just this week, Bitcoin hit a new low for 2018. While the effort is seen as a new potential revenue source for these merchants, it remains far from clear how interested the general public is in owning cryptocurrencies.

121 comments

  1. I will sell you the number 11 for $1000 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A woman bought the number 1 for $10.
    A man bought the number 2 for $20.

    They happen to be related, but that just shows how valuable these numbers are, even family thinks they're valuable! Totally not a scam or anything.

    My crypt algo generates magic numbers, I call "prime" numbers, and 11 is coming up for sale. Invest now, because these 'prime' numbers get very difficult to calculate fast, and that is why they are so valuable!

    I'm calling it "Primecoin", and it includes a mechanism to track ownership of prime numbers (email me, and I write down your email address in my notebook with proper blue permanent marker).

    1. Re: I will sell you the number 11 for $1000 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hi this is Fred the mathematician. I have taken only to borrowing numbers as I need them in equations. For example if you had the equation 2x = 4 I would need to use 2, 4, and also 1 by implication. So you see in this case I would not need to use a different number. What would it mean to own 11? Could I prevent my nemesis from using this number in their own calculations? Also are you going to buy drugs with the money? Sincerely, Fred

    2. Re: I will sell you the number 11 for $1000 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/personal-incredulity

    3. Re: I will sell you the number 11 for $1000 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Math drivel:
      https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/personal-incredulity

      Drug comment:
      https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/ad-hominem

      Keep going, this is fun! Can you pack more logical fallacies in your next comment?

  2. Obvious Reason by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They're trying to reclaim the lost market for illegal drugs by cornering the means of purchase.

  3. Re:I think these will rise again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The average person doesn't give a shit about government control and monitoring. They do however give a huge shit if the money they have today is worth 50% less tomorrow. Crypto currencies I think have had their rep irreparably damaged at this point, people are fine while it skyrockets but the Zimbabwean type slumps are sending people away and they won't be back.

  4. Who knew? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Stores that sell useless products that are bad for you are going to sell more useless products that are bad for you ...

    More news at 11.

  5. Re:I think these will rise again by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    They do however give a huge shit if the money they have today is worth 50% less tomorrow.

    That is more of an investment concern than what I am talking about.

    I don't think people will replace nation-currency with Bitcoin or anything like that. Bitcoin will simply eventually become the engine of commerce as I said, for grey and black market transactions... small amounts for most people, to get things the government does not want them to have (like drugs in most of the world, or sugary drinks in New York).

    As such it doesn't matter if it undergoes even fairly large fluctuations, when most people wouldn't have more than a hundred or two at any one time.

    Think about how much Bitcoin would rise again if even 10% of the people in most modern cities around the world bought and started using a few hundred $ worth.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  6. An idea, it's time come. by sheramil · · Score: 1

    "French Tobacco shops... selling cigarettes, newspapers, magazines, and lottery tickets."

    Well, that's the stamp of financial legitimacy right there. Classy!

    1. Re:An idea, it's time come. by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      "French Tobacco shops... selling cigarettes, newspapers, magazines, and lottery tickets."

      Well, that's the stamp of financial legitimacy right there. Classy!

      Smells like freedom. Where the guns at?

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    2. Re:An idea, it's time come. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That explains the connection. To 'most' the world buying BitCoin is exactly like buying a Lottery Ticket.

    3. Re:An idea, it's time come. by infolation · · Score: 1

      Cryptocurrency. Or... l'argent poubelle, as the French call it.

  7. Re:I think these will rise again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dumbest thing I heard in days. Made me laugh though... but that is only natural, as a human being human.

    I have no idea what the most tightly controlled government on earth is. Since you assume that I know it... So it's Finland, right?
    Natural pushback??? Is that why the physical use of money is DECLINING in almost every western country?
    Express in a useful way? That a load of wishful thinking.

  8. BITCOIN IS DYING!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is this "good news" is the best Bitcoin shills can find, for trying to stop public panic? :-)

    Because here some other recent news:

    (The biggest?) US Bitcoin mining company (Giga Watt) declared bankruptcy!
    Chinese miners started dumping mining equipment, because they became worthless!
    Some people who sold bitcoin in some exchanges waiting for weeks to get money w/o success!
    Not to mention Bitcoin price keep having massive drops!!!
    =>
    BITCOIN IS DYING!!!
    Sell & save whatever you can before it drops to ZERO!!!
    (Or keep listening to Bitcoin shills, who (naturally) keep trying hard to convince the public everything is still OK!!!)

  9. Re:I think these will rise again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Again wishful thinking.

    And for your non-white markets. Hard physical cash is king.

  10. crypto-curr by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i would rather buy a kitty litter box

  11. Isn't that backwards? by bkmoore · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Wasn't the original point of crypto to act as a replacement for cash in order to purchase goods and services? Not the other way around? Shouldn't the tobacco shops be accepting crypto as a form of payment for goods and services?

