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BTC Payment Only for Hosting Services. Why do some customers prefer BTC?
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BTC Payment Only for Hosting Services. Why do some customers prefer BTC?

randvegetarandvegeta Member, Host Rep

I'm considering setting up a separate group of separate system (Billing System that is) that accepts Crypto Currencies exclusively.

From the host perspective, the benefits of Crypto (BTC/Ether/LTC etc.) are clear. Non-reversible, and can be completely automated. It eliminates fraudulent payments entirely, and can be completely automated quite easily, and so matters of billing are simplified compared to other existing methods (particularly bank transfer).

Obviously there is quite a large number of people who want/prefer to pay with BTC and other Crypto, but are there any companies that exclusively accept BTC or Crypto in general?

Any idea of the size of the market using Crypto?

Will probably release these new services in the next few days to test the waters. Still, curious as to peoples thoughts, and any stats (anecdotal or otherwise) that may be available.

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Comments

  • AlexBarakovAlexBarakov Patron Provider, Veteran

    Q: Why do some customers prefer BTC?
    A: Over half of the customers who exclusively want to pay via bitcoin only are doing or related to something illegal, in our experience. Of course, a lot of legitimate use, however a huge load of abuse (compared to other payment gateways) as well.

  • randvegetarandvegeta Member, Host Rep

    AlexBarakov said: however a huge load of abuse

    We process a few K in BTC every month. Never noticed much abuse. What kind of abuse do you see? SPAM? Hacking?

    Most of our clients using BTC seem to be from Asian countries mostly. Perhaps it is easier for them as Paypal and Credit Card may not be so widely available in those places. Of course we mainly offer HK based hosting so that may be a strong factor in why we have so many Asian customers...

  • I'm not keen to provide my credit card details to basically everyone, therefore if a provider doesn't accept either PayPal, Amazon Payments or BTC, it's firstly suspicious and also inconvenient. If providers charge for PayPal as well then, would rather go first with mentioned other services such as BTC before paying fees. (last option)
    Sadly, in order to start with BTC it took me a lot of effort, with buying ouside US/Asia (so..Europe) is rather hard due to strict laws. Understandable, but complicated for a beginner.

  • randvegetarandvegeta Member, Host Rep
    edited May 2017

    bluesega said: is rather hard due to strict laws. Understandable, but complicated for a beginner.

    Indeed it is. But we would be targeting existing BTC / Crypto users as opposed to general public and then demand payment in BTC. Hence, looking to gauge the size of market.

  • YmpkerYmpker Member

    I'm charging Bitcoin only on some cheap as f**k service (>5$) where I can't be arsed with currency conversion fees or any refund issues so going with that you have a reason to use btc and a reason of how people end up spending bitcoins as I, for one, also need to spend them again as I preferably do not wanna deal with btc payouts.

  • ChristianDSHChristianDSH Member, Host Rep

    randvegeta said: What kind of abuse do you see? SPAM? Hacking?

    As far as i can tell most abuses related to bitcoin i found were about Email Spam and Fraud Stores.
    Interestingly enough they had a valid address and and might've used a compromised computers ip address for ordering the package (same country).

    Those orders also come in waves, some days there's nothing and then suddenly 8 different people with valid addresses and different non vpn addresses order the same service.

  • randvegeta said: so matters of billing are simplified compared to other existing methods (particularly bank transfer).

    Not necessarily - a lot of customers don't know how BTC works, pay with a low network fee, then open a ticket asking about it.

    And if you choose to refund - you need to verify the address with the user because the user might not actually own the sending address (could be an intermediary) and there's no way to fix this mistake.

    AlexBarakov said: Over half of the customers who exclusively want to pay via bitcoin only are doing or related to something illegal, in our experience.

    Well, you did advertise on HackForums :P

  • YmpkerYmpker Member
    edited May 2017

    @jiggawattz said:

    randvegeta said: so matters of billing are simplified compared to other existing methods (particularly bank transfer).

