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Man, South Station is getting so cool: New restrooms AND a Bitcoin ATM

They opened the new airport-grade men's room at South Station the other day, a couple months after the new women's room opened. Any gents have reports on its quality?

Meanwhile, Jesse Waites posted a photo of the station's brand-new Bitcoin ATM, handy for when you need to stock up on a digital currency that doesn't involve shiba inus.

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Comments

Dogecoin is the way to go!

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I'm thinking the Harvard Square station would be best. Word on the street is there is a bookstore that takes it.

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You mean this blog? There was a photo of an outdoor book stand a few weeks ago that took Dogecoin.

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Yeah. That's likely what put it in my memory -- or lack thereof.

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started at a Star Trek convention.

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The brought you the iPad, iPhone, 3D printer, Transparent Aluminum, Hypospray Injector, and soon to be medical tricorder.

Bitcoin is brought to you by the Winklevoss twins and a small group of scammers looking to sell snake oil digital commodities and dump them when high. At least with real commodities you have something physical sitting in a warehouse somewhere.

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Klingon money.

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Well for now this Klingon money has done some good.

So far Dogecoin has funded the Jamaican bobsleds trip to Sochi and an Indian Lugers trip as well.

They also raised enough dogecoin to purchase service dogs for kids that need them.

It's value isn't all that high and it's not the simplest process to convert it to actual cash, but it is raising some interest around the world.

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Citizens in Argentina and other nations have used it to avoid capital controls and rampant inflation from their governments. People in countries like Iran have used it to avoid government interference in their personal finances and purchases. It's more than just a currency...it's a cryptocurrency and that means untraceable purchasing power for when you're being monitored.

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But who worries about inflation when the commodity you invested in can swing by 225% in a matter of hours.

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Madoff has to be jealous.

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Someone desperate enough to gamble on bitcoin rather than go with the guarantee that the 20% devaluation last month in Argentina is going to keep going for now.

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Bitcoin Exchange Mt. Gox Disappears From Web Amid Reports Of Massive Theft
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/mt-gox-bitcoin

As for Argentina, USD (or any other currency) would probably be a safer bet than Bitcoin. I guess you could argue that Bitcoin is more accessible to the masses than FX. But it sure as hell isn’t a safer place to store value during an economic and political crisis.

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My Bitcoin investment just allowed me to pay off one of my cars. Also, the Winklevi were investors in a now shuttered Bitcoin exchange, not the creators of Bitcoin.

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was good at musical chairs.

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Bitcoin isn't from the Winklevoss twins. They got into it well after it was an established currency. It's not snake oil. It's a currency. If you don't like that it's an unbacked currency...well, I have some news for you about the US Dollar...

Bitcoin is volatile currently, but that's because there are few early investors and still a rather rapid rate of creation at the same time. When big things happen (like China outlawing the currency, then big results tend to happen in its conversion rates.

I imagine you don't get paid in gold bullion...so, which "real commodity" are you being paid in exactly? Or is USD just another snake oil digital commodity to you too?

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You are conflaiting the backing of a current and the benchmarking of a currency. It is true that both bitcoin and the dollar are effectively floating currencies (i.e. not backed by a comodity in a vault), although the dollar is typically valued (i.e. benchmarked) off of the US GDP, whereas bitcoin is effectively valued off of pure demand. However, the dollar is backed by the U.S. Treasury, meaning that although its value may rise and fall, it can always be redeemed. Bitcoin is not backed by anything or anyone, save the organization that created it, which could dissapear tomorrow. Although the Winklevos twins did not invent bitcoin, they were, as you say, heavy investors in bitcoins, meaning the bought many of them up when they were cheap. Although only they can know what they intend to do with them, in all liklihood, it is classic currency speculation fueled by self-created articficial demand. It is true that in these days of floating currencies the value of our dollar might seem like an imaginary thing and that if someone invents a new currency and everyone just agrees to use it, it will work the same way. However, the dollar does have real economic value, and is not a mere figment of supply and demand. Just because the value of Bitcoin has gone up does not mean that it is a legitimate currency or has inherent value any more than overvalued tech stocks had inherent value before the 2000 tech bust. Their value too was simply a figment of supply and demand. I suppose if you made an early investment in bitcoin, you can be happy right now that your investment has appreciated. However, the same can be said of early investors in ponzi schemes.