    1. Re:Isn't that backwards? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's about the same, but with better long-term outcome.
      Tobacco: you get short-term enjoyment, and up with nothing, and maybe lung cancer.
      Crypto: you get short-term enjoyment, end up with nothing, but not lung cancer.

    2. Re:Isn't that backwards? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Surely you can see that allowing trading in bitcoin at the store will facilitate someone with coins purchasing cash then using that cash for items in the shop. It's just access to the layer where coins become cash. Once that access is there, then the "original point" is satisfied. As a business owner do you want to have to price your stuff in all currencies or would you rather price in one currency and have an exchange handy for those with other currencies?

      Bitcoin was never going to replace other currencies, it is just going to become a part of trading. The French shop model is very sensible. It allows bitcoin holders access to shop wares and it allows people with cash to obtain bitcoins.

    3. Re: Isn't that backwards? by TJHook3r · · Score: 1

      Ah yes, I'll just take my laptop to the store so that I can use my electronic wallet, because all the online wallets are regularly hacked and offer none of the protection of an actual bank account!

  12. Re:I think these will rise again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If a government decide to ban cash, well then we're back to gold pieces (or diamonds/silver/bags of rice/ow heck fraking beads/anything physical that holds value) for the non-white markets... not digital coins whose value fluctuate widely and are unpredictable. It's only natural for humans being human and do what they know for eons, after eons ... like ...

    how to trade anonymous without the invention of physical money.

    history, it's a blast!

  13. Re: I think these will rise again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Actually, bitcoin is more retarded than the last place finisher in the special Olympics.

  14. Re:I think these will rise again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bitcoin is not truly anonymous; only pseudononymous. It's very difficult to make significant use of it without exposing one's true identity to intelligence agencies and the like. As such, it helps little against government monitoring.

    And, while it's true that the Bitcoin network can't be directly controlled by the government, it's still just as vulnerable to government's traditional indirect methods of control: the threat of violence via law enforcement agencies, courts, and prison. That which can be monitored, can be controlled.

    Only a truly anonymous cryptocurrency - like Monero claims to be - has any real chance of enabling people to evade government control, long term. Even then, users are still vulnerable to hacking and especially back doors, given that computer manufacturers and operating system vendors are subject to government control.

  15. IMPERSONATING ME AGAIN? apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    gweihir KNOWS u IMPERSONATE me https://it.slashdot.org/commen... c6gunner proves it https://linux.slashdot.org/com... he forgot to SUBMIT as AC & using his registered 'lusrname' instead (because he tried to mock me both BEFORE & after I FAIRLY challenged him to show he's done better work - he had ZERO).

    & NO WAY I'd "cry" like you "playing victim ne'er-do-wells" on /. (TROLL /.ers, not all) OR post on hosts offtopic.

    YOU HELPED ME https://science.slashdot.org/c... (& you quit trying to make me look bad trying to "tell lies" on hosts as "ME" IN YOUR IMPERSONATIONS of me e.g. https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... as regards Intel speculative execution attack? Hosts PREVENT 'EM)

    APK

    P.S.=> I KNOW the 2nd to last link above's KILLING YOU - YOU ACTUALLY HELPED ME getting me to see if hosts stop more than portsmash (& Meltdown + Spectre too) & "lo & behold" - hosts WORK on 'em - U LOSE... apk

    1. Re: IMPERSONATING ME AGAIN? apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're obsessed with Slashdot. Your see esteem is determined by what people think of you here. You want people to feel sorry for you, thinking that someone has been impersonating you. You're a loser. Shut up and stop posting this drivel.

  16. In California they supported both... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    buying and selling at essentially bitcoin ATMs.

    The concern however I heard was that the ATMs were also livefeeding to the FBI so they could perform facial recognition on any bitcoin ATM users under the assumption it was being used for money laundering. While I am not sure of the truth, it was enough to make me wary of using them.

    1. Re:In California they supported both... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So approach the fucking machine from the side, put a little sticker over the camera, then either come back later, or simply go front and center and do your biz right then as usual.
      Same as fucking walmart cameras in the registers.
      Sticker over that shit and forget about it.
      They even sell activist stickers on ebay that say something like
      "Your privacy from this camera was enabled by this sticker, go here to buy more".

    2. Re: In California they supported both... by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      They even sell activist stickers on ebay that say something like
      "Your privacy from this camera was enabled by this sticker, go here to buy more".

      Can you buy them with bitcoins?

    3. Re:In California they supported both... by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      It's always the camera you DIDN'T see that gets you...

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  17. Hurry! by AndyKron · · Score: 4, Funny

    One pack of Luck Farts? That will be 3 bitcoins please. Four if you don't hurry

    1. Re:Hurry! by sheramil · · Score: 1

      Perhaps each marchand de tabac could be issued a spinning wheel. When told the customer will pay with bitcoin, he gives it a spin and where it stops will indicate how many bitcoin his pack of Gitanes will cost, from 0.01 up to 999. It's just as likely to be right as any other means of determining its "value".