    Not necessarily - a lot of customers don't know how BTC works, pay with a low network fee, then open a ticket asking about it.

    And if you choose to refund - you need to verify the address with the user because the user might not actually own the sending address (could be an intermediary) and there's no way to fix this mistake.

    AlexBarakov said: Over half of the customers who exclusively want to pay via bitcoin only are doing or related to something illegal, in our experience.

    Well, you did advertise on HackForums :P

    I'm also advertising a service there and so far the crowd has been really gentle. Tbh the coding discussions and anime section there is something I really enjoy following as well as the frequent discussion regarding bitcoin trends. Their "Whitehat" virus removal help section can be very helpful, too ALTHOUGH one should be careful before copypasting any commands :P

  • alice2kalice2k Member

    Use the payment system ADVcash.com to receive bitcoins and pay by card
    my refer http://wallet.advcash.com/referral/cf5b992b-ad51-408f-beef-f80f607d8967

    Thanked by 1Foul
  • FoulFoul Member

    alice2k said: Use the payment system

    Reported

  • randvegetarandvegeta Member, Host Rep

    @Foul said:

    alice2k said: Use the payment system

    Reported

    For what?

  • NomadNomad Member

    @randvegeta said:

    @Foul said:

    alice2k said: Use the payment system

    Reported

    For what?

    I presume for the referral url, which he already mentioned while sharing...

    As for BTC, whatever excuse you might find, so far only legit reason someone chooses it over most payment platforms is doing something traceable in someway. It really is not worth it for someone in Europe region. You can't buy, or when you do, you pay a hefty fee etc...

  • oshqeuoshqeu Member

    @randvegeta said:
    I'm considering setting up a separate group of separate system (Billing System that is) that accepts Crypto Currencies exclusively.

    From the host perspective, the benefits of Crypto (BTC/Ether/LTC etc.) are clear. Non-reversible, and can be completely automated. It eliminates fraudulent payments entirely, and can be completely automated quite easily, and so matters of billing are simplified compared to other existing methods (particularly bank transfer).

    Obviously there is quite a large number of people who want/prefer to pay with BTC and other Crypto, but are there any companies that exclusively accept BTC or Crypto in general?

    Any idea of the size of the market using Crypto?

    Will probably release these new services in the next few days to test the waters. Still, curious as to peoples thoughts, and any stats (anecdotal or otherwise) that may be available.

    Some client's think if they pay by Bitcoin they fully anonymous, also bitcoin payment's easy and no problem register wallet and put money to bitcoin.

  • doghouchdoghouch Member
    edited May 2017

    Bitcoin is not fool proof. A user could send a payment with a really low fee, and do a second transaction (double spend).

  • WilliamWilliam Member
    edited May 2017

    bluesega said: Sadly, in order to start with BTC it took me a lot of effort, with buying ouside US/Asia (so..Europe)

    Buying BTC in US is WAY harder than in EU.

    I can get nearly unlimited amounts in less than 10minutes by sofortüberweisung from various Dutch sites, and all of these also do SEPA if you have some time to wait for the transfer. Also from non EU banks.

    US you essentially have localbitcoins (robbery risk very high unlike in Europe, which also has the site obviously), some ATMs (in tech cities) and that's it - by lack of an automated non-reversible bank payment system.

    https://anycoindirect.eu/

    https://btcdirect.eu/en-gb

    bluesega said: is rather hard due to strict laws

    Your countries laws matter absolutely zero to them, just that you have an ID (not even that for smaller amounts) and a bank account able to send EUR.

    doghouch said: Bitcoin is not fool proof. A user could send a payment with a really low fee, and do a second transaction (double spend).

    Not really, no one sane will accept a less than 2 confirmation transaction as paid.

    ChristianDSH said: As far as i can tell most abuses related to bitcoin i found were about Email Spam and Fraud Stores. Interestingly enough they had a valid address and and might've used a compromised computers ip address for ordering the package (same country).

