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Topic: Difference between physical meetups and online exchanges - page 2. (Read 1611 times)

legendary
Activity: 1120
Merit: 1000
The main problem of online is that you move money in banks and that leaves a path but it is easy and you can do from your home
The point of doing it phisicaly is anonimity,but it is most difficult and less comfortable
copper member
Activity: 1498
Merit: 1528
No I dont escrow anymore.
What are the pros and cons of buying bitcoins in person in a physical meet up as opposed to using an exchange.

Pro -> Anonymity. Well you have to show your face, but not your POR and bank account details.
Con -> Robbery risk. It happend in the past and it will happen again. If you meet with someone in person you might get lured into a trap, hit on the head and have your money and/or coins stolen.

An exchange might rob you as well, but at least you dont get hit on the head.

you may also end to be arrested as it has happened with burst, if police caught you off guard, there are i think some spy searching for those guys doing trading in RL

anyway in the usa is more severe, in other country you should do face to face trade more easily with less worry

Arrested? No, they would need to establish that I am a flight risk (which I am not). Besides the fact that I did not break any laws I find the idea hilarious that the police is waiting at a local McDonalds to catch some bitcoin traders.
legendary
Activity: 896
Merit: 1000
Find an ATM with realistic fees. Best of both worlds. There are some out there that have less of a premium than localbitcoins.

some atm's require you walk through a very annoying verification process. and beside that, you don't know what or who is saving your data.
legendary
Activity: 3248
Merit: 1070
What are the pros and cons of buying bitcoins in person in a physical meet up as opposed to using an exchange.

Pro -> Anonymity. Well you have to show your face, but not your POR and bank account details.
Con -> Robbery risk. It happend in the past and it will happen again. If you meet with someone in person you might get lured into a trap, hit on the head and have your money and/or coins stolen.

An exchange might rob you as well, but at least you dont get hit on the head.

you may also end to be arrested as it has happened with burst, if police caught you off guard, there are i think some spy searching for those guys doing trading in RL

anyway in the usa is more severe, in other country you should do face to face trade more easily with less worry
legendary
Activity: 2590
Merit: 3014
Welt Am Draht
Find an ATM with realistic fees. Best of both worlds. There are some out there that have less of a premium than localbitcoins.
newbie
Activity: 59
Merit: 0
So there appears to be a scale between anonymity and security. There is Coinbase on the one hand with high security and then physical meetups with high anonymity.

Yes, a neat thing about Bitcoin is people can use it however they want.

For example, I have no interest in using or selling drugs, but that's one of the biggest markets for Bitcoin because people can actually do it in a much safer way than meeting in some dark alley. So even though I don't use Bitcoin for that I don't necessarily want to give Coinbase access to everything I do with my bitcoins, because it's none of their business, even if it's totally legal. I have a coinbase account, but it's just for buying bitcoin conveniently. If I then want to use bitcoins to gamble for example I probably would send those coins from coinbase to some other site, like an exchange, then withdraw those coins to another exchange then maybe one of my other wallets like with blockchain.info. That way Coinbase can't accurately track where I sent the coins I bought from them. Hope that makes sense.
newbie
Activity: 28
Merit: 0
So there appears to be a scale between anonymity and security. There is Coinbase on the one hand with high security and then physical meetups with high anonymity.
newbie
Activity: 59
Merit: 0
This has always confused me. If you buy coins from an exchange, won't the exchange link your Bitcoin address with your ID and therefore track every transaction thereafter? In effect, can't exchanges completely de-anonymise transactions if it starts from them?

There are differences in exchanges. For example, if you use Coinbase which is very legal and legitimate they will ask for all your identity information. If they suspect any connection to anything illegal with your account you are at risk of account being disabled and your info turned over to authorities, even if you didn't do anything, maybe you were just curious and visited some sites that sold illegal goods.

Alternatively you can use an established exchange like BTC-e.com. They are one of the oldest Bitcoin exchanges, but since they operate anonymously (the govt doesn't really know who they are) they can relax rules about how much info they collect and what they by law must track or report.

If you buy in person of course that's a different story. You don't give any identification, but you should still be careful not to get robbed. Use a very public place and meet inside, like a Starbucks so if you yell Help the person can't easily escape. There was a guy that met in a public place, but it was outside so he got robbed and the thief just ran away.
newbie
Activity: 28
Merit: 0
What are the pros and cons of buying bitcoins in person in a physical meet up as opposed to using an exchange.

Pro -> Anonymity. Well you have to show your face, but not your POR and bank account details.
Con -> Robbery risk. It happend in the past and it will happen again. If you meet with someone in person you might get lured into a trap, hit on the head and have your money and/or coins stolen.

An exchange might rob you as well, but at least you dont get hit on the head.

This has always confused me. If you buy coins from an exchange, won't the exchange link your Bitcoin address with your ID and therefore track every transaction thereafter? In effect, can't exchanges completely de-anonymise transactions if it starts from them?
legendary
Activity: 1344
Merit: 1024
Mine at Jonny's Pool
What are the pros and cons of buying bitcoins in person in a physical meet up as opposed to using an exchange.
You get to actually physically meet somebody who's interested in Bitcoin?  Maybe you sit down with them and have a coffee... discuss your experiences with BTC... share stories... maybe you negotiate a different price with them... heck, maybe your local seller is the man/woman of your dreams and when you two meet up sparks fly.

You gonna find the love of your life by posting an order on an exchange? Tongue
copper member
Activity: 1498
Merit: 1528
No I dont escrow anymore.
What are the pros and cons of buying bitcoins in person in a physical meet up as opposed to using an exchange.

Pro -> Anonymity. Well you have to show your face, but not your POR and bank account details.
Con -> Robbery risk. It happend in the past and it will happen again. If you meet with someone in person you might get lured into a trap, hit on the head and have your money and/or coins stolen.

An exchange might rob you as well, but at least you dont get hit on the head.
newbie
Activity: 28
Merit: 0
What are the pros and cons of buying bitcoins in person in a physical meet up as opposed to using an exchange.
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