Topic: So how on earth am I supposed to get bitcoins in the UK? (Read 14521 times)

You mean because TransferWise no longer allows withdrawal to Bitcoin exchanges?

CurrencyFair is about the equivalent of TransferWise.

wot do now?

I agree with the TransferWise plan - use it with one of the exchanges... it's pretty straightforward and will save you a fair bit of money on charges and exchange rates.

If you choose priority payment it always arrives the same day for a small fee, and still a lot cheaper than UKASH or using blockchain.info (they charge something like 6%) or other transfer methods with hefty bank fees...

I use Bitstamp and it always lands quickly and safely, but it works with other exchanges as well. Then you can just move your coins to your wallet and voila  

Link here:

http://bitcointransfer.blogspot.co.uk/

best wishes and make sure you secure your wallet. I found Electrum to be easy to use and feels pretty safe once I got used to how it works  

Made this guide: www.bitcoinuk.blogspot.com

So far the cheapest way that I found to buy btc from UK..

Hope it helps.

No, they don't.  MoneyPak is a product for U.S. only, however in the UK is a similar product, UKash.  A UKash can be used to buy SLLs (which can be traded for BTCs) at VirWoX, or UKash can be used at Mercabit.eu, Bitcoin Nordic, and more.  The fees aren't trivial but this is one way to pay with cash, with no bank system intermediary.

They dont sell moneypaks in UK?

Well, that Bit2Brit appears to either have been a scam attempt or, less likely, simply failed to launch.

Just noticed I got a mention above " mjb monetary metals - a bit clunky  it's quite catchy as a tag line 

I'm now at http://www.bitcoinfridge.co.uk/ - its possible if your quick making the bank transfer to have your btc sent within 5-10 mins, although it can take a little longer I handle each trade individually (clunky  ) so its no automated exchange but the fee is now just 2.5% . I've done a few hundred trades now with no issues to report .

Where did the website go ?

They were beta testing a new online bank method, but then removed it.  I'm not sure if they just had to remove it to rework something or if they no longer are planning on offering it.

dunno if im just dumb, but I can see no UK options on Bitinstant

My 2btc - there are SWIFT payment services for £8 that you can send a FPS transfer to and they will pass on to MTGox

In short: Transferwise seems best. But it's worth the effort to get into meeting local people.

Summary (add to first post danny?):

#bitcoin-otc-uk
https://blockchain.info/wallet/deposit-bank-transfer
Blockchain Pingit - >5%
Moneygram. Couldn't get the calculate fee thing to work. Must be rubbish.
Bitstamp via Transferwise and others: "Payments of up to 300 GBP/EUR cost you just £1 or €1" - still need to remember to check the rate though making it a bit clunkier than Intersango was
& other Paymium routes
http://mjbmonetarymetals.co.uk/ - >5%. Bit clunky
bit2brit.co.uk - unproven. avoid or escrow
ukask-cashu-OKPAY: total fee?
localbitcoins.com - currents ~5%. Durable, condusive with Bitcoin ethos but clunky.
Future - droplet
MtGox via 3rd party FPS/SWIFT transfer service: £8 flat fee?


Well, it's pretty easy to hide bitcoins and pretend you never got them; not so much with Gibson, there is a whole postal track record and the physical object in your house, etc.
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This is very true in practicality but I think technically it's not in that hopefully one day there will be legal precendent where if the customer sends their recieving Bitcoin address in recorded comms to a seller and an exact amount requested arrives at that address that we can all see on Blockexplorer then really to my mind that is harder to prove non delive1ry of than a squiggle on the 80's fedEx PDA, no? Of course law doesn't always make sense but we shall see in time.


Just to clarify this. Technically the UK is in the SEPA zone. It's just a case of ripoff Britain and maybe cronies thinking they are different from "The Europeans" (you are Europeans you idiots!)

#bitcoin-otc or #bitcoin-otc-uk on freenode is the easiest place to get bitcoins in the UK.  I buy and sell there and would highly reccomend, you can get better rates than most places and it doesnt take long either.

Bumping with new deposit method:

https://blockchain.info/wallet/deposit-bank-transfer

other method is the post office if you dont want to deal with bank accounts and 3 day delays.

they have a service called money gram. which is like western union.

bitinstant takes moneygram payments and exchanges them for bitcoins. check out instructions on bitinstant for method of doing it.
thats business method in. or theres the localbitcoins, where you find someone nearby to accept the payment.

soon there will be a bitcoin/litecoin exchange that deals in UK£ without and transfer to US$ which will make purchasing and selling bitcoins for us british folk

I was just seeing a P2P payments upstart in the UK:


 - http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/03/droplet-plans-to-disrupt-mobile-cash-with-no-charges-payment-app-for-iphone/

This is a little different from PayPal for payments transfer because (presumably) the app requires location tracking (geofencing), and thus a lesser chance of claiming it was not an authorized payment.

I'ld be curious if this would be a tool used for either low-cost bitcoin cash-out (payment send via Droplet, from a trusted party) or for face-to-face transactions where there is less risk of carrying physical cash.

Of course, this has the same level of being traceable as bank transactions do, so there's that.

[Edit: I see a thread on it already exists:

 - https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/droplet-disruptive-mobile-payment-128948 ]

I am saying that there is no charge for the SEPA wire in euro (obviously there is a charge for converting GBP to EURO with the bank in UK).

Also, Transferwise delivers fast SEPA wires to Paymium from the UK without triggering additionnal charges at the receiving end.

"You must confirm"

From which UK bank you made a EUR SEPA wire transfer free of charge?

Tell people which bank if there is really one which makes them "free of charge" or don't spread misinformation.

I must confirm that the simplest is to convert GBP to EUR first, then send the funds (in EUR) to Paymium EUR account. That's a SEPA wire transfer, free of charge. You only pay a currency conversion fee applied by the bank of origin (in the UK).
A wire transfer in GBP would not be considered SEPA (yet).

Hi,

Any news on this? I don't have the bank deposit button, only pingit and phone deposit.

Thank you.