  18. Re:I think these will rise again by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

    to get things the government does not want them to have (like drugs in most of the world, or sugary drinks in New York).

    There is no ban on sugary drinks in New York. If you require "alternative facts" to make your point, maybe your point just sucks.

    Or are you lying out of "love" again?

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  19. My hovercraft is full of Ethereum by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If I told you you had a beautiful Bitcoin, would you hold it against me?

  20. LMAO - WRONG & your fav.color? apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject & I didn't post this (YOU did + you want it to SEEM I play "victim" but SLIME LIKE YOU are MY victims) https://slashdot.org/comments.... & FUNNIEST PART?

    * You PROJECT you use the "help me mommy" VICTIM bs in YOUR wasted DO-NOTHING "ne'er-do-well" life - save that for your mommy, ok? It doesn't WORK on me you pitiful little manipulative DOUCHE - you're TOO STUPID to even TRY pull that - get over your LIMITED brain's capacity & don't think too highly of yourself... you're way too dumb for that.

    Your FAVORITE COLOR? Has to be TRANSPARENT since you're SO easy to see through...

    APK

    P.S.=> & I'm also SURE your PUNY TRICKS don't work on others here either as you try "turn them against me" etc. case in point e.g. = gweihir https://it.slashdot.org/commen...

    1. Re:LMAO - WRONG & your fav.color? apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fight them, APK! Fight them with all of your strength. The unwashed fools understand neither your work nor your crusade.

      Victory is yours for the taking. Onward!

      ALL HAIL APK

  21. Makes sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only people stupid enough to smoke would be stupid enough to but bitcoin.

    1. Re:Makes sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only people stupid enough to Anonymous Coward would be stupid enough to BUT BITCOIN.

      Bad news, AC. Your retarded.

    2. Re:Makes sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bad news AC, you're retarded. Leave his retarded alone.

  22. THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES FAGGOT KEN DOLL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES FOR YOUR LIES SUPER FAGGOT KEN DOLL

    Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING. Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.

  23. Burns the same by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Wasn't the original point of crypto to act as a replacement for cash in order to purchase goods and services?

    Yes, but the point is you would buy the bitcoin from the tobacco shop to use to purchase things you could not buy at the shop, hint hint...

    Either way you are buying something to burn later for some form of enjoyment.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Burns the same by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Yes, but the point is you would buy the bitcoin from the tobacco shop to use to purchase things you could not buy at the shop, hint hint..

      Ah, you mean a way for the French to pay their outstanding taxes, right?

      (Do those tax agency scammers even speak French? In Canada they seem to get upset if you ask them to speak in French. After all, service in your preferred language is your legal right...)

      After all, you buy BTC (Back Taxes Credit) at BTC machines to pay your taxes owing. (Yes, that's what they call the bitcoin ATMs - they almost always just splash "BTC" all over them which they back-ronym as Back Taxes Credit or Compensation or other term).

  24. Re:I think these will rise again by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    A) If you were PopeRizzo, maybe you would understand a joke when you read one.

    B) "the government does not want them to have" != ban

    C) Future-proofing the joke for later readers.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  25. FRANCE SHALL RISE AGAIN! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only, not this time. Maybe in the near future. Maybe in the far, far, far future.

  26. If you had any doubts before by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

    This should convince even the most ardent cryptocurrency believer that it’s over - it’s time to move on.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re: If you had any doubts before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it's being sold side by side with lottery tickets it seems more appropriate than being handled by investment firms.

    2. Re:If you had any doubts before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's what idiots like you were saying when it first went crazy spike to $1275/BTC back in like 2013.
      "OMG woes cryptocurrency is shit"
      Took roughly three years to surpass 1275 again and hit the next runup to the next long term adoption support line around $4-6k, and spent most of that time slowly dropping and then going sideways...

      JUST LIKE IT IS FUCKING DOING AGAIN RIGHT NOW.
      AND HAS DONE MANY TIMES BEFORE.

      This time it will last about the same, or immediately jump to $50k if any of the respective ETF's or other mass market vehicles hit.

      Cryptocurrencies are being adopted slowly and steadily as usual.
      And you can buy and spend them and save or sell them whenever you wish.

      But don't be a dumbass and try to claim that decentralized p2p privacy cryptocurrencies are not slowly growing to be the next huge revolution like radio, TV, phones, Internet, Tesla, etc.
      Because it is, and will be.

      These things take time, and with no stupid ass statist control freak censor taxation is theft murder in your names governments in the way regulatin and fuck shit up, these true DC p2p privacy cryptos ARE in free market conditions, so they will naturally be bouncing all over till market caps reach 10s of trillions.

      So please, you all should just shut the fuck up until you actually learn something about free markets anarcho capitalism voluntaryism, etc.
      Those people that CREATED cryptocurrency in the first place, they did it to FREE the stupid SHEEPLE like you from the SLAVERY of Governments and Central Fiat Banking.
      You should be very thankful and try to learn all you can about that.

    3. Re:If you had any doubts before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, because anarchy worked so well throughout the history...

