Virtual money in real life: how is bitcoin taken offline?

The Internet has become not only the home for cryptocurrencies, but so far the only place where they are welcomed with increasing demand. In real life, the situation develops in a completely different way, and while the public rushes from one extreme to another, not knowing which is better, to ban digital money or read, the bitcoin rate hits new historical highs.

Bitcoin course offline 

It is not the first year that the cue ball has been spoken of as the money of the future, which very soon will take possession of all mankind. But so far this promotion to the masses is not very active. Why is there such a bias towards cryptocurrency in general and bitcoin in particular? Most likely, the answer to this question lies in the revolutionary nature of the digital currencies themselves - well, people are not ready to believe that money cannot be touched and contemplated personally, abstract banknotes are still difficult for our consciousness to perceive. Nevertheless, the cryptocurrency fell like snow on its head, and all that remains for a progressive society is to keep up with the times and try to comprehend all these wisdom.

At the same time, it can not be said that bitcoin has not been propagated offline. Firstly, they are known about it both among the masses and at the state level, but for some reason the majority places cryptic signs on a par with financial pyramids and some not completely understandable monetary frauds. And while the whole world perceives coins with caution, they still penetrate not only into our wallets, but also into our lives.

Physical embodiment of coins

In 2011, bitcoin took a serious step, having been physically embodied. A certain Casascius, who was engaged in the cueing of the cue even in those times when the extraction on the PC gave the results, coined a decent amount of several thousand coins. At the beginning of the 2010 it was a little money and the miner decided to make analogues of his coins in metal. The idea was a success, it was publicized, and coins were bought up and sold out to private collections. As a result, the world received the physical appearance of bitcoin (we see it in the pictures on the network), and the followers of Casascius found themselves a great earning.

A real bitcoin coin has a traditional round shape, and a hologram with a secret access code to real bitcoin is attached to its center. It, in turn, is on an individual wallet - without that very code under the hologram, bitcoin cannot be taken over. A person who bought such a coin could easily withdraw the code, gain access to the wallet and spend bitcoin at his own discretion. Well, the dummy coin itself remained just as a souvenir. Unfortunately, the authorities reacted to the idea with misunderstanding and, to avoid persecution, the bitcoin enthusiast stopped minting.

Bitcoin-ATM

Further more. The crypto community did not limit itself to physical copies of coins and went on an active offensive. In 2011, brothers Zach and Josh Harvey, who were selling guitars, went bankrupt and turned their attention to the cryptocurrency space. Young people were inspired by the novelty and invented the first ever ATM for withdrawing bitcoins - from this idea the first and most large-scale cryptocurrency cashing company grew up. The business was so in demand that very soon other competitors began to appear on the market, who offered not only to withdraw cue balls in the form of fiat, but also exchanged coins in various directions. Today the number of such companies has exceeded two dozen.

Nowadays, there are about 1000 bitcoins-ATMs around the world and this industry continues to grow actively, as well as public interest in bitcoins. Moreover, negotiations are being conducted with companies that manufacture conventional ATMs to introduce software to work with bits. But this is most likely an idea for a more distant future.

What can I buy for bitcoins?

As we all know, the first purchase for bitcoins occurred in the far 2010 year, when Laszlo Hanech bought two pizzas for 10000 MTC. Since then, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge, but purchases with bits have not yet entered our usual life - the main reason for this is that neither bitcoin nor ourselves are ready to exchange for goods. Yes, here and there around the world there are cafes, shops, services, where take bitcoins, but this is still an unprofitable option for either sellers or buyers.

To begin with, sellers are not yet ready to take bitcoin. They are afraid of how the fire, its volatility, do not understand how to keep accounts and get confused in the courses. Nobody wants to get bitcoins, but to incur losses in a fiat currency, moreover, there is no common opinion, which exchange rate is correct and profitable for all. Buyers, in turn, complain that it is necessary to be constantly attached to the gadget - sat down the charge of the smartphone or could not connect to the Internet and everything, the purchase is canceled.

