Bitcoin ATMs to open in Jakarta and Bali

Rangi

It has been announced that ATMs equipped with bitcoins will be opened in Indonesia. CEO of Bitcoin Indonesia, Oscar Darmawan said that the use of bitcoins in the country continues to show progress. “We will install a bitcoin ATM that is the same as the existing one in Singapore. We hope to open as many as 100 bitcoin ATMs around the world,” said Oscar in Jakarta last weekend. Darmawan revealed that the initial bitcoin ATM locations will most likely be selected as Jakarta and Bali. Bitcoin ATMs have the same functionality and usability similar to a conventional ATM. In addition to the provision of bitcoin ATMs, Darmawan admitted it also plans to issue bitcoin deposit vouchers which can be obtained through online and retail outlets. However, Bank Indonesia has confirmed that the virtual currency is still invalid as a method of payment.

Bitcoin ATMs to open in Jakarta and Bali | Latest News From Bali | The Beat Daily Remembered an earlier thread so I thought this might interest a couple of you.

davita

Bitcoin ATMs to open in Jakarta and Bali | Latest News From Bali | The Beat Daily Remembered an earlier thread so I thought this might interest a couple of you.

I'm bumping this thread of about a year ago to warn members about the scams using bitcoins. Today's Jakarta Post reports the HKG Central Bank warning people about this investment as a bitcoin exchange has absconded with US$387M of client's money. link: Investors fear HK$3b losses in closure of bitcoin trading company | South China Morning Post

Markit

In this digital age we should all try and remember the only digits of importance are 1 and 0 and everything we say, hear and do on a computer is made up of and by only those 2 digits. Ask anyone in the film or music industry how difficult it was to copy all their products of the last 1000 years and think how difficult it will be to do the same for bitcoins that are, after all is said and done, only made up of 1s and 0s. caveat emptor

davita

Once again bumping to warn that some US$65 million has been stolen from Bitcoin holders in Hong Kong's Bitcoin market. Bitcoin Price Crashes After Exchange Admits Security Breach, Over $60 Million Stolen | Zero Hedge

Markit

Back in the day there was a thing called a "Silver Certificate". This was a promise to pay the bearer the Silver equivalent of what was on the face of the certificate, either 2, 5 or 10 dollars. The deal being you could walk up to the local bank and say "here's my Silver Certificate 2, 5 or 10 dollar bill I'd like to have silver for it. And you would get that amount of the funny metal. In your hand. To do with as you wanted. This was prior to the time when the US dollar was tied to the gold standard. That meant each and every dollar was worth exactly 1/35th of a dollar or the ounce of gold was worth $35. I realize that dollars/gold/silver have moved on since then but can anyone tell me why a Bitcoin is worth anything?

Steve Rossell

Many years ago I visited Yap in Micronesia and thought that you would need a mighty big purse to carry your currency. The currency was of course circular stones that were carved out of rock that was not readily available. The biggest stone money held inter-island sway because to transport it took enormous resources. Just like gold and then silver. Bitcoin??????? Not for me, I'd rather the barter system. Simple. What's it worth to you? What is it worth to me?

Nydave

I recently watched a documentary about bitcoin,and honestly i was as wise after watching it as i was before i watched it,it was full of young S**t heads boasting about how great it was and how they had made fortunes dealing in it,a lot of it was about bitcoin mining,which i truly don`t understand,however the ones doing this mining have millions of dollars (or is that bitcoins ) invested in their operations,seriously some of them have so much computer equipment they have it set up in 40 ft shipping containers complete with air conditioning to keep it at the correct temperature parked outside their offices,with cables running into the office,this bitcoin thing has been around now for several years and i really don`t see it going anywhere fast,or if its going anywhere at all,

DenpasarHouse

Bitcoin???????

It takes resources to create Bitcoins and to carry out transactions too. Here ya go: How bitcoin mining works - CoinDesk It all gets very unintuitive, very quickly, but it's not like the ideas and methods are unproven. It's been around since 2009.

Markit

I had fun and profit from speculating all through the 80s and 90s but then lost interest when it all got too silly and I lost interest in money for money's sake. One rule to remember is if you want to make money (as opposed to "keep" money) then look for the volatile stocks/currencies and learn what moves them. DPH your 2% movement of a morning is just the thing to invest in if you have nerves of carbon fiber and need the dosh. My main objections to Buttcoin is that it takes monumental amounts of computer time and energy to "mine" the damned things. A completely useless and massively wasteful endeavor.