    The Chinese spammers use real data. They have nothing to fear.

  • EdmondEdmond Member
    edited May 2017

    @doghouch said:
    Bitcoin is not fool proof. A user could send a payment with a really low fee, and do a second transaction (double spend).

    Well no one will active a unconfirmed transaction, and as soon as it's confirmed, it can't be reversed.

    The only time Ibuee bitcoin really, is because the survey sites I use pay in bitcoin so Ibuse that for the VPS that cost me a few dollars a year.

  • FranciscoFrancisco Top Host, Host Rep, Veteran

    I think you all missed the big one.

    Many people are sitting on a mountain of coins that they got when they were mining on their GPU's, etc, so they might as well pay for hosting with that.

    Francisco

  • Francisco said: Many people are sitting on a mountain of coins that they got when they were mining on their GPU's, etc, so they might as well pay for hosting with that.

    If you're sitting on a fat wallet, it's far more cost-efficient to exchange it for currency. Remember: network fees are like $1.50 now and increasing, no matter if you're just paying a small $5/mo hosting bill.

    Thanked by 1sayem314
  • raindog308raindog308 Administrator, Veteran
    edited May 2017

    We really need a LowEndCoin. Lord knows we can find the LEBs to process transactions.

    I'm sure there's a cryptocurrency script on CodeCanyon...should we give every LETizen 7 LEC to start the market?

    Thanked by 2elwebmaster jh
  • BarisBaris Member
    edited May 2017

    BTC is getting more and more unattractive for me.

    Network fees are high if you want to have fast transactions especially if you want to pay only small amounts of money.

    Once I couldn't fulfill a payment during a set time frame (15 minutes). Had to contact the support of the payment gateway because the invoice was destroyed and I didn't know what would happen to the BTC.

    To make a long story short the payment was accepted with the help of the support staff but I underpaid because of the heavy fluctuation of the BTC price. Luckily the provider didn't mind and it worked out good for me.

    Of course you could increase th networks fees to make faster transactions but it will ruin the cost/benefit ratio for small payment for me.

    That's why I still like to make payments with credit cards or PayPal. From the costumers view it is cheaper, faster, safer and easier.

    I like the idea of using cryptocoins but the major currency BTC does have a lot of problems to solve. The debate between Segwit and Unlimited didn't help either. I know that there is a lot of money involved in this. Other cryptocoins do better in the technical part because they learned from BTC.

    Let's see how this will develop.

  • randvegetarandvegeta Member, Host Rep

    Baris said: but the major currency BTC does have a lot of problems to solve.

    No doubt. I've long believed BTC was doomed to fail. It's a crazy stupid system in a way. I mean it's a stupid as it is brilliant! So don't get me wrong. I think the whole concept of block-chain is pretty damn brilliant, but BTC in it's current form could NEVER be an actual currency.

    2,000 transaction per 10 minutes?
    150k+ Unconfirmed Transaction Pending?
    Average fees now costing around $5?
    More electricity used for mining than all of Denmark?

    I mean none of this sounds good to me.

    With that in mind, so long as people value BTC, and it can be traded, the greater demand coupled with falling supply will probably increase the price. It's probably all doomed to collapse eventually, but when? Who knows.

    Thanked by 1Baris
  • EdmondEdmond Member

    @randvegeta said:

    Baris said: but the major currency BTC does have a lot of problems to solve.

    No doubt. I've long believed BTC was doomed to fail. It's a crazy stupid system in a way. I mean it's a stupid as it is brilliant! So don't get me wrong. I think the whole concept of block-chain is pretty damn brilliant, but BTC in it's current form could NEVER be an actual currency.

    2,000 transaction per 10 minutes?
    150k+ Unconfirmed Transaction Pending?
    Average fees now costing around $5?
    More electricity used for mining than all of Denmark?

    I mean none of this sounds good to me.

