Some more details have been unveiled to us regarding the recent decision by Coinbase to halt support for their software solutions. By the look of things, the company will be ensuring their current batch of payment terminals will stop working as well. API access will be revoked in the next 30 days, rendering the Coinkite payment terminals to a brick. But a new terminal has been hinted at, for which existing users will – most likely – have to pay the full price.
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Coinkite Restructuring Is A Lot More Severe
Although it had become clear the company was shutting down their web wallet as of a few days ago, no mentions were made regarding the hardware side of things. As most people are aware of, Coinkite sells payment terminals, allowing users to hook into the company API to process transactions in a more convenient manner.
However, Coinkite point of sale terminals will be shutting down on April 27th as well. Despite these devices being fully operational for the past two years, the company has decided to shut them all out of the API network as well. With a thirty-day period to find other solutions, a fair few merchants might find themselves in a pickle soon, which will not do the Bitcoin ecosystem any good. Also, those merchant using this POS terminal on the GSM network will be cut off sooner than others.
Once the date hits April 27th, all existing Coinkite terminals will be unable to reach the backend system. To rub even more salt into the wounds, these terminals cannot be repurposed for other applications, and will effectively become either museum pieces of bricks to throw at a wall. Keeping in mind how the company is still actively selling these devices as of right now – even though they are out of stock -, this is a very strange decision indeed.
Moreover, Coinkite has confirmed they are working on a brand new payment terminal solution that will act on a stand-alone basis in the future. This new device can work with one’s own backend infrastructure, or use open servers. Not too many other details were revealed just yet, other than the devices having a touchscreen and many “other” features.
Decisions like those will upset a lot of people, especially when considering there is only a thirty-day notice- or less for GSM network users – to find other solutions. Announcing new hardware is a good thing, though, but without as much as a timeline or expected price point, it remains to be seen how many people will go with Coinkite for POS Bitcoin services in the future.
Source: News Tip Via Email
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