Bitcoins in 2014?

Jamie101 · Mar 12, 2014

Monkey said:
You could just clone Bitstamps business model but make it UK targeted / easy to get money into by local bank transfer. But the problem as mentioned is now you're holding the money and the coins - major compliance and banking issues. I tried my hardest to give them my money and they couldn't even take it... I ended up giving in and using localbitcoins. I would be shocked if you could get a bank to open you an account for this.

By the way, I'm not saying I'm going ahead with this but just find it interesting talk about the barriers of doing it. It has crossed my mind to look in to this in the past though.

There just must be a way around at least some of the barriers.

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Retired_Member38 · Mar 12, 2014

The obvious way around the banking issue is as was mentioned above - don't actually handle the sterling money, and get your commissions out in Bitcoin only. Or open an offshore bank account. But if you do that it removes the convenience of local buyers being able to pay from their online banking, with no fees. If you went offshore then there is realistically no point in targeting UK alone any more as you just gave up your advantage.

I think people have probably missed the boat as far as setting up a Bitstamp or localbitcoins goes - but its a brand new topic still... there must be loads of opportunities here to make some money with a related product or service. I just don't know what it is.

namealot · Mar 12, 2014

I remember reading some security firm saying “Opening a bitcoin account on an online exchange is like opening a brokerage account in Zimbabwe,” Pretty much sums it up?

I know plenty who mined who just keep them offline what’s wrong with doing that? Keep the private key on a offline drive even write it on paper problem solved ?

Its strange the more main stream they have become the more people are being ripped off by now supposedly legitimate firms never had this much of a problem just buying iffy goods. services etc from silk road lol

Retired_Member38 · Mar 12, 2014

namealot said:
I remember reading some security firm saying “Opening a bitcoin account on an online exchange is like opening a brokerage account in Zimbabwe,” Pretty much sums it up?

Yes I think thats a fair point as there is pretty much zero accountability. But in todays transaction I bank transferred the money and had the coins in my online exchange account within 10 minutes or so. Then from there when I transferred them to my own wallet they were gone in another 10 minutes.

You'd need to be either very unlucky (they go scam in that 20 minutes time window, or in the day or so before it before it becomes widespread) or very stupid (sending money to a long sinking ship like mtgox) to get scammed by a brokerage going bad.

namealot said:
I know plenty who mined who just keep them offline what’s wrong with doing that? Keep the private key on a offline drive even write it on paper problem solved ?l

If you keep them offline its not convenient to spend them. If you're storing them long term then its not a problem. Personally I'm going to hold my coins so there is no reason for them to be online, or even on an internet connected device. I've already put them elsewhere and wiped them off the computer I used to buy them. Obviously just keep a backup no matter what you do!

namealot said:
Its strange the more main stream they have become the more people are being ripped off by now supposedly legitimate firms never had this much of a problem just buying iffy goods. services etc from silk road lol

The more valuable they get, the more interesting they become for people to try and steal. Also I think a lot of the early adapters were tech savvy - you'd have a hard time ripping them from someone who's been mining them from 2010 himself I would have thought. Now you're getting people buying them because of news articles etc, and don't have a clue what they're doing. They're easy targets.

Jamie101 · Mar 12, 2014

namealot said:
I remember reading some security firm saying “Opening a bitcoin account on an online exchange is like opening a brokerage account in Zimbabwe,” Pretty much sums it up?

I know plenty who mined who just keep them offline what’s wrong with doing that? Keep the private key on a offline drive even write it on paper problem solved ?

Its strange the more main stream they have become the more people are being ripped off by now supposedly legitimate firms never had this much of a problem just buying iffy goods. services etc from silk road lol

Not sure about Monkey but I'm not recommending anyone to store their bitcoin on an exchange. That would be completely stupid unless you've a good reason to (trying to day trade for example).

If you're buying bitcoins from an exchange you should purchase them then send them to your wallet as soon as possible.

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Retired_Member38 · Mar 12, 2014

You might need to keep money on an exchange if you're waiting on a price dip to buy in at. Outside of that... it would be madness to leave money there.

Someones got a buy order on Bitstamp for $110,000 but it needs to hit $627 before it goes through. SOmeone else has $130,000 at $620. There are another couple of 6 figure buy orders sitting there - it might not dip below $620 for days (or ever) - I really don't fancy leaving that cash just sitting there and hoping its safe. I definitely want to buy and get the coins out of there asap.

