Quote from: 1Referee on March 06, 2019, 01:39:57 PM

It raises a major question though, Bakkt converts people's coins to fiat, then uses that fiat to settle the Starbucks payment. Isn't that a taxable event within the US?

It sounds like people will be selling and storing in a fiat-denominated account at Bakkt. That's just straight forward capital gains taxation. Or if it's a Bitpay-style payment processing situation, it's still taxable under the current code.

There have been at least two bills proposed -- one is currently under consideration -- that would exempt capital gains taxes up to $600 yearly that are incurred through buying goods and services. No changes yet, though.

Quote from: o_e_l_e_o on March 06, 2019, 01:01:35 PM

It's not the ideal situation yet (which would be paying Starbucks directly with bitcoin), but it's a step in the right direction. If nothing else, it's great advertising for bitcoin payments to be available at every Starbucks store in the US.

Accepting Bitcoin directly doesn't sound ideal for consumers anyway unless they'll be accepting 0-confirmation or using Lightning. Can you imagine waiting around for a confirmation so you can buy a cup of coffee?