We've started accepting payments in Bitcoins at our site. If you haven't heard of Bitcoin, it is a new digital currency that uses encryption to keep transactions safe over a distributed network. You can covert some money to Bitcoins, then use them as currency where they are accepted. There are some advantages and disadvantages to using Bitcoins, and lots of controversy including some very interesting discussions of whether Bitcoins qualify as actual "money" or not:
But one of the amazing things about Bitcoin for me is how secure payments are. You don't need to provide your name, address, phone, card number, security code, etc... as you do when you pay with a credit card. Bitcoins are designed to be used over the internet. You pay, and your "wallet" cryptic keys are identified by the distributed network and your account is credited or debited, and the recipient's account is credited or debited. No worries about someone stealing your credit card number or your identity. You just have to make sure your "wallet.dat" file doesn't get hacked, and you can do that with encryption or by some other similar means.
Is it the future of money? We'll see. For now it's a nice secure alternative to credit card payments.
