from Hacker News

Virgin Galactic to accept Bitcoin [video]

by nightTrevors on 11/22/13, 1:55 PM with 102 comments

  • by cs702 on 11/22/13, 3:15 PM

    It seems that with every passing day, another prominent institution or business starts accepting Bitcoin for payment, Virgin Galactic being the latest example. In just a few years, Bitcoin has gone from experiment to global phenomenon.

    I wouldn't be surprised if in coming years at least some bitcoin users start measuring their wealth in bitcoins, and therefore also evaluating exchange rates, not in terms of how many US dollars, euros, etc. they can buy with a bitcoin, but the other way around: what is the cost, in bitcoins, of a single dollar, euro, etc.?

    Looking at exchange rates in this manner changes people's perspective on volatility, which is always a relative measure. For example, since the beginning of this year, the price of a US dollar has declined by more than 98%, from BTC 0.074 to just over BTC 0.001, which makes the dollar look extremely volatile!

    --

    PS. I'm NOT saying the dollar is extremely volatile! I'm also NOT saying that Bitcoin is more stable! What I'm saying is that if and as Bitcoin adopters start measuring their wealth in bitcoins, their perspective on what is and isn't volatile will change, as demonstrated by my example.

    --

    Edits: expanded second and third paragraphs; added PS.

  • by scott_meade on 11/22/13, 3:08 PM

    "she paid in bitcoin, which was transferred into actual dollars "so there's a fixed price ... [and] we can actually pay her money back, if she changes her mind"

    Seems no different than if the buyer had sold her Bitcoin and paid Virgin Galactic in cash. The real trick will be when they can accept Bitcoin, keep the Bitcoin, and make any refunds and adjustments in Bitcoin.

  • by grey-area on 11/22/13, 2:50 PM

    When businesses actually price products or services in a digital currency as opposed to accepting it, we'll know it has arrived and is ready to rival national currencies.

  • by oleganza on 11/22/13, 2:46 PM

    Another way to invest in Bitcoin when exchanges are not very liquid: accept BTC at the current rate and boost the value and awareness by making a bold move.

  • by runako on 11/22/13, 3:05 PM

    Finally, a service that can be denominated in integral Bitcoin values.

  • by napolux on 11/22/13, 4:26 PM

    Just marketing IMHO. You say you'll accept bitcoins and then you'll have 10s of articles talking about your company.

  • by Angostura on 11/22/13, 4:39 PM

    Sounds to me as if Mr Branson has a bunch of Bitcoin and would like to cash-in early next week.

  • by shocks on 11/22/13, 3:29 PM

    $250,000 for a flight. That puts it at about 333 BTC right now.

  • by ChikkaChiChi on 11/22/13, 4:50 PM

    Metaphorically this is fantastic. What better way to pay for a barely controlled rapid ascent and descent than with a highly unstable 'currency'!

  • by knodi on 11/22/13, 5:40 PM

    the problem is getting BTC in the US. You have to a P2P sale which most likely at some point will lead to you getting scammed. The banks need to offer a currency exchange from USD to BTC. And then bitcoins are going to really take off.

  • by pkallberg on 11/22/13, 4:25 PM

    This is a great marketing stunt!