    With that in mind, so long as people value BTC, and it can be traded, the greater demand coupled with falling supply will probably increase the price. It's probably all doomed to collapse eventually, but when? Who knows.

    Because the fees are now so high, whenever I receive any BTC, the transactions take forever because the fees that were paid are around 50-75 sat/byte and that takes up to 24 hours to process to avoid paying the expensive fees. The fees is sorta ridiculous specifically for small transactions.

  • Fees will kill BTC.

  • @Edmond said:

    @randvegeta said:

    Baris said: but the major currency BTC does have a lot of problems to solve.

    No doubt. I've long believed BTC was doomed to fail. It's a crazy stupid system in a way. I mean it's a stupid as it is brilliant! So don't get me wrong. I think the whole concept of block-chain is pretty damn brilliant, but BTC in it's current form could NEVER be an actual currency.

    2,000 transaction per 10 minutes?
    150k+ Unconfirmed Transaction Pending?
    Average fees now costing around $5?
    More electricity used for mining than all of Denmark?

    I mean none of this sounds good to me.

    With that in mind, so long as people value BTC, and it can be traded, the greater demand coupled with falling supply will probably increase the price. It's probably all doomed to collapse eventually, but when? Who knows.

    Because the fees are now so high, whenever I receive any BTC, the transactions take forever because the fees that were paid are around 50-75 sat/byte and that takes up to 24 hours to process to avoid paying the expensive fees. The fees is sorta ridiculous specifically for small transactions.

    and to the retards saying that PayPal is more expensive, f*ck that.

    Thanked by 1Ole_Juul
  • hzrhzr Member

    doghouch said: and to the retards saying that PayPal is more expensive, f*ck that.

    hey at least the buyer pays the $6/transaction fee with BTC and not the seller paying the $0.65/tx

    Thanked by 1elwebmaster
  • xxlxxxlx Member

    Cryptocurrencies are the future so get with them or you will be left behind.

  • YmpkerYmpker Member

    Ethereum looks quite interesting though.

  • yup,we also accept bitcoin.I suppose bitcoin is best gateway for IDC.

    >

    @randvegeta said:
    I'm considering setting up a separate group of separate system (Billing System that is) that accepts Crypto Currencies exclusively.

    From the host perspective, the benefits of Crypto (BTC/Ether/LTC etc.) are clear. Non-reversible, and can be completely automated. It eliminates fraudulent payments entirely, and can be completely automated quite easily, and so matters of billing are simplified compared to other existing methods (particularly bank transfer).

    Obviously there is quite a large number of people who want/prefer to pay with BTC and other Crypto, but are there any companies that exclusively accept BTC or Crypto in general?

    Any idea of the size of the market using Crypto?

    Will probably release these new services in the next few days to test the waters. Still, curious as to peoples thoughts, and any stats (anecdotal or otherwise) that may be available.

  • randvegetarandvegeta Member, Host Rep

    @xxlx said:
    Cryptocurrencies are the future so get with them or you will be left behind.

    What makes you think this?

    Even today, only a tiny minority of people use Crypto. The most popular ia BTC, which is not fast, cheap or even easy to use compared to traditional payment methods. Miners control the network and there is no indication that they will ever reach a consesus to resolve the know problems/limitations.

    As a 'currency', BTC is doomed to fail as it could not even support the the transaction volume of Wallmart, let alone the world. As a clearing house replacement, or 'virtual gold'.. that might work. But what about Blockchain makes you think it is the future and if you dont adopt, youll be left behind? So what about all the kids today who cant buy BTC now. Or all the people who havent been born yet. Are they all going to be 'left behind'. Currencies cannot, and should not favour early adopters in this way. Currency is supposed to help people with commerce to help the economy move. BTC is highly deflationary and encourages hording. Is that good?

    Thanked by 1Ole_Juul
  • jcalebjcaleb Member

    Is it possible to invent a new algo for crypto that is more efficient?

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