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Instant Bitcoin Purchases at Coinbase

blog.coinbase.com

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Re: Instant Bitcoin Purchases at Coinbase

#51

Post by drivebyacct2 »

geuis wrote: post #47

I have an issue with Coinbase. I have an account that I opened a few months ago but didn't use. I'm trying to sign into it now, and it brings me to a screen asking for a code from "Authy" (whatever that is) or Google Authenticator. Ok, so I grab GA again. GA wants me to setup an account using a key provided by Coinbase. Coinbase has never provided such a key to me, as I have never setup GA to work with them before. F…

My SMS code took a while because they didn't support Google Auth when I opened my account and trying to force Authy was just a stupid move. This is pretty standard two-auth fair though, I'm pretty sure you have to activate Authy to even open the account.

Re: Instant Bitcoin Purchases at Coinbase

#53

Post by rglullis »

wmf wrote: post #7
joelrunyon wrote: post #6

Isn't the point of bitcoin to stay anonymous? It's nice to be able to purchase it instantly, but it seems to be going against the purpose of bitcoin.

For some people the point of Bitcoin is to get rich via speculation.

While your comment is very much true, there is some apparent snarky feel to it that seems unnecessary.

In my case at least, there is no speculation element attached to bitcoin. In fact, its volatility is very detrimental.

I am dividing my life and work projects between the US, Europe and Brazil. I'd love to be able to just charge people in BTC. I wouldn't lose 6-7% every time I needed to convert money from USD to BRL, or from BRL to EUR. I can't say how much easier it would be for me to report taxes...

Widespread adoption of BTC could be a good thing in itself. There are other groups of people interested in bitcoin besides the "fiat must die", the silk roads and the speculators.

Re: Instant Bitcoin Purchases at Coinbase

#54

Post by Nursie »

eeky wrote: post #46
ferdo wrote: post #36

Different strokes for different folks, but I'll never understand why someone would want to buy bitcoins with their personal info attached to the coins. It seems to defeat the purpose of a pseudonymous, decentralized currency.

The purpose of bitcoin is that the user controls it. It's about trust. Do you trust a bank with your money? Cypriots sure found out the hard way when their bank accounts were suddenly frozen. Do you trust a government with your currency? Argentinians sure don't as they're experiencing 10-20% inflation rates. Bitcoin allows you to store your wealth without being fleeced by currency controls of parasitic central banks.…

The purpose of bitcoin is hoarding and speculation.

Re: Instant Bitcoin Purchases at Coinbase

#55

Post by avree »

downandout wrote: post #11

Someone credible is finally trying to compensate for the abysmal failure that is Bitinstant (see http://bitinstantscam.com and basically any Bitcoin forum). That is fantastic. However, let's not get carried away. This is not instant for first-time users. You still have to go through verification and wait at least 4 business days for your first purchase to go through before reaching the qualifications for instant purc…

Bitinstant isn't any more a scam than Mt. Gox is.

They're just both services that are run by folks who weren't expecting to hit the scale they are now, have no experience building financial systems, and are waaaay in over their heads.

Re: Instant Bitcoin Purchases at Coinbase

#56

Post by bdcs »

geuis wrote: post #47

I have an issue with Coinbase. I have an account that I opened a few months ago but didn't use. I'm trying to sign into it now, and it brings me to a screen asking for a code from "Authy" (whatever that is) or Google Authenticator. Ok, so I grab GA again. GA wants me to setup an account using a key provided by Coinbase. Coinbase has never provided such a key to me, as I have never setup GA to work with them before. F…

If you have a discount phone service plan, e.g. Straight Talk, you may not be able to receive short-SMS/premium-SMS/texts-from-5-digit-numbers. I, like the other reply, recommend Authy. Also, barmstrong will probably chime in eventually.

Re: Instant Bitcoin Purchases at Coinbase

#58

Post by eeky »

Nursie wrote: post #54
eeky wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The purpose of bitcoin is that the user controls it. It's about trust. Do you trust a bank with your money? Cypriots sure found out the hard way when their bank accounts were suddenly frozen. Do you trust a government with your currency? Argentinians sure don't as they're experiencing 10-20% inflation rates. Bitcoin allows you to store your wealth without being fleeced by currency controls of parasitic central banks.…

The purpose of bitcoin is hoarding and speculation.

Correct, bitcoin lets YOU hoard and speculate - which is a healthy mechanism in a free market. In our current fiat debt based system, it's mostly corrupt inside traders who get that privilege.

Re: Instant Bitcoin Purchases at Coinbase

#59

Post by barmstrong »

geuis wrote: post #47

I have an issue with Coinbase. I have an account that I opened a few months ago but didn't use. I'm trying to sign into it now, and it brings me to a screen asking for a code from "Authy" (whatever that is) or Google Authenticator. Ok, so I grab GA again. GA wants me to setup an account using a key provided by Coinbase. Coinbase has never provided such a key to me, as I have never setup GA to work with them before. F…

Sorry to hear that happened.

Please send us a note on http://support.coinbase.com/

SMS is unfortunately unreliable in some instances. You should be able to receive a call with the verification code also as a backup.

Re: Instant Bitcoin Purchases at Coinbase

#60

Post by downandout »

avree wrote: post #55
downandout wrote: post #11

Someone credible is finally trying to compensate for the abysmal failure that is Bitinstant (see http://bitinstantscam.com and basically any Bitcoin forum). That is fantastic. However, let's not get carried away. This is not instant for first-time users. You still have to go through verification and wait at least 4 business days for your first purchase to go through before reaching the qualifications for instant purc…

Bitinstant isn't any more a scam than Mt. Gox is. They're just both services that are run by folks who weren't expecting to hit the scale they are now, have no experience building financial systems, and are waaaay in over their heads.

Bitinstant recently laid off all of their support staff and has gone quiet for nearly two weeks on support related matters. Their CEO, Charlie Shrem, used to constantly tweet several times per day. He hasn't tweeted in 9 days now and seems to have vanished (https://twitter.com/charlieshrem). Over the holiday weekend, their $8/mo SquareSpace account used for hosting their blog was suspended for billing issues (though they have since scraped up the $8).

Bitinstant is taking money from new orders and allocating it to old orders (aka Ponzi Scheme). I suppose that means that as long as new orders continue to arrive, customers will be made whole and eventually they could earn enough in fees to cover up whatever they did that caused the mess they are in. That's if someone doesn't complain to the FBI first and get them shut down.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=128314.8180 (that is one of the most recent pages of a thread containing ~411 pages of complaints). The last few pages are especially disturbing.

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