    4. Re:If you had any doubts before by sheramil · · Score: 1

      Funny thing about cultists.. when they realise they've been burned, some will leave. When burned again, a few more will leave. Each subsequent burning reduces the pool to a few fervid fanatics who WILL NOT give up.

    5. Re:If you had any doubts before by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      So we underestimated the sheer amount of gullible fools. But I think you've run out of gullible fools, finally. You should try the Petro. I hear it's different.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    6. Re:If you had any doubts before by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      no "the advocates" still are harping that it's the solution to all economic ills and the greatest investment vehicle conceived by the mind of man.

      [favorite crypto currency currently going to shit] is POISED, ready to EXPLODE, going to go MAINSTREAM, AVOIDS THE FLAWS the fiat currencies have

      bwhahaha, these idiots are pissing away their money on their delusions, have converts and followers pissing away their money....unbelievable!!!

    7. Re:If you had any doubts before by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      like the cults, they imagine themselves "the faithful" the "true followers" that God will bless

      Of course it's really Jim Jones and the Koolaide

    8. Re: If you had any doubts before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You'll be sorry when my Beanie Babies go back up in value again. Until then, I'll subsist on the hoard of mid 90's "limited edition" comics and Dutch Tulip bulbs I have...

  27. Re:Quick qustion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Was at her apartment, but that kind of worked. She is into anal, said she will be on her period soon and doesn't want to take the risk. So we did the dirty. She kept making me pull out and squirt some gel lubricant called "astronaut lube" or something bizarre like that. Whatever, it was fun--loved seeing her get into it and she never touched her clit the entire time. Phew.

  28. Ken doll you're a dishonest faggot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    L) Ken doll you're a dishonest faggot and everyone on this site for any length of time knows it.

    I) Ken doll you're a dishonest faggot and everyone on this site for any length of time knows it.

    A) Ken doll you're a dishonest faggot and everyone on this site for any length of time knows it.

    R) Ken doll you're a dishonest faggot and everyone on this site for any length of time knows it.

    1. Re:Ken doll you're a dishonest faggot by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1
  29. My Hovercraft is full of Etherium by goombah99 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I will not buy this bitcoin, it is trashed.

    While I am enamored by the cleverness of the entire proof of work system it seems like there's an inescapable problem with the proof of work concept.

    To boil bitcoin down to it's most elemental irreducible aspect there is one and only one thing that all cryptocurrencies have to do. This is prevent double spending the same token without using a central authority to regulate when a coin is transferred and can't be spent again. There's other nifty bells and whistles but that is the one thing they must do.

    The bitcoin solution to this is to make it prohibitively expensive not impossible. It works by making it so that in order to spend twice you have to be able to hash the ledger at least twice as fast as the rest of the system's combined effort. If you can do that then you can spend a coin, let the transaction close, then go back to the old ledger without the coin being spent, and hash it two more times quickly. Now you have the longest blockchain and it by fiat is the one that will be accepted. In practice you might actually need to be more than 2x.

    So when would it be worth it to acquire so much computing power? When the double spend value to you exceeds the compute cost.

    Therefore to make it prohibitive the compute cost has to be pegged to be near (or half) the most you could steal in one transaction.

    That is the irreducible cost. It's not that the computation is expensive, it's that it HAS to be expensive ot the whole process fails.

    Therefore the larger the transactions on bit coin and the more outstanding coinage there is to steal, the higher the transaction costs needs to be.

    Thus bit coin baked in the seeds of it's own destruction. It can't expand past a certain capitalization without becoming too expensive to hash. that part of it cannot be removed.

    So it's trash

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re:My Hovercraft is full of Etherium by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If they had but adopted APK's hosts file engine, they would find true prosperity.

      Bitcoin can not survive without APK. It is the same for all of us. We need him! Badly!

      Give your mind, body, and soul to APK! Only then will you know true prosperity.

      ALL HAIL APK

    2. Re: My Hovercraft is full of Etherium by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      That's a really silly line or reasoning. You may as well argue that banks are trash because once they stockpile enough cash and valuables in their vault, it becomes profitable for someone to put together an armed crew and rob them at gunpoint.

    3. Re: My Hovercraft is full of Etherium by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      "You may as well argue that banks are trash because once they stockpile enough cash and valuables in their vault, it becomes profitable for someone to put together an armed crew and rob them at gunpoint."

      Why do you think commercial buildings, being them banks or shops only want to retain as little money and for a shortest time as possible?

      You think you are debunking his argument but you are making it stronger. Unless there was a means *not* to stock enough physical money at a single place that would be exactly the outcome you'd get. Of course, it's not a black-and-white situation, but an adoption curve. Take wild wild west: bank robbering every week (because of the perceived cost of gun robbering being below the perceived profits) and people resorting to bartering and putting their savings under their mattresses. It's not a simple solution either: in order to going out of wild west a lot of things worked together: better physical security on banks to increase entry cost; relatively less physical money at each place with more non-physical transactions; higher expending in police, increasing costs not only for the action itself but for the use of the profits; better social stability, which offered less costly means of earning a life than robbering...

