再趕新潮 比特幣購物初體驗

Deep in the unregulated underbelly of the Internet, bitcoin is the crypto-currency of the realm, making as many headlines for its volatile price as it has for its popularity with criminals seeking anonymity.

在不受監管的互聯網暗區深處有一種加密電子貨幣，這種電子貨幣就是比特幣。比特幣價格起伏多變，而且常被犯罪分子作爲隱藏身份的工具，因此經常見諸報端。

These are reasons enough to keep most people away. But bitcoin keeps popping up in more places as a way to pay for legal, everyday things. So I spent a week using the virtual currency and my experience surprised me: It was neither anonymous nor shadowy.

比特幣的弊端足以讓大多數人敬而遠之。但比特幣作爲購買合法日常用品的方式正爲越來越多的商家所接受。於是我花了一週時間來試用這種虛擬貨幣，我的親身經歷讓我頗感意外：比特幣的使用既非匿名，也並不神祕。

Though my hunt for places to spend bitcoin did turn up a questionable massage parlor, it didn't require venturing into fishy corners of the Internet. I used bitcoin to buy cupcakes and sushi at local shops, and I got a Grumpy Cat sweatshirt at .

在找地方花比特幣的過程中，我確實碰到過一家不太靠譜的按摩院，但我並不需要冒險進入互聯網世界的可疑角落。我用比特幣在本地的商家購買了紙杯蛋糕和壽司，還在上買了一件不爽貓(Grumpy Cat)運動衫。

Bitcoin isn't ready to replace credit cards or PayPal. It lacks wide acceptance, consumer protections and stability. The currency is in crisis right now, after hacking attacks disabled two of the biggest exchanges, making bitcoin lose a third of its value. During the course of a week, my own bitcoin lost as much as 7% of its value.

比特幣還無法取代信用卡或貝寶(PayPal)。它尚未被廣泛接受，缺少消費者權益保護機制，也不夠穩定。兩家最大的比特幣交易所受黑客攻擊而癱瘓之後，比特幣目前陷入了危機，幣值縮水三分之一。在一週的時間裏，我本人的比特幣也損失了高達7%的價值。

But that isn't stopping me from keeping a small wallet of the first major Internet currency. I'm no speculator, I'm not investing my savings in bitcoin, or recommending that anyone does that. I'm interested in what it might enable -- a 'tip jar' for online art, or small daily donations to charity. And if you're intrigued, too, this column will hopefully help you keep from losing your shirt.

但這並沒有阻止我持有少量比特幣（比特幣是首個主要互聯網貨幣）。我不是投機者，我不會把積蓄拿來投資比特幣，也不建議任何人這樣做。我只是想知道比特幣能做些什麼，比如存下來在網上買藝術作品，或者每天爲慈善捐一點錢。如果你也感興趣，那麼希望這篇專欄文章能讓你不致連衣服都賠光。

The good news is you don't have to put much money at risk to try it out. I didn't even buy an entire 'coin' -- just 0.25 of one, or about $160. I signed up for a virtual wallet, which promises to safeguard the string of code that is your money, and exchanges dollars for bitcoin (and vice versa). I recommend Coinbase, whose wallet connects to your regular bank account and charges a small fee, about 1%, with each trade.

好消息是，想嘗試比特幣的話，並不需要投入很多錢去冒險。我甚至沒有買一個“整幣”——我只買了0.25個，大約相當於160美元。我註冊了一個虛擬錢包，該錢包承諾保障相當於你的錢的一串代碼的安全，並提供美元與比特幣的相互兌換。我推薦大家使用Coinbase，這家公司的錢包綁定你的普通銀行賬戶，對每筆交易收取少量費用（約爲1%）。

Are these people trustworthy? Coinbase is backed by some big names in Silicon Valley, but has nothing like the government-backed guarantees of using dollars in a regular bank. In the past 15 months, Coinbase says it has set up nearly one million consumer wallets.

那麼這些人可信嗎？Coinbase有硅谷(Silicon Valley)一些著名人物的支持，但不像在普通銀行使用美元那樣能獲得政府擔保。Coinbase稱，在過去15個月裏，該公司已經爲消費者建了近一百萬只錢包。

What surprised me most is how Coinbase strips some anonymity out of the currency. To buy bitcoin, it asked me for my bank account information, my credit-card numbers, even my bank website login details. The company doesn't retain all that info but it is used to speed up the verification process, which can normally take four days.

最讓我意外的是Coinbase剝奪了比特幣的部分匿名性。要想購買比特幣，Coinbase會要求我提供銀行賬戶信息、信用卡號甚至銀行網站登錄詳情。這些信息該公司不會全部保留，但它們被用於加快認證速度（認證一般需要四天時間）。

The point of gathering all this information, says CEO Brian Armstrong, is to prevent 'shenanigans, ' so the traditional banks will see Coinbase as legitimate.

Coinbase首席執行長布萊恩·阿姆斯特朗(Brian Armstrong)表示，蒐集這一切信息是爲了防止一些人“耍滑頭”，以讓傳統銀行認可Coinbase的合法性。

Coinbase has done a good job of simplifying bitcoin use. To pay for sushi at a local shop, I used the Coinbase app on my Android phone to scan the QR code presented by my server. (Apple hasn't yet approved the Coinbase app for iPhone, but you can make payments via the Web.)

