Bitcoins have been all over the place lately. Er, figuratively. 🙂 NPR did an interesting Planet Money podcast about them; Medium posted an in-depth summary, and now OKCupid has started accepting them as a payment method.
I suppose this only makes sense, given that OKCupid is an online dating site, after all. Might as well get with the digital times. But the value of Bitcoins seems so unstable that I can’t see paying for anything regular like a subscription with them, and I think the percentage of paying users who will actually use Bitcoin is still pretty small. And of course, the usual questions about their fluctuating value apply. Bitcoins are interesting, and I appreciate much of the concept behind them, but other parts seem crazy and illogical to me, at least until they’re a bit more established. (Then again, I think Square, PayPal, and even credit cards and ATMs faced similar skepticism at first, ya know? So perhaps it’s just a matter of time.)
What do y’all think? Would you shell out for an online dating subscription with your heard-earned (or mined) Bitcoins? Even if you would, I’ll tell you think—I don’t think OKCupid’s paid tier is worth shelling out for just yet. If you’re going to spend money in your online dating adventures, I think spending it on more established sites that have been charging from the get-go is a better move. And of course, so is hiring a consultant like me or hiring other pros to help you look and feel better, like a photographer, personal trainer, therapist, hairdresser, nutritionist, etc.