I have been trying to buy Bitcoins for a few years, it's way too hard. When I was in high school learning programming I wanted to buy them because I heard you could trade with Python scripts. They were $0.30 at the time and I tried to put in ~$50 (if only!). Today I still want to put in $50 - $100 but I can't because as a college student I don't have proof of residence. I have a passport and bank account but I still can't get on Mt. Gox. Sure I can get on Coinbase and buy, but why would I buy something I can't register to sell?
It's practically impossible for regular people to buy Bitcoin
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Re: It's practically impossible for regular people to buy Bitcoin
#22Try CoinJar in Australia, very good company for buying and selling Bitcoin.
Remember do not use their wallet service for holding large amounts of Bitcoin, even the owner of the business recommends keeping most of your coin in a cold wallet.
Re: It's practically impossible for regular people to buy Bitcoin
#23It is not practically impossible to buy bitcoins. It may take a little effort that is all and even then it is minimal effort if you spend any time at a computer. Localbitcoins.com – You can buy bitcoins from other individuals either in person or using bank transfer. There is an escrow system in place for protection of buyer and seller. Using bank transfer you dont even need to leave your house, you can do it via onli…
So I tried Bitstamp 3 times and was denied all the times. I'm not a noob in this respect, I know what a good scan is and I've used this passport scan (front+back) for many other services. They're just not good at verifying docs there.
Re: It's practically impossible for regular people to buy Bitcoin
#24This is why I was unable to buy bitcoins when I first read about them on HN in 2010 and similar in 2011 when the price had gone over $1 and actually showed promise. (I have some emails to colleagues / friends showing my frustration at the time of wanting to get some) I always wanted just 1 (still do), but back in 2010 I was just going to spend £100 and see what happens. It seems in the US the people who did similar t…
I had luck buying bitcoins a few times about a year ago through MtGox. Their method of getting money in (UK bank transfer) was shut down about October last year, and since then I've not figured out how to buy more. I have to wonder where the money stoking these recent price rises is coming from.
Of course I managed to be highly ineffective at making the most of the bitcoins I had. I think I probably had about 10 bitcoins in my posession at one point, and I probably realised about £150 of real gain out of them. Hindsight is wonderful!
Edit: I should add that I opened my MtGox account a few years ago, before there was any requirement for ID or verification. I think the whole process has become a lot harder since.
Re: It's practically impossible for regular people to buy Bitcoin
#25This is mostly because people confuse a trading-floor with an exchange. When you travel to, say, Thailand for a holiday, you don't walk into Wallstreet to trade some Dollars for Baht. Instead, you exchange some at an airport of office around the corner. MtGox (and the likes) are like that wall-street. Whereas there are a lot of smaller places to actually buy some BTC, alike that office at the airport.
Yes. When you exchange Dollars for Baht, you will pay a lot more then the average rate that goes on Wallstreet at that moment. And yes, you cannot trade millions of Dollars for Bazillion of Baht. In .nl, for example, there are places where you can buy with a Dutch bank account. Works fine if you want to trade a few tens of Euros.
Stop pointing people to full-blown trading-platforms when all they want is a few BTC. Instead, point them to alternatives, including your personal wallet on your android :).
I, usually, explain people that they can have a few millibit, but not for Euro: the'yll have to sell me something: a bottle of wine, crate of beer, stuff that I would buy anyway. So that I can say that I bought beer with Bitcoin, and to show others that there is actually stuff you can buy for it, rather then purely some get-rich-quick-stockmarket.
Re: It's practically impossible for regular people to buy Bitcoin
#26?! In the US, Coinbase is easy In the UK, Bittylicious is easy I'm sorry it's so hard in Germany, but your title should be "It's hard to buy Bitcoins in Germany"
I'm not from Germany, but Netherlands. But your point stands if you're talking about everywhere outside UK/US.
Re: It's practically impossible for regular people to buy Bitcoin
#27Coinbase makes it really simple. In a week, without ID verification I received my BTC.
Coinbase is US-only though?
Re: It's practically impossible for regular people to buy Bitcoin
#28[deleted]
>The author confuses "buying" Bitcoin with "getting" Bitcoin.
What in TFA gave you that impression?
>Buying Bitcoin is not the only option to get Bitcoin.
Captain obvious to the rescue.
Re: It's practically impossible for regular people to buy Bitcoin
#29?! In the US, Coinbase is easy In the UK, Bittylicious is easy I'm sorry it's so hard in Germany, but your title should be "It's hard to buy Bitcoins in Germany"
It's not hard in Germany either if you use Bitstamp.
Re: It's practically impossible for regular people to buy Bitcoin
#30this guy is not doing something right, or the fact he lives in 10 different places around the world is a factor. I had no trouble at all, beyond waiting a few days for MtGox to verify me (when they were swamped at the time), and Bitstamp was a day's wait after I fixed the PNG they wanted (not enough dpi for their automated document scanner). That was just a week or two ago.
so to me, all his reasons are specious ones. Maybe I'm just old enough to know how to deal with all the paperwork the Man / the Matrix wants.