      So unless you find the equivalent of not having enough cash at a place to make it profitable for bitcoins, yeah, parent post's outcome is to be expected.

    4. Re: My Hovercraft is full of Etherium by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      Why do you think commercial buildings, being them banks or shops only want to retain as little money and for a shortest time as possible?

      Because cash is trash!!!11!1!1

      You think you are debunking his argument but you are making it stronger.

      That's a rather special take on it ...

    5. Re:My Hovercraft is full of Etherium by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      You need to get on Facebook, hit my dumbass brother-in-law with this.

      He's a goddam day trader who chases the little ball around the black and red spinning reel and he, like most gamblers, loses at about a rate of .4%, on average.

      He knows that I know cryptocurrency from a deep technical side and every fucking time we get together he corners me and asks questions that are crafted to get him to the place where his frustrated WIFE will let him go down that rabbit hole.

      I don't know, and am not willing to research it, but there's some financial guru on every goddam social platform, including YouTube, that BIL worships. Of course the financial "advisor" makes money, not by giving sound advice, but by making money from people who want wealth without work. "Well, go to YouTube and listen to Mr. Blah Blah explain how "value," and "bitcoin," are interrelated as an investment vehicle."

      I pulled up bitcoin charts for YTD on my phone and had him AND his wife chew on that for a while.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  30. Re:I think these will rise again by Joce640k · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Think about how much Bitcoin would rise again if even 10% of the people in most modern cities around the world bought and started using a few hundred $ worth.

    Now think about how much it would be worth if they didn't.

    PS: Currencies aren't supposed to "rise", they're supposed to be stable.

    You'll be mocked mercilessly until you grasp this concept: A thing can't be both an investment instrument and a working currency at the same time.

    --
    No sig today...
  31. Great timing by blind+biker · · Score: 1

    I am anticipating poor sales, as BTC is circling the drain.

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    1. Re:Great timing by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      oh no, it's POISED to MOVE EXPLOSIVELY in the next SIGNIFICANT BULL RUN

  32. Are you sure about that? by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

    A thing can't be both an investment instrument and a working currency at the same time.

    A) I am saying it's mostly going to be a working currency, however...

    B) are you really trying to say that currencies are never are treated as investments? Really?

    Even the USD (sort of stable) is used by people around the world as a hedge if nothing else. Just what life experience makes you think any currency cannot work for people and also be an investment at the same time? The more I think about it I am pretty sure you have the mocking direction backwards on that one. But I for one will not mock you for that deeper understanding of the workings of currency, as most people don't think about it that way...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Are you sure about that? by Joce640k · · Score: 4, Insightful

      B) are you really trying to say that currencies are never are treated as investments? Really?

      No, but really:
      a) All currencies trend downwards in the long term, due to inflation.
      b) To make money, you're relying on the difference between two currencies becoming larger over time.
      c) You're relying mostly on one currency going down, not the other one going up (ie. the other one won't be worth more in the country where it's used).

      Right now:
      i) All cryptocurrencies are going down so the advice of any sensible person would be to switch to $, not the other way around.
      ii) It's a negative feedback loop, less people using Bitcoin as a currency means it won't "recover", it will be worth less and less as time passes.

      --
      No sig today...
    2. Re: Are you sure about that? by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      B) are you really trying to say that currencies are never are treated as investments? Really?

      I believe the word you're looking for is "hedge."

    3. Re:Are you sure about that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your assertion about all currencies going down is false. Gold is STILL currency and it has steadily risen in value over time. This makes sense as gold quantity and economic activity quantity have expanded at significantly different rates. Currencies do not magically decrease in value and saying it is because of inflation is ridiculous. That's like saying it rains because water falls from the sky. Inflation is just a term for the decrease in buying power of a currency. Inflation happens because there is an interest in issuing currency at a rate greater than increases in productivity. Inflation is a human caused phenomenon, not some force of nature.

      You don't know what a negative feedback loop does. A negative feedback loop reduces fluctuations in a system. It doesn't drive values to zero but rather to equilibrium.

      Bitcoin price may at some point be based upon utility rather than speculation. This Slashdot article shows exactly how that can happen. Your sloppy and inaccurate critique of speculation does not seem show any awareness that utility may also be a factor.

    4. Re: Are you sure about that? by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      I believe the word you're looking for is "hedge."

      From my very post:

      Even the USD (sort of stable) is used by people around the world as a hedge if nothing else.

      Looks like I found it before you did...

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    5. Re:Are you sure about that? by ediron2 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, parent's understanding of monetary systems seems to have been created by observation rather than study, academia, peer-review, etc. His rule might work for fiat currencies, but falls flat for pre-fiat currency systems (gold, gems, commodities or commodity-backed). I say **might**, because I'm not expert, nor interested in any sort of argument/research... I merely know enough to know he's full of beans.

