Here is a link to my interview with the local CBS affiliate, KWTV regarding my willingness to accept bitcoin. While I was pleased that my dig at the Federal Reserve was included in the story, I wanted to expand on some points that I had made, but proved too difficult to include in the brief interview.
What underlies my willingness to accept methods of payment other than traditional methods of payment is my concept of exchange itself. Any exchange deemed to be mutually beneficial naturally tends to occur unless the state intervenes. This natural tendency for the exchange to occur prevails as both parties in a mutually beneficial exchange see themselves better off subsequent to the exchange and desire its occurrence, otherwise, one or both parties wouldn’t want to exchange their goods or services in the first place.
More responsibility rests with the seller, however, as any inconvenience or lack of flexibility brought to the transaction on the seller’s part, essentially increases the price to the buyer. It is therefore incumbent on the seller to make allowances for the buyer’s choice of payment, assuming of course, that this does not prohibitively increase the cost of the transaction. The seller is soliciting the approval of the buyer in the form of payment and any preference the buyer has in this arena should be acknowledged at the very least.
The simple truth is that a bitcoin account can be opened in a matter of minutes and one can elect to enable a simultaneous exchange of bitcoin for dollars or any other denomination. This feature relieves the recipient from any risk of fluctuation in the value of the deposit once the “fair charge” is determined.
I work with no vendors who will accept bitcoin payment from me at this time and until I do, the conversion to dollars is the only avenue I have once the first bitcoin deposit is made. For those who say derisively, “..you never know what the value of the bitcoin is going to be from day to day,” I wonder why they don’t think the worst about the dollar’s value, given its history? After all, some 95% of the dollar’s value has been stolen since “managed” by the central bankers, so it seems clear regarding what results from the state”regulation” of any currency.
One last point. Honest and transparent pricing (www.surgerycenterok.com) allows for an easy conversion calculation from bitcoin (or any other medium of exchange) to dollars or the other way around. While the method of payment at our facility is newsworthy, much credit is due to KWTV and other local stations in our area for first covering the fact that we have posted our prices online for all to see. Kudos to Justin Dougherty of News9 for highlighting our facility once again.
G. Keith Smith, M.D.
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