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Ask HN: I'm late to the Bitcoin party

7 points by spaceboy 10y ago

I'm a bit late to the Bitcoin party and want to get involved. There's a few things I need to clear up and ask before I dive in: Are exchanges any use? Things like Coinbase seem very agressive in knowing personal information about me, asking for a scanned passport, and that's a big no-no for me. Are there other alternatives to Coinbase where I can just buy a bit of BTC with my credit card, and preferably without the intrusiveness of Coinbase?

wmf 10y ago
It's really not safe to buy/sell BTC with a credit card. If you want to avoid KYC you could try LocalBitcoins.
- spaceboy 10y ago
  I need something similar to Coinbase where I can attach a card and just buy some BTC without all the KYC BS you see in Coinbase. There has to be something like that which is heavily vetted by the BTC community? I've seen local bitcoins, but I want to keep everything as virtual as possible.
  - sjs382 10y ago
    Some bitcoin ATMs have minimal verification (sometimes none or just a phone # verification). See if you have one in your area, otherwise use localbitcoins.
  - deftnerd 10y ago
    The problem isn't the risk of the service being a scam (which vetting by the BTC community takes care of) but the risk that the users are scamming the service. Without all the 'KYC BS', it would be too easy for someone to use stolen credit card numbers to buy Bitcoin which would quickly bankrupt the service or at least cause them to have to pay high processing fees or have their processing terminated.
gaspoweredcat 10y ago
im sorry to tell you that the majority of bitcoin exchanges will require quite a lot of personal information, usually a photo of your passport/drivers licence at minimum and in many cases a picture of you holding the card. this is simply their only way of trying to protect against people using it for money laundering or card theft, think about it, if you find/steal/clone a credit card and can open an anonymous account you could clear out the card into untraceable BTC and be gone like a ghost. (well OK youd probably have to anonymize it a little more but the idea s there) alternatives exists and i believe there is even one built into the android wallet app mycellium but most will require a lot of verification, your only other option really is to use local bitcoins or a similar service to buy from someone near you, but this usually comes at an increased cost. i actually cant think of any way off the top of my head to buy coins without full registration or personally knowing someone with them already, there used to be ways to get them using uKash or paysafecard and even second life linden dollars but i think theyve closed off all those various holes now
- kylebenzle 10y ago
  There are hundredes of Bitcoin ATMs, quick and easy with variying levels of scrutiny but usually charge a necessarily high price (https://coinatmradar.com/ https://coinatmradar.com/). Local Bitcoins should have been your first (and only) answer. Sure it is kind of cyberpunky "dangerous" and you need to talk to strangers, but that's what Bitcoin is, its a feature.

7 points by spaceboy 10y ago

wmf 10y ago

It's really not safe to buy/sell BTC with a credit card. If you want to avoid KYC you could try LocalBitcoins.

spaceboy 10y ago
I need something similar to Coinbase where I can attach a card and just buy some BTC without all the KYC BS you see in Coinbase. There has to be something like that which is heavily vetted by the BTC community? I've seen local bitcoins, but I want to keep everything as virtual as possible.
- sjs382 10y ago
  Some bitcoin ATMs have minimal verification (sometimes none or just a phone # verification). See if you have one in your area, otherwise use localbitcoins.
- deftnerd 10y ago
  The problem isn't the risk of the service being a scam (which vetting by the BTC community takes care of) but the risk that the users are scamming the service. Without all the 'KYC BS', it would be too easy for someone to use stolen credit card numbers to buy Bitcoin which would quickly bankrupt the service or at least cause them to have to pay high processing fees or have their processing terminated.

gaspoweredcat 10y ago

im sorry to tell you that the majority of bitcoin exchanges will require quite a lot of personal information, usually a photo of your passport/drivers licence at minimum and in many cases a picture of you holding the card. this is simply their only way of trying to protect against people using it for money laundering or card theft, think about it, if you find/steal/clone a credit card and can open an anonymous account you could clear out the card into untraceable BTC and be gone like a ghost. (well OK youd probably have to anonymize it a little more but the idea s there) alternatives exists and i believe there is even one built into the android wallet app mycellium but most will require a lot of verification, your only other option really is to use local bitcoins or a similar service to buy from someone near you, but this usually comes at an increased cost. i actually cant think of any way off the top of my head to buy coins without full registration or personally knowing someone with them already, there used to be ways to get them using uKash or paysafecard and even second life linden dollars but i think theyve closed off all those various holes now

kylebenzle 10y ago
There are hundredes of Bitcoin ATMs, quick and easy with variying levels of scrutiny but usually charge a necessarily high price (https://coinatmradar.com/ https://coinatmradar.com/). Local Bitcoins should have been your first (and only) answer. Sure it is kind of cyberpunky "dangerous" and you need to talk to strangers, but that's what Bitcoin is, its a feature.