I'm Brett Russell, Founder & CEO of BIGbtc - Bitcoin Integration Group - Ask Me Anything! - (here 25th Nov)

[brettarussell]

Hi all,

I'm a serial entrepreneur with a business background and varied interests. Most recently my career in IT/telecom kept me busy and allowed me to keep my finger on the pulse of technology. I was not on Satoshi's Cryptography mailing list but I still managed to stumble upon Bitcoin in 2012 and got serious about it in 2013. I believed in 2013 that one of the keys to adoption was managing the "merchants perception" of Bitcoin. I established BIGbtc - Bitcoin Integration Group - with a view to achieving that and other goals. I launched in early 2014 as a sponsor of the Bitcoin Canada Expo 2014 held in Toronto, Canada at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

We are working every day to bring Bitcoin closer to Merchants on Mainstreet, Canada & Mainstreet, USA. We will succeed.

We have been active in the community and event sponsorship:

Scaling Bitcoin - Montreal 2015 / Sponsor
Digital Finance Institute - Vancouver 2015 / Sponsor
Digital Finance Institute - Toronto 2015 / Sponsor
Canadian Institute Payments Forum 2015 / Sponsor
Bitgive Foundation - Member / Sponsor
Bitcoin Foundation - Silver Member
Retail Council of Canada - Member
Bitcoin Canada Expo 2014 / Sponsor

I'll be answering questions here on November 25th, 2015 starting at 9:00AM EST

[Skin_in_the_game]

Hello Brett

I was re-reading Antifragile by iconoclast thinker Nassim Taleb recently. He writes

"Never ask anyone for their opinion [...] Just ask them what they have -or don't have- in their portfolio"

Having met or read about a few people in the bitcoin community, I have come to think it's a very relevant question and you can better weight their opinions having an idea of how many Bitcoins they hold (or do not hold.)

I'm now asking every participants the same question:

- Do you mind to tell us which percentage of your net worth and/or liquid assets you hold in Bitcoins ?

[Windowly]

A lot of companies that accept bitcoin don't offer discounts or incentives for the consumer to pay in bitcoin. Why do you think this is? Do you try change this approach? If so, what are some ways you try to convince merchants that it is in their interest to persuade their customers to start paying in bitcoin in the long term?

[brettarussell]

Hello Brett

I was re-reading Antifragile by iconoclast thinker Nassim Taleb recently. He writes

"Never ask anyone for their opinion [...] Just ask them what they have -or don't have- in their portfolio"

Having met or read about a few people in the bitcoin community, I have come to think it's a very relevant question and you can better weight their opinions having an idea of how many Bitcoins they hold (or do not hold.)

I'm now asking every participants the same question:

- Do you mind to tell us which percentage of your net worth and/or liquid assets you hold in Bitcoins ?

.....................

Hi and thanks for participating in this AMA.

The acquisition of Bitcoins are by no means a measure of ones commitment to a business in the Bitcoin space. Nor is it a requisite for advocating the use of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is not like a publicly traded stock. The CEO of INTEL buys INTEL shares to demonstrate to shareholders he has skin in the game, and the success of his playbook has near-term personal consequences.

In order to move a business forward in the Bitcoin space, we have no choice but to rely on FIAT currency to build solid foundations for success.

You can decide if a person is worthy of your confidence by his/her level of investment in that companies cause.

Over the last 2 years BIGbtc has made a considerable investments in the Bitcoin space and we are committed to growth.

There are no near-term ROI's in the Bitcoin space. But when they come, they will be BIG.

[brettarussell]

A lot of companies that accept bitcoin don't offer discounts or incentives for the consumer to pay in bitcoin. Why do you think this is? Do you try change this approach? If so, what are some ways you try to convince merchants that it is in their interest to persuade their customers to start paying in bitcoin in the long term?

.................

Thanks for participating in this AMA. That's a great question.

There are many reasons companies decide to hang the iconic "Bitcoin Accepted Here" sign. Not all of those reasons have to do with transaction costs, friction, etc., it could be they want first mover advantage, although that's narrowing every day, publicity, international trade, international transfer and a host of other great attributes.

Merchants may have no room for discounts. Transacting Bitcoin through payment processor BitPay will cost 1% on a business package (starter package is free up to daily $1,000 or 30 transaction/mo then 1%) . Transacting Bitcoin without a payment processor brings costs as well. Setting up a wallet, buying Bitcoin Hardware Wallets like KeepKey or Ledger, integrating software into shopping carts, setting up 2FA, locking down networks, and more.

As well, in recent times conventional payment processors like Visa /MC have been pressured to lower merchant rates.

Even with a slight competitive edge on transaction fees, we cannot incentivize a merchant to accept Bitcoin by convincing them the transaction costs are lower and then tell them to give those savings back to the customer.

We tell merchants that the time is now to ready their systems and staff for the next round of Bitcoin madness. And that by hanging that iconic "Bitcoin Accepted Here" sign they are demonstrating to their customers they are staying in step with the latest in payment technologies.

Bitcoin is on its way to proving itself as a reliable and stable store of value, it's not quite there yet. And when it does what it's suppose to do, appreciate in value, it will be BIG.