  33. Re:I think these will rise again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is more natural for people to be drawn to APK and his hosts file engine.

    Give up, and submit to APK! You know it is the right thing to do. The ONLY thing to do.

    ALL HAIL APK

  34. Re:Great timing - Crypcoin Craze is Over by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is proof that the crypcoin craze is over.

    Good riddance.

  35. Re:Quick qustion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you really want to impress her, take a shit on her chest. She'll love you forever.

  36. Re:I think these will rise again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Did Ken Doll buy a lot of crypto while the price was high?

  37. Not as reputable as Magic the Gathering ... by perpenso · · Score: 1

    "French Tobacco shops... selling cigarettes, newspapers, magazines, and lottery tickets."

    Well, that's the stamp of financial legitimacy right there. Classy!

    True, no where near the financial legitimacy as say a Magic the Gathering Trading Card Exchange that was handling 70% of all bitcoin transactions in 2014, before it noticed that 850,000 bitcoins were missing and shut down and filed for bankruptcy.

    Seriously, I did not make that up.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    1. Re: Not as reputable as Magic the Gathering ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      MtGox has NOTHING to do with magic the gathering you stupid asshole!!!

    2. Re: Not as reputable as Magic the Gathering ... by perpenso · · Score: 1

      MtGox has NOTHING to do with magic the gathering you stupid asshole!!!

      From the wiki link you apparently ignored:

      "Founding (2006-10)
      In late 2006, programmer Jed McCaleb (eDonkey2000, Overnet1, Ripple, Stellar) thought of building a website for users of the Magic: The Gathering Online fantasy-based card game service, to let them trade "Magic: The Gathering Online" cards like stocks. In January 2007, he purchased the domain name mtgox.com, short for "Magic: The Gathering Online eXchange". Initially in beta release, sometime around late 2007, the service went live for approximately three months before McCaleb moved on to other projects, having decided it was not worth his time. He reused the domain name in 2009 to advertise his card game The Far Wilds.
      In July 2010, McCaleb read about bitcoin on Slashdot, and decided that the bitcoin community needed an exchange for trading bitcoin and regular currencies. On July 18, Mt. Gox launched its exchange and price quoting service deploying it on the spare mtgox.com domain name."

    3. Re: Not as reputable as Magic the Gathering ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are such a stupid asshole... it was NOT a magic the gathering exchange when the domain was handling bitcoin transactions.
      And mtgox was sold to Mark KarpelÃs which is the one who really made mtgox what mtgox is for everyone.
      Confirmed. You are an asshole. And you are stupid mistakenly those facts on purpose.

    4. Re: Not as reputable as Magic the Gathering ... by perpenso · · Score: 1

      The fact remains that a person who started a magic the gathering trading exchange decided to switch to a bitcoin trading exchange and the bitcoin community viewed the magic the gather exchange experience as legitimate. And the original post I responded to was speaking of legitimacy for bitcoin sellers/exchanges. Mocking tobacco stores selling lottery tickets as being great financial experience, apparently unaware of the bitcoin community's low threshold for experience regarding exchanges. To this day exchanges exist that are somewhat "hobbyist" in nature. Shall we move on to btc-e to discuss other areas of a lower threshold for reputability that the bitcoin community accepts? Those new to bitcoin need to be aware of such things, that all exchanges are not considered equal, that many advocates have quite low thresholds for financial integrity.

      Furthermore, your claim of "nothing to do" with magic the gathering is debunked, flat out false. Same person, magic experience considered legitimate experience, etc. That MtGox was later sold and became even larger under a different person does not change these facts.

  38. How Appropriate by mentil · · Score: 1

    Now my financial investments can go up in smoke, in addition to my other purchases from that shop.

    --
    Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
  39. How does one "use" bitcoin in daily life? by perpenso · · Score: 1

    Think about how much Bitcoin would rise again if even 10% of the people in most modern cities around the world bought and started using a few hundred $ worth.

    How does one "use" bitcoin in daily life? In many national jurisdictions with those modern cities bitcoin is considered an asset. So when you buy a cup of coffee with bitcoins you have to note the price of those coins when you received them, note the current price at which you used them, calculate the gain or loss that was just realized and report that gain/loss to your tax authority when you file your tax return. Just as if you sold an asset such as stocks.

    Of course buying that coffee was theoretical. Except when engaging in some sort of public stunt, a product or service purchased with bitcoin has to be one where it is OK to wait about an hour for the bitcoin transfer to verify.

    Bitcoin is not a currency at this time. It is currently two things. (1) A highly speculative investment vehicle. (2) A method to transfer funds person to person. Note that in such bitcoin transfers neither party usually holds bitcoins for an appreciable amount of time, typically bitcoin is purchased with a real currency, the bitcoins transferred and verified, and the bitcoins immediately sold for a real currency (which may be different than the previous currency). Similarly merchants that engage in public stunts where they accept bitcoins for goods or services typically use a payment processor that immediately converts the bitcoins received to a real currency in some manner. There merchants usually do not hold bitcoins. Bitcoins are generally held only by the speculators.

