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I tried to buy bitcoins when they were $60. I look for sites that would sell me bitcoins for USD. It was so hard and the ways to buy them were so damn complicat

I tried to buy bitcoins when they were $60. I look for sites that would sell me bitcoins for USD. It was so hard and the ways to buy them were so damn complicated. I had to sign up for a 3rd party site to import bitcoin to mtgox. The 3rd party site needed me to upload my personal identity information to verify my bank account. I was ready to do that as well, except they said it'd take 10+ days to verify. Also someone explain to me how that is anonymous when they have all my information if I had uploaded my driver's license and my bank account information. I got frustrated and just stopped looking to buy bitcoins. I was aware of irc channels too but I just don't trust them. And then there was money gram, what the actual fuck, the fees were so high. I could buy them, if I send my money to an account in a foreign bank in japan. Such bullshit. And this fluctuating price isn't very impressive either.

jamestnz 13y ago
I experienced similar frustration when trying to buy bitcoins. I ended up using localbitcoins.com, and had an excellent experience. The site matches up private users (by geographic location by default) wishing to buy bitcoins with those wishing to sell. It offers "feedback" ratings for traders, and an escrow system where the site confirms your coins have been sent to it and placed in reserve, and these get released to you once the seller confirms receipt of your funds, either by texting a code from their phone or by using the website. There were no onerous fees, and my entire trade was completed within hours. Typical trading methods would include internet bank transfer (which is what I did), or even meeting in person with cash (riskier but more anonymous I guess). >Also someone explain to me how that is anonymous when they have all my information if I had uploaded my driver's license and my bank account information. Nobody claimed it was anonymous. And companies acting as "money transmitters" (or who the feds decide to consider as such) have a bunch of AML/KYC regulations they are required to follow, hence the whole ID thing. You can enhance the anonymity of your coins in various ways, typically by services which chop them up and shuffle them between many addresses to obfuscate their trail in the blockchain (so-called "mixers"). >And this fluctuating price isn't very impressive either What concerns you about it? For many people I guess the short-term fluctuations aren't such an issue (e.g. those playing the long game with their bitcoin investment; or those only holding coins for a short time to make a specific purchase, particularly where the sales platform offers a hedging feature like Silk Road apparently did).
socillion 13y ago
I tried buying bitcoins by going through Liberty Reserve. They got shut down the week after I transferred the money there, with the couple thousand I deposited still in the account since I wanted to wait for a good opportunity. It was some awful timing, I lost a hefty amount in transaction fees and now need to wait years for the LR court case to finish before having any chance of recovering my money.
mrb 13y ago
Sell something on craigslist for bitcoins, and let the buyer pay you in bitcoins in person. Couldn't be simpler.
- mrb 13y ago
  Why was I voted down? My suggestion is an often overlooked, very simple way to acquire bitcoins. No signing up. No proving your identity. No linking bank accounts. Just sell stuff for bitcoins.
HalfPriceDigi 13y ago
If you have some used video games you can sell them for Bitcoin on my site halfpricedigital.com It's an easy way to get BTC fast. You just need a free Coinbase account.
Guest978120 13y ago
Same here, I've been watching bitcoin for a while, and thought about tossing a few hundred dollars at it to play around with the technology, and to leave a couple of coins in case it catches on over time. However, the process looks like a nightmare. I expect things to be instant. Why can't I buy a few bitcoins with my credit card and have them in my account within the next few minutes? Why do I need to go through this lengthy verification process? Why are there countless complaints about people having difficulties converting bitcoins back into dollars? I understand a lot of this is outside of bitcoin's control, but with these kind of hoops to jump through, I can't see it ever catching on. I expected more, and the entire thing feels unpolished and amateur. When people recommend using craigslist or ebay, dealing with random strangers and paying a 25% premium just to get a simple coin, it's a failure.
canvia 13y ago
Coinbase is very easy to use. It'll take a while to get to the level that you can do instant purchases. They have a max number to sell per day so if the market is volatile you can't participate that well through Coinbase. As an entry point it's very professional. It does both me that there is no password verification on initial signup. What if you made a typo?
VMG 13y ago
I had the same experience as you and was very excited about it. means that we are at the beginning of the adoption where the friction is high and not everybody can get in. These are the 28k dialup days
VMG 13y ago
I had the same experience as you and was very excited about it. means that we are at the beginning of the adoption where the friction is high and not everybody can get in. These are the 28k dialup days