In some European shops, the solution to the problems described above was found. Their owners simply install devices that immediately convert bitcoins into fiat. The essence of this action is reduced to the fact that the technology reads the information and sends it to the processing center, and he instantly converts the cue ball to the Fiat and sends the result back. But many experts argue that such services disrupt the decentralization of the Bitcoin network, because there is an intermediary between the user and the network. To the same category, you can also include various payment terminals, which, upon completion of an operation, gain access to your secret keys. This is a serious threat to the safety of our funds, the same thing that we will be in the supermarket to give the cashier a purse with all the cash and piously believe that he will take from there exactly as much as the purchase.

Single cases when the offline business is ready to take bitcoins, refers more to the enthusiasm of its owners, rather than to real benefits. The reality is not adapted to bitcoin, but bitcoin to reality. To connect these two different worlds, it is necessary for everyone to make concessions.

Bitcoin 2017: How do they take the crypto currency in the world?

There is no single point of view in the political circles about the crypto currency. It was already banned and allowed, but, as practice shows, no decision of the authorities has any effect on the preference of the public, which decided that it should be bitcoin. Most countries prefer a neutral position: they do not rush to legalize bitcoin, but they do not prohibit it openly. A similar picture can be observed in a number of European countries, as well as in the CIS countries. Spurred on the official ban of digital coins in socialist Vietnam and Bangladesh, and in the latter case there is even a penalty in the form of 12 years of imprisonment for ties with bitcoin and his brothers. Ecuador is also not very happy to compete with public money, so they try, as soon as they can, to infringe the crypto currency. The authorities of Iceland and China are not so categorical, but banks are not allowed to operate with bitcoins on an official level. In these countries, citizens can freely use crypto-signs for their own purposes, but should clearly understand the risks.

The jurisdiction of Germany and Japan is more favorable for bitcoin, where it is considered a full settlement means. Among the countries that are most loyal to digital money, include Switzerland - here is the most successful place to launch block-start-ups. In general, the European Union regards the crypt positively and even released operations with bitcoins from taxes.

In the United States, the Crypto-currency is not prohibited, moreover, they are trying to regulate this market in every possible way. In general, the activities of the authorities are aimed at identifying illegal transactions and transactions. So, the FBI actively monitors the activity of the crypto-exchange exchanges, a vivid example of this - the recent arrest of the assets of the trading platform of the military-technical cooperation. In addition, online money laundering using bitcoins, drug dealing, weapons and other crimes that use the anonymity of the main crypto currency are traced. Much is said by the fact that the FBI is one of the largest holders of the bitcoins, which have accumulated in the hands of the department after the capture of numerous crypto criminals with the confiscation of their property.

Bitcoin in Russia      

The question of the legality of bitcoin in Russia remains suspended. Officially, the Crypto-currency was not banned, but there were no permits for its use either - officials are aware of the innovation and possibilities of bitcoin, but they do not yet understand what to do with it. If the Central Bank initially regarded the bitcoin as hostile and equated any operations with the crypt to money laundering, today it is interested in it. One of the supporters of bitcoin, who openly sympathizes with crypto money, is the head of the Savings Bank German Gref. In his opinion, bitcoin is a very interesting innovation, which requires study and regulation by the state. But only as officials are going to regulate the decentralized crypto currency, which it is simply impossible to manage - a big question.

What can you buy with bitcoins in Russia? The use of bitcoins by legal entities is complicated by the fact that they cannot officially accept cryptocurrency for payment. The same enterprises that are registered in offshore zones gladly accept cue ball, but there are very few such companies. In particular, for bitcoins, you can get legal advice, travel the world, buy air tickets, or study at the Graduate School of Directors and Screenwriters. If we talk about shopping in supermarkets and stores, then this is still fantastic - only in some cities of the country there are cafes that accept bitcoins for payment.

Bitcoin easily conquered the network space, but to get out of the virtual world into reality was not so easy. Unfortunately, today it is too early to say that this (or any other) crypto currency is destined to become reserve world money - the world is not ready for this innovation too much. Nevertheless, we can not say that there is no crypt in the offline space. If you compare what bitcoin was spread a year or two ago today, then progress is obvious. In any case, do not expect that the introduction of such innovative money will be easy and painless, but humanity has already embarked on this path.