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I think what's needed most at the moment is an easy way for US dollars to be exchanged for Bitcoin. This was easy enough when Mt Gox was accepting Paypal. Howe

I think what's needed most at the moment is an easy way for US dollars to be exchanged for Bitcoin. This was easy enough when Mt Gox was accepting Paypal. However, now that Paypal has suspended Mt Gox's account, anyone wanting to work with that exchange now has to jump through additional hoops by opening up a Dwolla or Liberty Reserve account. Personally, I found these sites to be rather shady looking.

sgornick 15y ago
Dwolla looks shady? Seriously? http://www.dwolla.com http://www.dwolla.com Incidentally, they are FDIC and NCUA insured: http://www.dwolla.org/help/dwolla-deposits-are-protected-by-the-fdic-and-ncua/ http://www.dwolla.org/help/dwolla-deposits-are-protected-by-...
- ncarlson 15y ago
  > they are FDIC My question would be, are individual Dwolla accounts protected on a per depositor basis? Or, is it just Dwolla Corp's own bank account which is protected under FDIC. Their website doesn't make that clear. It's entirely possible that user funds are stored in a bank account, owned by Dwolla, and that bank account is FDIC insured. If that's the case, then that bank account is only insured up to $250,000 USD.
  - jimrandomh 15y ago
    > My question would be, are individual Dwolla accounts protected on a per depositor basis? Or, is it just Dwolla Corp's own bank account which is protected under FDIC. The former. If it were the latter, then writing "Dwolla Deposits Are Protected By The FDIC and NCUA" on their web page would be fraud.
    - eli 15y ago
      I'm almost certain you are wrong about that. Dwolla is not listed in the FDIC database.
      - sgornick 15y ago
        "Dwolla Deposits Are Protected By The FDIC and NCUA" Yes, every dime you have in your account is protected by the FDIC and NCUA. The same way that amounts in your PayPal balance are protected. http://www.dwolla.org/help/dwolla-security-and-partner-overview/ http://www.dwolla.org/help/dwolla-security-and-partner-overv...
        eli 15y ago
        OK, I'm glad that their banks are insured, but if Dwolla goes bankrupt are you sure I'll get my money back? I'm not. PayPal does the same thing, but at least they're upfront about how it works: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/travelers-outside https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/travelers-ou... And I don't keep money in my PayPal account either.
- eli 15y ago
  The website looks fine, but the service seems kinda shady. They are "not a bank" so that FDIC insurance doesn't apply to you it applies to whatever bank account they are using to hold everyone's money. If they go bankrupt I am not confident I could get my money back.
jarin 15y ago
I haven't checked out Liberty Reserve, but I have a Dwolla account and it is pretty non-shady.

sgornick 15y ago

Dwolla looks shady? Seriously? http://www.dwolla.com http://www.dwolla.com Incidentally, they are FDIC and NCUA insured: http://www.dwolla.org/help/dwolla-deposits-are-protected-by-the-fdic-and-ncua/ http://www.dwolla.org/help/dwolla-deposits-are-protected-by-...

ncarlson 15y ago
> they are FDIC My question would be, are individual Dwolla accounts protected on a per depositor basis? Or, is it just Dwolla Corp's own bank account which is protected under FDIC. Their website doesn't make that clear. It's entirely possible that user funds are stored in a bank account, owned by Dwolla, and that bank account is FDIC insured. If that's the case, then that bank account is only insured up to $250,000 USD.
- jimrandomh 15y ago
  > My question would be, are individual Dwolla accounts protected on a per depositor basis? Or, is it just Dwolla Corp's own bank account which is protected under FDIC. The former. If it were the latter, then writing "Dwolla Deposits Are Protected By The FDIC and NCUA" on their web page would be fraud.
  - eli 15y ago
    I'm almost certain you are wrong about that. Dwolla is not listed in the FDIC database.
    - sgornick 15y ago
      "Dwolla Deposits Are Protected By The FDIC and NCUA" Yes, every dime you have in your account is protected by the FDIC and NCUA. The same way that amounts in your PayPal balance are protected. http://www.dwolla.org/help/dwolla-security-and-partner-overview/ http://www.dwolla.org/help/dwolla-security-and-partner-overv...
      - eli 15y ago
        OK, I'm glad that their banks are insured, but if Dwolla goes bankrupt are you sure I'll get my money back? I'm not. PayPal does the same thing, but at least they're upfront about how it works: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/travelers-outside https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/travelers-ou... And I don't keep money in my PayPal account either.
eli 15y ago
The website looks fine, but the service seems kinda shady. They are "not a bank" so that FDIC insurance doesn't apply to you it applies to whatever bank account they are using to hold everyone's money. If they go bankrupt I am not confident I could get my money back.

jarin 15y ago

I haven't checked out Liberty Reserve, but I have a Dwolla account and it is pretty non-shady.