Coinbase在簡化比特幣使用方面做得很棒。我在本地一家店裏買了壽司，結賬時，我用自己安卓(Android)手機上的Coinbase應用程序掃描了服務員向我出示的二維碼。（蘋果(Apple)尚未批准在iPhone上使用Coinbase應用，但你可以通過網頁來支付。）

Once I confirmed my sushi payment, the money transferred instantly. For consumers, bitcoin's speed can be a dual-edged sword: If something goes wrong, there's no third party to intercede and get your money back. And returns can be tricky on a currency with a wildly fluctuating value. (Fortunately, I had no complaints about my sushi.)

在我確認了壽司的支付之後，錢就會立即轉賬。對消費者來說，比特幣的速度是一把雙刃劍：如果出現問題，是沒有第三方干預並幫你追回款項的。此外，這樣一種價值大幅波動的貨幣回報會很不可靠。（幸運的是，我對那些壽司很滿意。）

Making a purchase online works much the same. At the checkout page, I chose to pay by bitcoin, and then scanned an on-screen code with my phone.

網上購物的流程也差不多。在的結賬頁面上，我選擇以比特幣支付，隨後用我的手機掃描了屏幕上一個二維碼。

So why bother using bitcoin? Bitcoin doesn't really solve mainstream consumer problems like speed and convenience, says Mark T. Williams, who teaches finance at Boston University and is a bitcoin skeptic. 'It solves a problem if you want to send stuff secretly.'

那麼，我們爲什麼要費這麼多事去使用比特幣呢？在波士頓大學(Boston University)教金融學的馬克·T.威廉斯(Mark T. Williams)對比特幣持懷疑態度，他說，比特幣並不能真正解決消費者遇到的主流問題，比如速度和便利性。他還稱：“如果你想偷偷摸摸地發送什麼東西，比特幣倒是能解決問題。”

Though Coinbase and other wallets collect information about you, you can still try to make transfers or payments anonymous. If someone gives you bitcoin, you can set up a Coinbase wallet without entering many personal details -- though you'll need to verify yourself if you want to turn your bitcoin back into dollars.

儘管Coinbase和其他比特幣錢包會採集你的個人信息，但你仍能設法匿名轉賬或支付。如果有人給你比特幣，你不需要輸入很多個人信息就能建立Coinbase錢包——不過如果你想把比特幣換回美元，則需要驗證身份。

Getting merchants on board will be a slog. Some 3, 000 businesses around the world accept bitcoin for payment, according to . There are more than 60 in the San Francisco Bay Area where I live, but I still struggled to find places worth spending my bitcoin. When I did, paying with bitcoin was usually speedy, but certainly not faster than using a credit card or cash.

讓商家接受比特幣是件難事。根據可顯示接受比特幣商家地理位置的網站，全球大約有3,000個商家接受比特幣支付。我生活的舊金山灣區(San Francisco Bay Area)有超過60個商家接受比特幣，但要找到一家值得花錢的地方仍要頗費一番周折。地方一旦找到，用比特幣支付通常是很快的，不過當然了，沒有信用卡或現金快。

Overstock is planning to offer a financial incentive to paying with bitcoin. Since bitcoin payments save the retailer credit-card fees, Overstock will give bitcoin customers 1% back on their purchases (in store credit).

Overstock計劃爲比特幣支付提供優惠。由於用比特幣支付能爲零售商省去信用卡費，Overstock將向用比特幣消費的人提供1%的購物返利（以店鋪購物抵用券的形式返還）。

So far, the killer app for bitcoin may be international transfers, a process made costly and slow by traditional banks and services like PayPal. I tried sending $10 worth of bitcoin to my friend Kevin in Hong Kong. In minutes, he was up on Coinbase and zapping the money back to me. I sent it over the Pacific again, impressed at our ability to play ping pong with a financial process that normally takes days.

到目前爲止，比特幣的殺手?應用也許是國際轉賬，傳統銀行和貝寶等服務讓這一過程變得昂貴而緩慢。我試着向我在香港的朋友凱文(Kevin)匯去價值10美元的比特幣。他在幾分鐘之內登錄了Coinbase，並把這筆錢迅速匯回我的賬戶。隨後，我再次把錢匯到太平洋對岸，爲我們能輕鬆完成這項一般要耗時數天的金融手續而叫絕。

But when Kevin tried to spend his bitcoin in Hong Kong, opportunities were slim. He found a massage parlor that accepts it, but his wife wasn't impressed with his proposal to sample its services. Eventually Kevin found a florist (wife-approved), but I hadn't sent him enough to buy a bouquet. To buy more bitcoin, a legitimate-seeming Hong Kong wallet company asked for his passport, proof of address -- and more time.

但當凱文試着在香港花比特幣時，他卻發現機會寥寥。凱文找到一家接受比特幣的按摩院，但他夫人對他體驗一把按摩院服務的提議並不感冒。凱文最終找到一家花店（徵得了夫人的同意），但我給他的錢不夠買一束花。要想購買更多比特幣，一家看起來還算正規的香港比特幣錢包公司要求他出示護照，並提供地址證明——還需要花更多時間。

Someday, all of this might be easier. Taking a vacation with bitcoin might provide a way to avoid international currency and credit card fees. But that day isn't here yet.

將來有一天，這一切也許會變得簡單一些。在度假時使用比特幣也許能爲我們提供一種不必換匯和繳納信用卡費就能支付的方法。但這一天尚未來臨。

'Some day' -- I found myself thinking that a lot while using Bitcoin. It may be a currency of the future, but it's still looking for a reason to be useful in the present.

“將來有一天”——我發現自己用比特幣的時候腦子裏總會想着這個詞。比特幣也許是未來的貨幣，但眼下比特幣要想發揮作用，還需要尋找有說服力的理由。