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There's no such thing as a volatile currency, as stability is one aspect of what currency is, along with fungibility, and the very real backing of a government or entity. Currencies that ARE volatile cease to be currencies pretty quickly.

People like to claim the value of the dollar is make believe, but nothing could be further from the truth.

The truth is it's leverage against the full faith and credit of the US of A, which in layman's terms is all the wealth and assets of the US and US citizens, the goods and service we produce, and the future productivity and work we're expected to do. Why everyone always forgets about that side of the balance sheet on the macro levels; who knows? I blame politicians trying to degenerate everything to balancing checkbooks or paying off credit card debt, because common sense is always how the universe works, let alone human nature or institutions.

Bitcoin is a nice idea, but it's nowhere near being a true currency because of it's volatility, it's anonimy, and it's rather small backing of true assets. One of the major exchanges also just claimed to have found a fatal flaw in how it works, and halted trading. Then you get into who actually owns them, large dumping by those institutional investors as soon as they had enough others to buy in, and the very real issue of it being used to wash real money and sell illegal goods.

As for why it's a snake oil commodity, it's because of who and why it's currently used. It's a refuge for gold bugs that wanted to move from one collapsing commodity market to the next, and claim it insulated them from inflation, the apocalypse, or the evil guv'mint. If they really believe what they say they do, bet everything you have on TIPS and you'll be one rich mother. Otherwise a world where the #1 economy collapses is one where gold (or electronic "currency") isn't going to do you any favors.

I'd recommend land in a close knit, small wilderness community and the know how to work that land.

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You claim volatility is a problem, then defend the dollar.

Were you awake for the game of chicken Congress kept playing with the debt limit?

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The dollar stayed pretty damn steady through all those episodes. That you're implying the dollar or interest rates are as volatile as bitcoin is just absurd and laughable.

And in a world where they are, bitcoin isn’t going to be an option anyways.

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Wow they are really working overtime to turn South Station into a smugglers' one stop trading hub.

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Can we get real estate developers to start calling the area "MosEis"?

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Or someone could just hand you a small envelope full of $100 bills much easier. I mean if we are talking drugs, cartels get busted with rooms stacked to the ceiling with $100 bills, not a desk and a laptop with a Bitcoin wallet installed. The whole Bitcoin/drug thing is completely overblown. The currency is not anonymous, there is a public record of all transactions. Cash on the other hand is truly anonymous. Is it harder to track down a Bitcoin transfer then a Paypal transfer? Sure, but it is not like it cannot be done.

FYI: I am not some crazy Bitcoin hyper ultra libertarian (in fact I find a lot of libertarian ideas to be flawed). I just think the tech behind it is neat and I am eager to see a day where I don't have Paypal take 4-7% of my bottom line from stuff I sell on tech forums. Or when I can send a friend in Europe cash instantly without someone taking a chunk out of it.

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Why didn't I know about this.

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I used that restroom shortly after it was open. Pretty nice as well as all the other construction. I don'd think it will stay nice. There is a certain homeless element who use the South Station restroom usually for not related activity.

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Airport grade!

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Heard some news that they were working an ATM for Boston. Going to stop by today to check it out! Would rather see one near Central or maybe in The Garage in Harvard Square.

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I get the dog part of dogecoin. But my brain requires that I incorporate the e into the pronunciation and so I see Doge-coin.

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I am going to use a valid currency, like the Dollar, to purchase a volatile currency like Bitcoin because, um, why?

I'll pass, thank you very much.

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I'm not at South Station often so when I happened to be there last week and thought how nasty it was, I did quite a double take when I walked in again this morning and thought for a minute that I was in a different facility. Good gawd was that so hard?! Great improvement.

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