Just a follow-up since this post popped to the top of my list just now:
I hedged my bets on this sale. Half through Mt. Gox, and am waiting on a wire. The other half through Bitcoin-Brokers. That is done and it was a fairly quick and downright enjoyable experience for me. I got Mt. Gox prices and didn't pay any exchange fee. Or wire fee for that matter, but that is pretty negligible in larger dollar amounts.
Unfortunately for other potential sellers they stopped taking seller's BTC the other day to keep a buy/sell balance. Now one has to get on a list it sounds like. Possibly others were in my situation in having a certain quanitity that they wanted to sell, getting the sale over with, and moving on in which case some slots may have opened up.
My banker says that everything is OK with random people all over the country depositing cash in my account, but she recommended setting up a different account next time so I did not need to give my account number out and take the risk that someone might try to abuse it.
Topic: bitcoin.org a little scammy in... (Read 1299 times)
...that when one wishes to sell BTC and tries to use 'bitcoin.org' as a reference, the 'exchange' link takes one to 'howtobuybitcoins.info'? Seems to me that way. I mean the word 'exchange' implies a bi-directional interaction.
'howtobuybitcoins.info' seems heavily geared toward exactly what it says; Buying bitcoins. It has very limited information on what exchanges currently exist, and since that is my current interest it is notable and annoying.
I would hope that 'bitcoin.org' would be a reliable source of information about all aspects of Bitcoin, but it looks outwardly more and more like a feeder system to suck fiat into the system. That is not very heartening to me and ultimately I believe detrimental to the Bitcoin ecosystem at large. I don't think Bitcoin itself is a scam at it's core, but it certainly could be painted as such and questionable marketing tactics on 'bitcoin.org' do not help IMHO.
howtobuybitcoins.info and bitcoin.org are open-source websites hosted on github, so you can submit a patch or open an issue.
Personally, it seemed clear to me that listing exchanges allows people to buy and sell bitcoins. People are mostly never searching how to sell bitcoins because they start by searching how to buy them and learn how to sell them at the same time.
So far it seemed to me that the most credible directory for exchanges was this one. Especially given the fact that many exchanges are only available in certain countries, this website was perfectly adapted to this problem. Among the recurring requests for bitcoin.org, providing basic instructions or links about how to get bitcoins was one of the most popular.
bitcoin.org is aimed at the noobs..people wanting to get into bitcoin, basically. wouldn't you find it more irritating that a site that teaches noobs would only list places that allow you to sell bitcoins.
once people go to bitcoin.org learn about bitcoin, BUY bitcoins etc, they start to get a grasp of the community to then know where to sell them or how to sell them.
the other point is that bitcoin is aimed at getting people to adopt bitcoin, not divorce bitcoin. So of course it will be more aimed at buying in rather then selling.
imagine it like many other things.. EG Apple Ipods. their website wants you to learn about them and buy ipods, yes many people already have ipods and want to sell them on to claw back some FIAT, but apples job is aimed at teaching people the new technology and get people to adopt it. once you become one of the cough elite apple users, you certainly start to find many ways of selling apple stuff just by asking around.
so dont cry that bitcoin is worded for noobs entering the economy, until you have made a complaint to many other new technology start ups that also don't make a big deal out of telling you how to sell your stuff.
once people go to bitcoin.org learn about bitcoin, BUY bitcoins etc, they start to get a grasp of the community to then know where to sell them or how to sell them.
the other point is that bitcoin is aimed at getting people to adopt bitcoin, not divorce bitcoin. So of course it will be more aimed at buying in rather then selling.
imagine it like many other things.. EG Apple Ipods. their website wants you to learn about them and buy ipods, yes many people already have ipods and want to sell them on to claw back some FIAT, but apples job is aimed at teaching people the new technology and get people to adopt it. once you become one of the cough elite apple users, you certainly start to find many ways of selling apple stuff just by asking around.
so dont cry that bitcoin is worded for noobs entering the economy, until you have made a complaint to many other new technology start ups that also don't make a big deal out of telling you how to sell your stuff.
Well, er, the first question everyone asks me when I try to describe Bitcoin to them is "how do you get money from them." It might not be even necessary to qualify that with 'usually'. It could be that it is always the first thing that people I talk to want to know.
