Topic: Two questions about buying bitcoins from bitstamp.net (Read 2414 times)

Well I made a BTC deposit to Bitstamp on Sunday (24th Feb) and its still not showing in my account.  I contacted support yesterday again about the matter and they still haven't replied 

Almost on queue Intersango exchange is now unavailable and people fearing the funds are gone.

Heres what I've written in my blog about it 

http://afbitcoins.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/intersango-down/

Only use this method if you are confident that your computer doesn't have any virus, spyware, malware, trojan programs, or key loggers installed and that it hasn't been otherwise compromised by a hacker or thief.

I wouldn't hold those bitcoins on the exchange. I stupidly trusted an exchange called bitcoinica when they started offering interest on bitcoins  and within about 1 week had lost them all. Take heed of that lesson and don't make that mistake that I did. I'm still kicking myself, but also still a big believer in bitcoins, I've slowly been buying back to replace the ones I lost, I think you are making a very good decision.

Not saying this is the best way but if it was me I'd use the normal bitcoin client and send the bitcoins I purchased to my own address on the client running on my hard drive. (Note it takes a long long time to catch up with the bitcoin network, I left my computer running for about 3 days and nights until it was synchronised). I'd start with a small transfer of 1 bitcoin or something like that from the exchange to the client running on my own computer. Assuming I received that correctly I would proceed to transfer the rest.

I would then encrypt my wallet file, back it up into at least a couple of different places which are not normally connected to the internet, maybe a spare harddrive and a memory stick and then I'd delete the wallet file from my normal computer. This way I end up with my wallet.dat file safely secured and not accessible by the internet.

If you feel technically capable of following and understanding those instructions, then yes that should result in a secure storage.

The following advice from that page is especially good advice:


Note that once you have the secure storage set up, if you keep track of the wallet address, you can continue to send additional purchases to that same address without having to repeat the process and without having to restore the archived wallet.  However, you may want to consider having multiple archive addresses (perhaps in multiple offline wallets).  This way if you decide to retrieve some of the bitcoin, you don't have to retrieve all of them at once.

Very good explanation with number 2. Makes sense now 

Regarding point number 1, I plan to keep the bitcoins as savings. Would this guide be safe to follow:

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_to_set_up_a_secure_offline_savings_wallet

I want something 100% secure. The access doesn't have to be liquid. The only thing that might happen is I might buy another $5k bitcoins later in the year, but I don't plant to sell any.

Thanks so much 

I personally wouldn't feel comfortable leaving that much money under the control of someone else unless it was insured by a reputable company.  Even then I'd think twice unless I knew there was a reasonable chance of recovering funds through legal action.  You'll have ot decide for yourself how much risk you are willing to take.  You probably should learn a bit about bitcoin wallets and how to use and secure them.  At the bare minimum, I'd transfer the funds to a blockchain.info wallet and have a backup of the wallet sent to me.  If you don't plan to spend the funds any time soon, I'd consider a paper wallet.


If you place a limit order for $5k worth at $30.41, then you will only receive the bitcoins if and when someone is willing to sell theirs at $30.41.  If the market price increases above $30.41 and never drops back down, then your limit order will just sit out there unfilled.

If you place a market order for $5k worth of bitcoin, then you will get the bitcoin at whatever the ask price availability is at the exact moment that you place your order.  If the lowest available ask price is less than $30.41 then you'll get them cheaper, if the lowest available ask price is higher than $30.41, then they will be more expensive.

With a market order, there may be some slippage of the price if the volume associated with the current ask is low.

Example:

Albert has a limit order to sell $1000 worth of bitcoin at $31.42.
Brian has a limit order to sell $2000 worth of bitcoin at $31.45.
Carl has a limit order to sell $1000 worth of bitcoin at $31.50.
David has a limit order to sell $500 worth of bitcoin at $31.55.
Earl has a limit order to sell $1000 worth of bitcoin at $31.63.

Seeing that the current ask price is $31.42, you place a market order to purchase $5000 worth of bitcoin.

BitStamp transfers $1000 from you to Albert and 31.8268619 BTC from Albert to you.
BitStamp transfers $2000 from you to Brian and 63.5930048 BTC from Brian to you.
BitStamp transfers $1000 from you to Carl and 31.7460317 BTC from Carl to you.
BitStamp transfers $500 from you to David and 15.8478605 BTC from David to you.
BitStamp transfers $500 from you to Earl and 15.8077774 BTC from Earl to you.

When your exchange is complete, the new ask price is $31.63
You have spent $5000 and acquired 158.821536 BTC
Which works out to an exchange rate of $31.48.

So even though the current "ask" was $31.42, you actually ended up spending $31.48

Hi all,

new to bitcoins and I am buying some in the next day or so from bitstamp.net. This will be several thousand dollars worth.

1. If I buy the bitcoins, is it safe to leave them on the exchange? If not, what is a simple guide for me to follow so I can download them (note I am not a technical person). I want something very safe.