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IPFS News Link • Bitcoin

BITPAY FOUNDER: Bitcoin Has Proven It Can Take A Hit

• http://www.businessinsider.com, Rob Wile
 But the real star of the story was Bitpay.com. After all, since they were the ones cashing out the buyer's Bitcoins, they were taking on all the risk. 

As Bitcoin's value has skyrocketed in recent weeks — now $127; about $50 just a month ago — lots of people have been highlighting the "crypto-currency's" dangers.

Felix Salmon, for instance, believes Bitcoin is not a currency at all, but rather behaves more like a commodity, subject to the same touchy price changes as corn or cotton.

Bitcoin's recent flash crashes — the result of both technical and malicious failures — have only added to the skepticism. 

Thursday morning, we talked with Bitpay.com's founder, Tony Gallippi to get his take. 

Speaking to us by phone from his Atlanta office (which was outfitted using Bitcoin-bought supplies, naturally), Gallippi essentially agrees with Salmon, calling Bitcoin an "asset class."
 

As long as its value keeps rising, he said, it will come to be viewed like stocks or real estate.

[If it gets up to] $500 and $1,000, it's now usable for people who want to trade in and out of real estate, gold positions, stocks. Someone moving to New Zealand wondering how to get $5 million in gold ... with Bitcoin, they can cash it back out.



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