People are interested in things they can make money off of, and one does not need to be a rocket scientist to see that making money from bitcoin implies selling them. Most of my friends are hippy lib types and even they are not initially interested in how it is going to change society or the world and get us all singing kumba-ya together. They, like any normal person, are going to wonder if the $100 bucks they might plunk down for a bitcoin could be recouped.
I'm telling you that spending a lot of energy trying to educate people about putting fiat in, and completely neglecting information on how to get fiat out, smells a little fishy. Take it for what it's worth.
bitcoin.org is aimed at the noobs..people wanting to get into bitcoin, basically. wouldn't you find it more irritating that a site that teaches noobs would only list places that allow you to sell bitcoins.
once people go to bitcoin.org learn about bitcoin, BUY bitcoins etc, they start to get a grasp of the community to then know where to sell them or how to sell them.
the other point is that bitcoin is aimed at getting people to adopt bitcoin, not divorce bitcoin. So of course it will be more aimed at buying in rather then selling.
imagine it like many other things.. EG Apple Ipods. their website wants you to learn about them and buy ipods, yes many people already have ipods and want to sell them on to claw back some FIAT, but apples job is aimed at teaching people the new technology and get people to adopt it. once you become one of the cough elite apple users, you certainly start to find many ways of selling apple stuff just by asking around.
so dont cry that bitcoin is worded for noobs entering the economy, until you have made a complaint to many other new technology start ups that also don't make a big deal out of telling you how to sell your stuff.
once people go to bitcoin.org learn about bitcoin, BUY bitcoins etc, they start to get a grasp of the community to then know where to sell them or how to sell them.
the other point is that bitcoin is aimed at getting people to adopt bitcoin, not divorce bitcoin. So of course it will be more aimed at buying in rather then selling.
imagine it like many other things.. EG Apple Ipods. their website wants you to learn about them and buy ipods, yes many people already have ipods and want to sell them on to claw back some FIAT, but apples job is aimed at teaching people the new technology and get people to adopt it. once you become one of the cough elite apple users, you certainly start to find many ways of selling apple stuff just by asking around.
so dont cry that bitcoin is worded for noobs entering the economy, until you have made a complaint to many other new technology start ups that also don't make a big deal out of telling you how to sell your stuff.
Its not a scam its more like missconception
I would not call it a scam either, but I draw a distinction between a 'scam' and 'seeming scammy'.
If tracking the status of exchanges is to much work, or if they simply don't want to help people sell bitcoins period, they could just change the name of the link from 'exchange' to 'acquire' or something like that.
If they want to outsource the workload to another web site, they could use two links. One going to the buy-centric domain and the other going to the appropriate Wiki page or whatever.
One way or another I think it important that the owners of bitcoin.org bend over backwards to be as neutral as possible and provide either balanced and accurate information or none at all. This because the domain is so important for legacy reasons.
Its not a scam its more like missconception
Doesn't surprise me.
i think they are just used for a general faq that people may have and try not to promote any companies so they can stand neutral as an organization.
Very good point about no exchange info being on the main site. The wiki and this fourm habe a welp of knowledge on what you are looking for. Perhaps they figure you will end up here or the wiki pretty quick. I'd say you are correct in that it needs both ends of the spectrum
...that when one wishes to sell BTC and tries to use 'bitcoin.org' as a reference, the 'exchange' link takes one to 'howtobuybitcoins.info'? Seems to me that way. I mean the word 'exchange' implies a bi-directional interaction.
'howtobuybitcoins.info' seems heavily geared toward exactly what it says; Buying bitcoins. It has very limited information on what exchanges currently exist, and since that is my current interest it is notable and annoying.
I would hope that 'bitcoin.org' would be a reliable source of information about all aspects of Bitcoin, but it looks outwardly more and more like a feeder system to suck fiat into the system. That is not very heartening to me and ultimately I believe detrimental to the Bitcoin ecosystem at large. I don't think Bitcoin itself is a scam at it's core, but it certainly could be painted as such and questionable marketing tactics on 'bitcoin.org' do not help IMHO.
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