Topic: Tips for local transactions - page 29. (Read 816101 times)

Incremental trading is a good practice.  

Try not to have all your Bitcoins in one account.  Try not to have all your cash in your pocket.

I just read an interesting statistic:


 - http://www.helix-institute.com/data-and-insights/agent-network-accelerator-survey-kenya-country-report-2013
 - http://helix-institute.com/sites/default/files/Publications/Agent%20Network%20Accelerator_Kenya%20Country%20Report_2013.pdf
 - http://bit.ly/1iqtp2R (using browser-friendly PDF viewer)

There is a significant difference between a Bitcoin trader and an M-Pesa agent as far as physical safety is concerned.  The M-Pesa agent needs a significant inventory of cash because there's no way to know how much cash will be needed to support the day's needs.   A person trading Bitcoin knows in advance of doing each trade the amount.   Therefore, the trader being asked to do a larger trade can adjust to give a heightened level of security for trades when prudent (e.g., for larger trades, or with those counterparties who
show few or no prior trades.)

There's certainly good reason banks, check cashers, and even convenience store clerks protect themselves behind bullet-resistant glass, steel cages, etc.  Those trading Bitcoin should be acutely aware of the risks businesses that deal with cash are subjected to.

Great idea actually, the only problem is if they do want to scam you, they probably also have weapons and this will instantly provoke them

Impossible. Everyone knows that open carriers get shot the instant they are within 100 yards of a criminal, have their guns taken from their retention holsters, and are then coup de grace'd with them.  

I have a concealed carry permit but I open carry when I do local deals, It makes them think twice if they had any ill intentions to start with. We know not all people use bitcoin in legal ways, and you never know who you area dealing with.

wow .. this is the info that is very important and useful for all of us ..
I am personally very appreciative and say thank you for all of this. I often find these tips to make transactions with bitcoin.
but not as complete as this, and I find its place different

Great tips as I get ready to go to my 1st local bit coin sell.

Thanks so much!
Jerry

Physical security when trading in-person needs to remain the first priority.

Here's a report on Reddit of an attempted robbery during what was supposed to be a trade:

Be careful-Attempting mugging at in person trade
 - https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/be-careful-attempting-mugging-at-in-person-trade-641160

Attempted to steal my bitcoins [and phone] in local trade
 - http://reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/27gke8

Thank you for the good tips/ Some of them would be useful even in Russia.
Thank you for systemizing this information!
 

this artical is very useful!

That sounds significant.

So the corrective action is to wait for 3 or 6 confirmations before handing over the money or valuables.

There is something that has the potential to impact local trading -- the "Replace By Fee" patch (and related "Undo" service BitUndo):

Peter Todd's recent 0-confirm double spends:
 - https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/peter-todds-recent-0-confirm-double-spends-574774

BitUndo:
 - http://BitUndo.com

Many in-person and online cash trades are settled immediately where the buyer hands over cash after seeing a transaction from the seller to the agreed-upon Bitcoin address.  But after the cash is handed over and the two parties each go their own way, the seller has the potential to reverse the transaction.  This is because with Bitcoin, transactions with zero confirmations are not safe -- until they receive a block confirmation or three (or six, depending on the risk level).

Historically, there hasn't been much "double spending" of zero confirmation transactions, and even significantly less double spending of transactions where there was at least one confirmation.   That's because the behavior of the Bitcoin client typically used by miners only recognizes the first spend and thus attempts to double spend (e.g., via race attack) are ignored.  
 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Double-spending

However, there is a modification to the Bitcoin client that miners can use that changes things signifcantly.  This change is intended to allow a person spending Bitcoin to submit an alternate of the transaction before the original gets mined such that the original transaction is ignored and the alternate gets included in the blockchain.

So though you as a trader might see a transaction where you receive your bitcoins, the seller could then mess with that transaction sent to you such that it will never confirm.

There is very little mining capacity currently using this modified client so the chances of someone trying to do this has a low likelihood of success.  But that risk exists (as it always has) just that it is now a higher risk.

A trade using LocalBitcoins doesn't have this issue because the coins are escrowed and then released into the user's E-Wallet with LocalBitcoins (i.e., trades on LocalBitcoins don't go through the blockchain).

Mycelium now has a "Local Trader" feature in which the risk can be lessened thanks to trader history ratings as well as a unique Transaction Confidence approach in which the network is probed to discover double spend attempts and the user is warned when transactions have a higher risk of being double spent (e.g., when they rely on other zero-confirmation transactions).

Mycelium Local Trader
 - http://www.mycelium.com/lt/help.html

Thanks for these great tips 

If you want more people to join the bitcoin community first you need to show them how to do it safely.
that is what this posting is about. helping newbies and teach them some basic rules

thanks a lot
its very helpful

Good advice to know though

One resource available to those who want to do a trade locally but don't want to physically deliver the cash is a courier service.  But handing over an envelope full of cash to some kid on a bicycle might not seem to the most prudent move.

However, innovations from Uber (with Uber RUSH) and Postmates make it so that their courier / messenger services work fairly well for this task.

Here's a reddit post with a few more details on this:
 - http://reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/22jc09

And here is a forum post describing another type of courier method, one that is less expensive than an Uber RUSH type of messenger service:
 - https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/local-delivery-for-bitcoin-trades-74912

Great tips. Every newbie can take help from it. Thanks to share.

 Seems this retarded community is based on retarded public knowledge. What was the freaking point of posting this bs, yet alone stickying it?

Thanks this was helpful