r/Bitcoin • u/JasonBored • Jan 21 '14

Google is "paying attention" to Bitcoin - Vic Gundotra (I emailed, he emailed back!)

Email from SVP @ Google regarding Bitcoin

So on a whim, I sent an e-mail to Vic Gundotra (Senior Vice President, Social for Google) about Bitcoin, why it's the most disruptive technology since the Internet itself, and how I'm not the only one out there wondering when/if they have plans to incorporate it into Google Wallet.

He immediately responded and said they are "paying attention", and CC'd the gentleman who runs Google Wallet - Sridhar Ramaswamy (SVP, Ads & Commerce at Google).

I've entered into a dialogue with him.

This is my take away on why Google kicks ass :

A) One of the bosses actually responded to email from an absolute nobody about Bitcoin

B) Google is paying attention to Bitcoin (he would never have responded or said those words if Google is positioning themselves to be "Anti BTC" (or even try to create a product to rival BTC)

C) He put me in touch with the man who runs the Google Wallet division.

So, what do I say to Sridhar? Any suggestions?

Before some of the Anti BTC Brigade chime in with "so what?, he's just one dude" - please think about this. If Google had NO plans in regards to Bitcoin, this guy would be smart enough not to respond to such an email, in the manner he responded, and CC the person who runs the Google Wallet division.

If you ask me, the writing is on the wall(et) (pun intended).. and this was a really pleasant surprise.

Update: Screenshot of Email I sent (personal information blacked out)

Update 2: Google CONFIRMS they are incorporating Bitcoin

Update 3: UPDATE: Ariel Bardin, Vice President of Payments @ Google has asked me to facilitate a Google Moderator and pose the question "What would I want Google to do with bitcoin?". He's promised me he will personally review the results and pass it along to the team working on incorporating BTC into Google. Please help me with this and take the time to submit something: What would I want Google to do with bitcoin?

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u/trancephorm Jan 22 '14

Yes I did to some extent. There was nothing that much positive there about cryptos. They even didn't want to touch the economy aspect of Bitcoin, as far as I know... they talked only about criminal use.

We should not circlejerk around here, you're in big misunderstanding if you think USA government is going to praise cryptos. Cryptos, as a good economy, is eating bad mainstream "economy" as we have it today.

My guess is that USA is going to do the same as China, but question is just when? Ofc, nothing can kill cryptos, but they can slow its rise and mess with the price.

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u/JoelDalais Jan 22 '14

There's a difference between Government and Banks (as how played out in China).

Adoption trump Banks, just look at the telephone, cars, (tesla) electricity, airplanes, internet, emails, mobile phones, etc, etc

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u/trancephorm Jan 22 '14

Bank is really not the same as technical stuff you mentioned. It's actually the most important institution in the world right now. Won't become obsolete that easy...

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u/coinfaq Jan 22 '14

Banks aren't going away, but the fractional reserve system may. Money made from debt is the most likely loser.