Let me donate bitcoins to support mediaportal. (1 Viewer)

[findftp]

I'm into bitcoins for a few months and I want to use them as currency so here and there I do donations in bitcoins, just because I like the concept.
Is there a reason for not having this option at mediaportal?

 

[kiwijunglist]

Does paypal support bitcoins, I think our donations are via paypal. I think bitcoins are pretty rare, I only know one person who uses them and he only uses them for 'stock trading'

 

[Oxan]

I think the reason we don't accept them is that it's pretty hard to buy anything useful (hosting, software, hardware) with them.

 

[findftp]

I think the reason we don't accept them is that it's pretty hard to buy anything useful (hosting, software, hardware) with them.

I understand, but from a donaters perspective I don't care what you buy, I just want to donate.
Since you can change BTC into dollars, euro's, gold, etc first, you could always buy hosting and hardware from that.
It is just easy for me to donate BTC, easier than paypal.
There are also a lot less costs involved so you end up with having more.

 

[FreakyJ]

maybe we should tag @high and @infinite.loop
But great to see people taking so much care about MP @findftp

 

[infinite.loop]

I think the reason we don't accept them is that it's pretty hard to buy anything useful (hosting, software, hardware) with them.

I understand, but from a donaters perspective I don't care what you buy, I just want to donate.

I can surely understand your perspective. But t the current time we only accept PayPal donations.

Maybe in the future we will also accept BitCoin, but we need to look into this first.

 

[findftp]

Can the NO voters please leave a message why?
Why would anyone unaccept 10 bitcoins for donation while they are currently exchangable for more than 1000 USD?
Why would you believe that paypal is a better medium of exchange?

 

[kiwijunglist]

This is my personal opinion:

Can the NO voters please leave a message why?

1. Bitcoin currency is not widely used.
2. The argument that we could exchange bitcoins for $$ could be made at the donators end as well as the receivers end.

Why would you believe that paypal is a better medium of exchange?

Apart from accepting payments directly from credit cards, I would say that paypal would be the most widely used + known international payment method. I also believe that users would be more comfortable giving their credit card details directly to paypal, rather than making them available to MePo.

 

[Oxan]

Can the NO voters please leave a message why?
Why would anyone unaccept 10 bitcoins for donation while they are currently exchangable for more than 1000 USD?
Why would you believe that paypal is a better medium of exchange?

I didn't vote, but there are two problems with bitcoin:
1. It's more work for us (the team). Not only do we have to setup and manage a wallet, but we also have to exchange all bitcoins we get to hard dollars or euros so that we can pay bills with it.
2. The exchange rate is very volatile, so the donations we get today could be worth less (or more, for that matter) tomorrow. We're in the business of making software, not speculating with currency.

That said, while I doubt there will be a generic BTC donation method, I think there are team members willing to help if you really want to donate the equivalent of 1000 USD.

 

[findftp]

1. Bitcoin currency is not widely used.

So you would also deny a kilo of gold or a specific piece of hardware which is not widely used but very useful for testing?

2. The argument that we could exchange bitcoins for $$ could be made at the donators end as well as the receivers end.

Why wouldn't you just ask for direct payment for hosting, or hardware. In the end you still have to convert the $ to someting usefull for yourself.
For a donater it should be convenient. That is the same reason why charity comes at your door to collect money.
Some charity funds even collect paper because you want to get rid of it, and they can convert it into money.
I don't want to say that mediaportal should accept paper as a medium for donation because it is not convenient for you as well.
Bitcoins on the other hand are easily convertable by you into other goods or $

Why would you believe that paypal is a better medium of exchange?

Apart from accepting payments directly from credit cards, I would say that paypal would be the most widely used + known international payment method. I also believe that users would be more comfortable giving their credit card details directly to paypal, rather than making them available to MePo.

I (and many more) are even more comfortable with bitcoins than paypal.

I just can't understand why anyone, especially charity consumers, would unaccept something really valuable, especially when they are easily convertable into something else.