Khan Academy now accepts Bitcoin via Coinbase

http://blog.coinbase.com/post/57119163938/khan-academy-now-accepts-bitcoin-donations-using

by FredEE • 13 years ago

146 18 13 years ago

blog.coinbase.com

Tangentially related Matt from Wordpress did an AMA on reddit yesterday and mentioned the Bitcoin integration they've done: in the last 9 months there's been 94 total Bitcoin transactions. Hopefully Khan academy will release figures too so we can see how the adoption of Bitcoin is going. http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1jg781/i_am_matt_mulle...

thejosh• 13 years ago

Its worth it just for the frontpage of HN/Reddit for PR.

dmnd• 13 years ago

Since I turned this on at 6pm today, there's been 24 transactions for a total of 6.174 BTC.

There's been 4 donations of 1.0 BTC but none larger. I set the default at 1.0 BTC; perhaps I should increase it!

alixr3• 13 years ago

Don't get greedy.

ronyeh• 13 years ago

Cool stuff, but I wonder, even if the price of BTC stabilizes, will "normal everyday people" use it?

I'm taking a coursera class (Startup 101 by Stanford) where we'll use BTC to fund our projects. But it seems like it's more confusing to the average user to see a "Donate Bitcoin" button on my page. I'd rather it just say "Donate" and have my payments processor accept any local currency.

Also, the Winklevoss twins are BTC speculators.

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/07/02/beware-the-risks-o...

zanny2• 13 years ago

I'd rather it just say "Donate" and have my payments processor accept any local currency.

They have dealt with the ecentricities of their local money their entire life. Bitcoin is new. In the end, from an objective standpoint, scanning a QR code and confirming the transaction is easier than dealing with debit / credit cards -> bank accounts -> checkbooks, etc. I still have a POS time with routing numbers and bank account numbers and those are effectively fiat bitcoin addresses.

Bitcoin is so much easier to use because all you need to use it is a bitcoin address.

superuser22• 13 years ago

But to obtain BitCoin in the first place, you need to trust Coinbase with your account and routing number and possibly ID documents, wait a week for your BitCoin to become available, and then spend it.

To my knowledge there is no way for a first-time BitCoin user to make a purchase right away.

srdev• 13 years ago

That's a bad comparison. You're comparing using Bitcoin after its set up, with a bank account with no set up. I have direct deposit plus a credit card, and using my money is as easy as a swipe or inputting some numbers. And unlike Bitcoin, I get chargeback protection and account insurance.

hal9k• 13 years ago

I would imagine that in order for the price of bitcoin to stabilize normal everyday people will have to already have adopted it. I guess its a bit of a chicken and egg problem. But so is a lot of new tech I guess.

mtgx• 13 years ago

I think it will take off when people will be able to use "NFC rings" as their wallets, and it would have an easy to use UX. But there also needs to be NFC infrastructure in all stores.

jc1232• 13 years ago

"if the price of BTC stabilizes" is the key

Does anyone else think that BTC is the greater fool theory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory) ?

Will the world allow itself to be swindled by the Winklevoss twins? For all its advantages, it seems there will always be high risk and speculation to it.

alixr3• 13 years ago

I could say you're part of the greater fool theory anytime you get paid in or sell something for fiat money. It only has value as long as people are willing to accept it, same thing applies to Bitcoin.

But Bitcoin is also an incredibly small market and as such it's susceptible to manipulation from already wealthy individuals like the Winklevii. Unfortunately for them bitcoin are worthless without circulation (i.e. people willing to accept them).

Bitcoin gained a lot of traction and new blood this year, most of these newcomers are standing around wondering where things will go without thinking about why they invested in the first place. People also don't seem to understand it's still in testing despite the high value.

Khan Academy now accepts Bitcoin via Coinbase

Related Stories