DenpasarHouse

I'm a bit of a Bitcoin Believer, but it's not easy, not safe and you shouldn't invest any more than you're prepared to lose. This morning I rushed down to the http://bitcoin.co.id office in Seminyak to buy some bitcoins while they were still cheap. Since this morning their value has risen about 2-3%. Tomorrow it could be up another 10% or down another 20%, nobody knows. Here's a couple of good sites for monitoring the current price: All Currencies | Crypto-Currency Market Capitalizations Bitcoin Exchange Rate â€” Bitcoin Live Converter â€” Preev As a short to medium term investment I'd say that it's way too volatile, but if you're willing to hold onto them for at least 5 years then you can weather the storms and come out on top. Right now it's probably best described as a digital version of gold. It's not really suitable for retail and other merchants right now but this could change in the near future. The biggest problem is that you can't actually trust anyone to hold and store them for you (Google 'Mt Gox' and the latest hack of 'Bitfinex'). You can take them offline but that brings with it a whole bunch of other problems. For example, I've got a backup system in place, but if I was to die tomorrow there's a good chance all my Bitcoins would be lost forever. In my opinion, mainstream use will only come about when the major banks take it on and allow you to store your Bitcoins with them. There's not sign of that yet, which is why I think you should only buy in if you're willing to wait at least 5 years before seeing any of your money again. P.S. Since I started writing this post the price has dropped and the 2-3% I gained today is all gone. DON'T BUY FOR SHORT TERM PROFITS!

Nydave

Im just curious ,,with a regular Atm you input a card and real money comes out the bottom, What do you put into a Bitcoin Atm and what comes out If Bank Indonesia says its an invalid currency then why the need for Atm`s ,if you can`t spend it why would you need it, Their goal of having 100 Atm`s worldwide,doesnt say much for its popularity,

Nydave

DPH thank you for explaining,interesting to hear that you get real cash out,so are you saying that 1 bitcoin is worth$570 ?

DenpasarHouse

DPH thank you for explaining,interesting to hear that you get real cash out,so are you saying that 1 bitcoin is worth$570 ?

Yep, see here for the current market price: Bitcoin Exchange Rate â€” Bitcoin Live Converter â€” Preev

DenpasarHouse

I realize that dollars/gold/silver have moved on since then but can anyone tell me why a Bitcoin is worth anything?

This is really a question you could ask of any currency, especially since the vast majority (if not all) are no longer backed by physical objects or materials. Fiat currencies and Bitcoins are worth something because everyone agrees that they are. As long as we all keep agreeing, the system keeps working. I suppose it helps that the alternative is to return to bartering. Whenever questions like this come up I always think of those Rai stones they used in Micronesia. You can buy replicas of them from a few of the statue places along Jalan Raya Kerobokan. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rai_stones Here's my favourite part:

In one instance, a large rai being transported by canoe and outrigger was accidentally dropped and sank to the sea floor. Although it was never seen again, everyone agreed that the rai must still be there, so it continued to be transacted as genuine currency. What is important is that ownership of the rai is clear to everyone, not that the rai is physically transferred or even physically accessible to either party in the transfer.

DenpasarHouse

Markit wroteOne rule to remember is if you want to make money (as opposed to "keep" money) then look for the volatile stocks/currencies and learn what moves them. DPH your 2% movement of a morning is just the thing to invest in if you have nerves of carbon fiber and need the dosh.

Yeah, I agree, but my days of sleepness nights are behind me now. I'm only in it buy and hold.

Markit wroteMy main objections to Buttcoin is that it takes monumental amounts of computer time and energy to "mine" the damned things. A completely useless and massively wasteful endeavor.

It's definitely a concern, but from what I've read it is mostly exaggerated. Don't forget that mining gold and silver has an environmental impact as well. Also, the inevitable rise of renewable energy sources, like solar, make this a temporary problem.

DenpasarHouse

Nydave wroteWhat do you put into a Bitcoin Atm and what comes out

You scan your private key (this is like your PIN number or password and is usually in the form of a QR barcode) into the Bitcoin ATM and this allows your Bitcoins to be transferred to the ATM. After it confirms the Bitcoins have been released to the ATM, it can then spit out the equivalent amount of local currency. [EDIT - Sorry about this, I was wrong. Apparently you send the Bitcoins you want to exchange for cash to an address the ATM gives you. You don't scan in your private key.] To buy Bitcoins from a Bitcoin ATM you need to feed your local currency into the ATM and it will send the newly bought Bitcoins to your public key(sort of like the equivalent of an email address) that you also scan into the ATM. This isn't a complete explanation of how Bitcoins work but it's basically correct. As far as I know, the Bitcoin ATMs in Bali can only buy Bitcoins not sell them. They really shouldn't be called ATMs, it just confuses people.

Nydave wroteIf Bank Indonesia says its an invalid currency then why the need for Atm`s ,if you can`t spend it why would you need it,

Yep, that's a huge risk. Very few countries have banned it outright, and most developed countries are slowly working out how they'll classify and tax them.

Nydave wroteTheir goal of having 100 Atm`s worldwide,doesnt say much for its popularity,

I'm not sure what you're referring to here. But I'd agree that it's definitely not popular and it's definitely not ready for the mainstream and yet, even so, it's currently worth over USD$570. My personal opinion is that it's going to take over the function that gold serves. It may catch on with retailers but I'm really not sure.