  40. So now not only will you die of lung cancer by melted · · Score: 1

    But they'll help you die penniless as well. What a brilliant idea.

  41. Zees is outrageouuuus! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or maybe eet's fantastique. Really, I don't give ze, how you say, merde.

  42. Re:Quick qustion by webmistressrachel · · Score: 1

    Slashdot was always a disgusting hole, but this yuk. For a start, most of the things you're describing aren't even things a woman likes! Some young clueless man is going to read this and wonder why she ran away when he shat on her chest. Come on... I'm against censorship.

    Don't make them wield it against valid but offensive opinions and facts that "trigger" people - with the excuse being *your* poor taste and disgusting attitudes to sex.

    This stuff *reeks* of Anti-Fa and the far left false-flagging these posts so that the censorship *they want* is implemented!

    I have a solution:

    1) No More AC
    2) No Censorship
    3) Public Discussion and Moderation System Functions As It Should
    4) Add "ignore" per-user to every post. Cut that idiot out of your "circle". Posts by users who pass an "ignore threshold" are not shown to anonymous users or search engines (appeal-able, decisions to be given to the actual moderation system en-masse)

    --
    This tagline was transcoded to result in at least one smirk. If you experience failure to smirk, please consult your Gen
  43. Re:I think these will rise again by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

    Think about how much Bitcoin would rise again if even 10% of the people

    So you are hoping for even more wild swing in value of a purported 'currency' that people are going to trust.

    You're not doing Bitcoin's case for becoming a stable currency people trust as a means for exchange any kind of favor.

    In the revolutionary (non-corrupt) days of the Soviet Republic, they lined speculators up against the wall.

  44. This is a hoax. Please check your sources, thanks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2018/11/21/les-bitcoins-dans-les-bureaux-de-tabac-une-information-fumeuse_5386538_4355770.html

  45. Re:I think these will rise again by turbidostato · · Score: 1

    "And for your non-white markets. Hard physical cash is king."

    When has that been the case? Black market only strives on times of trouble and times of trouble bring inflation.

    If there's one situation you definitely don't want to depend on hard cash is on an inflationary economy.

  46. Re:I think these will rise again by turbidostato · · Score: 1

    "So you are hoping for even more wild swing in value of a purported 'currency' that people are going to trust.
    You're not doing Bitcoin's case for becoming a stable currency people trust as a means for exchange any kind of favor.
    In the revolutionary (non-corrupt) days of the Soviet Republic, they lined speculators up against the wall."

    My opinion of bitcoins as currency is not any higher than yours, but this is as much a strawman argument as it can get.

    His argument was not that bitcoin was a good currency because of its speculative prospects but that speculation could very well be the means for bitcoin to become mainstream. Those that get on board early would get the speculative profits while later adopters would use it just as expected for a currency at whatever the exchange rate it happens to be stable enough.

    The same would happen for, i.e. a "blue chip" stock: those that went into, say, Google early on may become millionaires while those buying it today (with more or less a stable valuation) would "merely" use it for its long-term retirement founds' value -note that it was the speculative phase the one that allowed this stock its growth to reach its current strong and stable status.

  47. Spend and Replace by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is the term I hear from people that believe in crypto. You use it and you top up when you you spend it.
    Problem solved.

  48. Re: I think these will rise again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Still better than the ones who didn't qualufy.

  49. People are stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    People are stupid. They smoke, vape, gamble. You're doomed.

  50. Re:I think these will rise again by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    "A thing can't be both an investment instrument and a working currency at the same time."

    What compleat horse shit you have crapped out, there. Of course it can. It depends on the timing and duration of the investment.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  51. How come by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    No one is offering to BUY Bitcoin and Etherium? Suckers...

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  52. Re:I think these will rise again by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    It depends on the timing

    A yes, the famous I will "time" my way to riches. Wall St. is absolutely paved with the shirts of all the people who uttered those words.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  53. Re:I think these will rise again by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    Go buy some coffee with shares of IBM.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  54. Re:I think these will rise again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A briefcase full of dollars vs the rise and fall of bitcoins?

  55. Re: I think these will rise again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Actually, what the government doesn't want is for you to be a hyperobese moron who has to be transported on a mobile sled because you got suckered into consuming tons of liquid sludge at a prodigious markup.

    You know, unless they were bought out by Big Sugar which has kept up the Cuban embargo for decades, just to keep us under their thumb.

  56. Re:I think these will rise again by Scarletdown · · Score: 1

    Cash, grass, or ass (where ass can mean physical labor in exchange for goods and services; and not just the giggity definition).

    --
    This space unintentionally left blank.
  57. Currency or investment? by TJHook3r · · Score: 1

    Until you can get Bitcoin from a shop or bank it will never be adopted as a currency. Frankly, it's a pain in the ass to buy and even more so when it's depreciating by the day. On this basis it's useless as a currency for casual shoppers.

    1. Re:Currency or investment? by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      bitcoin and all the others can't be a currency anyway by definition.