jamestnz 13y ago

I experienced similar frustration when trying to buy bitcoins. I ended up using localbitcoins.com, and had an excellent experience. The site matches up private users (by geographic location by default) wishing to buy bitcoins with those wishing to sell. It offers "feedback" ratings for traders, and an escrow system where the site confirms your coins have been sent to it and placed in reserve, and these get released to you once the seller confirms receipt of your funds, either by texting a code from their phone or by using the website. There were no onerous fees, and my entire trade was completed within hours. Typical trading methods would include internet bank transfer (which is what I did), or even meeting in person with cash (riskier but more anonymous I guess). >Also someone explain to me how that is anonymous when they have all my information if I had uploaded my driver's license and my bank account information. Nobody claimed it was anonymous. And companies acting as "money transmitters" (or who the feds decide to consider as such) have a bunch of AML/KYC regulations they are required to follow, hence the whole ID thing. You can enhance the anonymity of your coins in various ways, typically by services which chop them up and shuffle them between many addresses to obfuscate their trail in the blockchain (so-called "mixers"). >And this fluctuating price isn't very impressive either What concerns you about it? For many people I guess the short-term fluctuations aren't such an issue (e.g. those playing the long game with their bitcoin investment; or those only holding coins for a short time to make a specific purchase, particularly where the sales platform offers a hedging feature like Silk Road apparently did).

socillion 13y ago

I tried buying bitcoins by going through Liberty Reserve. They got shut down the week after I transferred the money there, with the couple thousand I deposited still in the account since I wanted to wait for a good opportunity. It was some awful timing, I lost a hefty amount in transaction fees and now need to wait years for the LR court case to finish before having any chance of recovering my money.

mrb 13y ago

Sell something on craigslist for bitcoins, and let the buyer pay you in bitcoins in person. Couldn't be simpler.

mrb 13y ago
Why was I voted down? My suggestion is an often overlooked, very simple way to acquire bitcoins. No signing up. No proving your identity. No linking bank accounts. Just sell stuff for bitcoins.

HalfPriceDigi 13y ago

If you have some used video games you can sell them for Bitcoin on my site halfpricedigital.com It's an easy way to get BTC fast. You just need a free Coinbase account.

Guest978120 13y ago

Same here, I've been watching bitcoin for a while, and thought about tossing a few hundred dollars at it to play around with the technology, and to leave a couple of coins in case it catches on over time. However, the process looks like a nightmare. I expect things to be instant. Why can't I buy a few bitcoins with my credit card and have them in my account within the next few minutes? Why do I need to go through this lengthy verification process? Why are there countless complaints about people having difficulties converting bitcoins back into dollars? I understand a lot of this is outside of bitcoin's control, but with these kind of hoops to jump through, I can't see it ever catching on. I expected more, and the entire thing feels unpolished and amateur. When people recommend using craigslist or ebay, dealing with random strangers and paying a 25% premium just to get a simple coin, it's a failure.

canvia 13y ago

Coinbase is very easy to use. It'll take a while to get to the level that you can do instant purchases. They have a max number to sell per day so if the market is volatile you can't participate that well through Coinbase. As an entry point it's very professional. It does both me that there is no password verification on initial signup. What if you made a typo?

VMG 13y ago

I had the same experience as you and was very excited about it. means that we are at the beginning of the adoption where the friction is high and not everybody can get in. These are the 28k dialup days

VMG 13y ago