4 ms·

Given the difficulties people have in converting Bitcoins to dollars, a more useful service would be one that converts Bitcoin to $20, but only once.

pbhjpbhj 13y ago
Well, you could start your own tinkercoin, that would work (even more than once) ;0) [that was supposed to be jovial rather than facetious, hope it worked out]
jnbiche 13y ago
Who is having difficulties converting Bitcoins to dollars? Have you personally had difficulty, or are you just repeating hearsay? I ask because I've been in Bitcoin since 2011 and I've never had trouble converting Bitcoins back to USD. Right now, I'm not happy about the wire fees I'm paying (and may switch exchanges), but it's as easy as pie to get the money.
- michaelhoffman 13y ago
  Here's the story I was thinking about: http://buttcoin.org/easy http://buttcoin.org/easy Is there a service that makes the process of turning BTC into USD as easy as Tinkercoin claims to for USD to BTC?
  - Synaesthesia 13y ago
    I've found it easy to sell bitcoins on exchanges or Localbitcoins.
  - jnbiche 13y ago
    If you're looking for an instant way to change BTC to USD online, you probably won't find that (at least I have my doubts that such a service can exist legitimately). And I have my doubts that Tinkercoin will be around for long, unfortunately (because of scammers). There's simply an impedance mismatch between Bitcoin and the legacy banking system. As such, you will be hard pressed to find a way to "instantly" sign up and transfer BTC to USD, if that's what you're asking. But once you've gotten approved at a respectable exchange like Bitstamp, getting USD in your bank account is as easy as exchanging the Bitcoins at your desired rate, filling in your desired amount of USD to transfer, and clicking submit. Because of the slowness of the legacy wire transfer system, you then have to wait a couple of days before the transfer shows up at your account. But it's an extremely simple process, just like transferring money from your online bank account (but not as easy or fast as sending Bitcoins!). Note that you do need to submit your ID and some additional information the first time you transfer funds, to get approved. If your exchange isn't doing that, then they're not complying with KYC and they're vulnerable to being shut down.
    - amscanne 13y ago
      I don't think it's reasonable to refer to the entire banking system (incl. wire transfers, etc.) as "legacy". It's like referring to BTC as legacy crypto currency, because now we have dogecoin.
  - IntentionTech 13y ago
    This is why we are building a #Bitcoin #Startup, help give us a chance by voting at http://game.startupbus.com/teams/15 http://game.startupbus.com/teams/15
  - Canada 13y ago
    Of course accepting a stranger's cheque is crazy, but asking to verify the bank notes at a bank is a bit much.
    - shawabawa3 13y ago
      Why? Seems like a perfect way to unload counterfeit notes. I certainly wouldn't trust myself to check whether 25k of strangers cash wasn't counterfeit
gnaritas 13y ago
> Given the difficulties people have in converting Bitcoins to dollars Citation. I think you made that up.
- maxerickson 13y ago
  Some of it just comes down to how you want to define things. I mean, how do the various levels of problems dealing with Mt. Gox not fit under difficulties?
  - gnaritas 13y ago
    Having difficulty with a company who fails to provide a service that's easily obtained elsewhere does not equate to it being difficult to convert Bitcoin to dollars. It's trivial to convert Bitcoin to dollars; Gox is not Bitcoin, Gox's issues do not apply to Bitcoin.
    - maxerickson 13y ago
      I'm not insisting that they are one and the same. But insisting that people get their categories exactly right in a casual conversation is tiresome (I mean in the comment I replied to initially). It's even bad advocacy. You might better say "There are ways to do it that work fine, but there are obviously problems with some providers, especially that one awful one" before you start complaining that people are making things up because they didn't split the right hairs to communicate precisely with you.
      - gnaritas 13y ago
        Honestly man, this isn't splitting hairs, this is equivalent to someone saying that Bitcoin filed for bankruptcy. Confusing a private business with a payment protocol is not an error of category, it's an error of understanding what you're even referring to and demands correction even in a casual conversation. It's perfectly appropriate to point out that Gox is not Bitcoin.
        13y ago