Edwin · Mar 12, 2014

If people are willing to mug someone on the streets for a pair of trainers (in some cases, certainly they are) or for a few quid, just how much unwanted attention do you think a site transacting in anonymous, instantly transferrable financial instruments worth many hundreds of pounds each will attract?

It would not surprise me one bit if the main Bitcoin sites found themselves under systematic attack 24/7 - probably using "hired gun" hackers who, after all, can be readily paid in the very thing they're helping steal.

Hard to think of a riskier business, given the pedigree of many of the people whose coins you could potentially lose!

Retired_Member38 · Mar 12, 2014

Edwin said:
Hard to think of a riskier business, given the pedigree of many of the people whose coins you could potentially lose!

Absolutely... if it goes wrong do you really want a bunch of money launderers, drug dealers and so on chasing you about for lost funds? Its one thing for these dark markets to vanish in the middle of the night and nobody knows who pinched the coins, but if you're running a legit business then your corporate info is all over it and everyone knows who you are.

I wonder if Karpeles will end up dead.

Edwin · Mar 12, 2014

Presumably not so long as he's still seen as "useful" ie there's any hope of finding the lost/missing/stolen Bitcoin.

Retired_Member38 · Mar 12, 2014

If they have genuinely been stolen due to gross incompetence then he can't help - so he's looking good to be killed.

If he stole them then someone will want revenge (even at the cost of ever getting the money back) - so he's looking good to be killed.

I certainly wouldn't want to be in his shoes :lol:

Edwin · Mar 13, 2014

Monkey said:
If they have genuinely been stolen due to gross incompetence then he can't help - so he's looking good to be killed.

If he stole them then someone will want revenge (even at the cost of ever getting the money back) - so he's looking good to be killed.

I certainly wouldn't want to be in his shoes :lol:

I think this was a real article not a spoof
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...s-it-accepts-bitcoins-to-murder-for-hire.html

Retired_Member38 · Mar 13, 2014

Edwin said:
I think this was a real article not a spoof
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...s-it-accepts-bitcoins-to-murder-for-hire.html

Real article in that the site existed yes... but its just sensationalist rubbish.

If you tried to have someone whacked you're obviously just going to lose the bitcoins... its a complete scam and not even particularly news story worthy. They'd have been far better writing about the sites that are genuinely selling guns and bullets than that hitman fairytale.

Retired_Member38 · Mar 13, 2014

20 more coins purchased today.

Murray · Mar 13, 2014

Monkey said:
20 more coins purchased today.

What promoted you to take the plunge and start investing now?.

Retired_Member38 · Mar 13, 2014

Murray said:
What promoted you to take the plunge and start investing now?.

I find it interesting, I've been reading up on it for a while and have been planning on getting in for a bit now. I was going to buy when it dropped to $500, and didn't. I was then looking to watch for it dipping below $600 again and get in then.

I was talking to another acorn member on Skype and he's looking at buying too. He mentioned something along the lines of its hardly worth trying to time it to save 5% or so. We're either going to make a fortune or lose nearly everything we put in, there probably isn't any middle ground :lol:

I'm expecting more retailers to get on board like Overstock, and I think the price has a long way to go yet. Maybe I'll be wrong and you can all have a laugh at my expense

There was another good comment on reddit, I can't find the link now but to paraphrase it he said he was investing on the hope that Bitcoin could even take 10% of the share of payments going to gambling, porn and drugs - the market there is so huge that everyone will make a massive roi. And these places all traditionally have problems taking cards or traditional banking methods, so you would assume they will be keen to adapt to bitcoin. Plus the actual purchasers would appreciate the anonymity of using it.

I'm not finished buying yet either

scooter · Mar 14, 2014

Found this:
World’s First Insured Bitcoin Storage Service Launches in the UK

Fully insured for peace of mind. Surely the future? and opened before all the thefts.
http://www.coindesk.com/worlds-first-insured-bitcoin-storage-service-launches-uk/

I don't see bitcoin going away.
I do see regulation but with regulation comes security and with security comes a shit load of new investors. Not just single entities, I mean pension funds etc, wanting a bite of the cherry.

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