      It's a game point, nothing more. soon enough people will leave the game it will collapse.

    2. Re: Currency or investment? by TJHook3r · · Score: 1

      Anything can be currency if enough people recognise it and arrive at a consistent valuation

    3. Re: Currency or investment? by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      no, too illiquid, which is one of many problems the so-called cryto-currency have. that delay makes consistent valuation impossible. add the problem of not being accepted in most places and we find none of the cc can be called currency or money.

  58. This is missing the point of bitcoin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The primary real-world use of cryptocurrencies is money laundering. The business model of the shop will be to facilitate the acquisition of illegally acquired cash, transfer to bitcoin, transfer it somewhere else, and for somebody else to get out laundered money, some other time or some other place.

    That's a good business for on-the ground shops who already have lots of cash business. Furthermore the shops could convert some of their own cash receipts of their typical sales of goods into bitcoin and evade taxes and scrutiny from regulated banks from depositing much more currency than reported on tax reports.

    Shop owners will convert some gross receipts into bitcoins and then take it out in some other tabac shop. The overt business will appear to operate at a loss or breakeven. The shop owners will all agree to go for it so they all benefit.

    It makes sense for the shops to want to do this, and it makes sense to disallow it.

    1. Re: This is missing the point of bitcoin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And, because tax cheating money launderers are all brilliant, trustworthy folk, who never commit any other crimes they might get caught on, none of them would ever have any incentive to rat out the thousands of other involved in this massive conspiracy. Sort of like the three million illegal aliens the Democrats secretly bussed in to vote so it only seemed like Trump didn't win the popular vote. Right? Or is the story on guy voting a million times with a bunch of different hats on? I forget the current story our Dear Leader wannabe is spinning.

  59. It's useful as a currency in some places by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The problem we have right now is too many people are focused on speculation and not enough people are focused on acceptance. Without wider acceptance / use it's not as useful or stable as it could be. I find crypto currencies useful because I can receive small and large sums of money from customers online and spend it locally or online and save about 3% in credit card processing fees on each end of a transaction (when I accept it and when I spend it).

    The problem is right now there are still people out there pushing crypto in terms of an investment, but it's not really useful/worth anything if there is nowhere to spend it. That isn't to say nobody is accepting it, but the "investors" are hyping the shit out of it and it's wrongly being toughed as if its being widely used thus having more value than it does currently. This is based largely on trading volume rather than actual usage in commerce. The potential is there for the hype, but nobody "investing" in it should be speculating more than 10 years out based on current usage (as opposed to trading volume).

    While these places should sell it- they should also accept it back as payment. Otherwise we will continue to have speculation overshadow its real world usefulness and value. There are three or four use cases and I see it actually being used- but mostly in pockets in different places. Primarily online merchants (my company accepts it), at brick and mortar retail shops/restaurants/etc in Venezuela and New Hampshire (I spend it 3-4 times a day typically online and off), and on the dark web (haven't done it myself, but I know it's being used here).

  60. Re:Quick qustion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Stfu tranny, You are the offended leftist. Get dialated

  61. Re: Quick qustion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, let's get rid of all pseudo Anonymity on the web. So web mistress Rachael there can be DOSed/murdered by the right/left wing and those of us who value free expression know not to post anything at all that might be offensive to an imperial president elected years after we post. What could go wrong?

    It would be nice if slashdot implemented a click to read more by default, so the ApK/obsessed didn't take an extra finger swipe to scroll past though.

  62. Where is the demand? by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    I wonder who will use that service. Except for the case of people getting infected with ransomware, the interest for cryptocurrency in the general population is rather low.

  63. Denial from the Bank of France by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The original news is not true. The following post (in french) gives a denial from the Banque de France

    https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2018/11/21/les-bitcoins-dans-les-bureaux-de-tabac-une-information-fumeuse_5386538_4355770.html

    La Banque de France a démenti auprès du Monde avoir conclu la semaine dernière un accord en ce sens avec la Confédération des buralistes"

    The Bank of France has denied to Le Monde to have concluded last week an agreement to this effect with the Confederation of tobacconists "

  64. Re: Quick qustion by webmistressrachel · · Score: 1

    The unfortunate reality is that you are probably right. I can be so naive!

    Also, to the idiot who called me a leftie. my posts years ago were from the left, but I left the left sometime in early 2010's. I felt very alone for a while!

    --
    This tagline was transcoded to result in at least one smirk. If you experience failure to smirk, please consult your Gen
  65. Re:I think these will rise again by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

    It sounds like you're trying to double down on the idea that this Crypto"currency" should be an investment vehicle.

    No. The whole point in a currency is trust and stability. When the value of a currency swings wildly, it's called "inflation" or "deflation" and it disrupts the entire economy. Currencies are supposed to be very stable means of exchange. A dollar's worth of sand should be a dollars worth of sand five weeks from now.

    at whatever the exchange rate it happens to be stable enough needs to be so static an exchange rate that there really aren't any speculators involved at all.