pbhjpbhj 13y ago

Well, you could start your own tinkercoin, that would work (even more than once) ;0) [that was supposed to be jovial rather than facetious, hope it worked out]

jnbiche 13y ago

Who is having difficulties converting Bitcoins to dollars? Have you personally had difficulty, or are you just repeating hearsay? I ask because I've been in Bitcoin since 2011 and I've never had trouble converting Bitcoins back to USD. Right now, I'm not happy about the wire fees I'm paying (and may switch exchanges), but it's as easy as pie to get the money.

michaelhoffman 13y ago
Here's the story I was thinking about: http://buttcoin.org/easy http://buttcoin.org/easy Is there a service that makes the process of turning BTC into USD as easy as Tinkercoin claims to for USD to BTC?
- Synaesthesia 13y ago
  I've found it easy to sell bitcoins on exchanges or Localbitcoins.
- jnbiche 13y ago
  If you're looking for an instant way to change BTC to USD online, you probably won't find that (at least I have my doubts that such a service can exist legitimately). And I have my doubts that Tinkercoin will be around for long, unfortunately (because of scammers). There's simply an impedance mismatch between Bitcoin and the legacy banking system. As such, you will be hard pressed to find a way to "instantly" sign up and transfer BTC to USD, if that's what you're asking. But once you've gotten approved at a respectable exchange like Bitstamp, getting USD in your bank account is as easy as exchanging the Bitcoins at your desired rate, filling in your desired amount of USD to transfer, and clicking submit. Because of the slowness of the legacy wire transfer system, you then have to wait a couple of days before the transfer shows up at your account. But it's an extremely simple process, just like transferring money from your online bank account (but not as easy or fast as sending Bitcoins!). Note that you do need to submit your ID and some additional information the first time you transfer funds, to get approved. If your exchange isn't doing that, then they're not complying with KYC and they're vulnerable to being shut down.
  - amscanne 13y ago
    I don't think it's reasonable to refer to the entire banking system (incl. wire transfers, etc.) as "legacy". It's like referring to BTC as legacy crypto currency, because now we have dogecoin.
- IntentionTech 13y ago
  This is why we are building a #Bitcoin #Startup, help give us a chance by voting at http://game.startupbus.com/teams/15 http://game.startupbus.com/teams/15
- Canada 13y ago
  Of course accepting a stranger's cheque is crazy, but asking to verify the bank notes at a bank is a bit much.
  - shawabawa3 13y ago
    Why? Seems like a perfect way to unload counterfeit notes. I certainly wouldn't trust myself to check whether 25k of strangers cash wasn't counterfeit

gnaritas 13y ago

> Given the difficulties people have in converting Bitcoins to dollars Citation. I think you made that up.

maxerickson 13y ago
Some of it just comes down to how you want to define things. I mean, how do the various levels of problems dealing with Mt. Gox not fit under difficulties?
- gnaritas 13y ago
  Having difficulty with a company who fails to provide a service that's easily obtained elsewhere does not equate to it being difficult to convert Bitcoin to dollars. It's trivial to convert Bitcoin to dollars; Gox is not Bitcoin, Gox's issues do not apply to Bitcoin.
  - maxerickson 13y ago
    I'm not insisting that they are one and the same. But insisting that people get their categories exactly right in a casual conversation is tiresome (I mean in the comment I replied to initially). It's even bad advocacy. You might better say "There are ways to do it that work fine, but there are obviously problems with some providers, especially that one awful one" before you start complaining that people are making things up because they didn't split the right hairs to communicate precisely with you.
    - gnaritas 13y ago
      Honestly man, this isn't splitting hairs, this is equivalent to someone saying that Bitcoin filed for bankruptcy. Confusing a private business with a payment protocol is not an error of category, it's an error of understanding what you're even referring to and demands correction even in a casual conversation. It's perfectly appropriate to point out that Gox is not Bitcoin.
      - 13y ago