Mar 28, 2024 | Updated: 11:35 AM EDT

Bitcoin As PayPal 2.0?

Dec 17, 2013 10:38 AM EST

Online payments will look completely different in the next decade, and Bitcoin has a better chance at revolutionizing commerce than the NFC tap-to-pay technology, PayPal President David Marcus stated earlier this month. "I really like Bitcoin. I own bitcoins,"David Marcus said at the LeWeb conference. PayPal feels users are still not ready due to lack of understanding of what Bitcoins are that he will accept Bitcoins integrated to PayPal accounts.

Bitcoin is an open source, peer-to-peer (P2P) payment network and digital currency introduced in 2009. Developer "Satoshi Nakamoto" developed Bitcoin which uses public-key cryptography for security. Users are able to send payments by broadcasting digitally signed messages that transfer ownership of bitcoins, the unit of currency.

Theft of bitcoins has been covered extensively in the media. Bitcoin is used to pay for products and services. Merchants have an incentive to accept the currency because transaction fees are lower than the 2 to 3% typically imposed by credit card processors. Notable vendors include OkCupid, Reddit, and WordPress.

Bitcoin

Mobile wallets allow Android users to carry Bitcoin while on the go. Users can exchange coins easily and pay in physical stores by scanning a QR code or using NFC "tap to pay". The Bitcoin Wallet for Android is easy to use and reliable, while also being secure and fast. Its vision is de-centralization and zero trust: No central service is needed for Bitcoin-related operations. The app is a good choice for non-technical people. The app is available at Google Play.

Bitcoin Android App Features:

• No registration, web service or cloud needed! This wallet is de-centralized and peer to peer.

• Display of Bitcoin amount in BTC and mBTC.

• Conversion to and from national currencies.

• Sending and receiving of Bitcoin via NFC, QR-codes or Bitcoin URLs.

• Address book for regularly used Bitcoin addresses.

• When you're offline, you can still pay via Bluetooth.

• System notification for received coins.

• App widget for Bitcoin balance.

*Bitcoin Google Play

Bitcoin payment processing fees are substantially lower than those of credit cards or money transfers. According to Wikipedia, The competitive advantage lower fees confer to Bitcoin may lessen or vanish in the future, however. Currently, doing the work of payment processing is rewarded with newly created bitcoins, but once the Bitcoin ceiling is reached, processing transactions will no longer be rewarded with new bitcoins.

Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks; managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network. Bitcoin is open-source; its design is public, nobody owns or controls Bitcoin and everyone can take part. Through many of its unique properties, Bitcoin allows exciting uses that could not be covered by any previous payment system.

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