Topic: Why does it feel so complicated/frustrating to buy bitcoins for the first time? (Read 4831 times)

Use virwox if you're terribly urgent. But it comes with high fees.

Localbitcoins is a good source of BTC as well.

Basically , the reason why it's so complicated to buy bitcoin or any cryptocurrency out there is the rarity of the currency itself. but when you get the hung of it it's pretty easy ,+you need to avoid bad exchanges . personally i buy only from an exchange called prepaidbitco , people never complain about them and they are very reliable  here is a link  http://www.prepaidbitco.in  give them a try you won't regret it .

Nobody has yet really answered the question - the reason it's so hard to buy bitcoin is because a lot of people bought it with credit cards and then had their credit card company reverse the transaction.  In other words, it's easy to get scammed when you're selling bitcoin online, so they have to do a lot of stuff to protect themselves.

When I first signed up with Coinbase, it seemed like endless hoops to jump through, and endless waiting to get any bitcoin.  But now that I'm verified, it's the easiest thing in the world.  I just click and buy and it's instantly sent to my wallet, up to $1000.  I chose Coinbase because it was the only one that didn't require me to send a video of myself holding my photo ID next to my face.

I also used Brawker.com, which lets me buy something online and send it to someone else, and then they send me the bitcoins.  It works, but it's also slow and complicated, and you are limited to the amount of btc and the exchange rate the users have offered.

The problem is everyone tries to buy from exchanges / circle trying to get the cheapest price.

Accept that exchanges are cheaper because the people that trade there have verified their accounts and have a trading history.

If you want to buy bitcoin today, right now. Just go to localbitcoins.com or similar. The transaction can be completed in less than 5 minutes. Yes the price is a little more but at least you won't need to jump through hoops.

I also can not understand it.

its not that complex.

coinbase.

I still find the waiting time limits quite irritating on places like Coinbase. Limiting buyers of BTC to $1000 weekly is annoying if I need a quick supply of BTC to make a purchase and don't want to move holdings. And having to wait up to 4-5 days to get a larger order to clear drives me crazy.

I wish they'd figure out a way to allow for higher credit ratings for those customers who have purchased BTC in amounts > 5 figures on multiple occasions.

Strato

probably because you're buying from shitty, corrupt, and rotten exchanges like coinbase and bitstamp ...

It is more frustrating than complicated. It is not complicated to setup an address and an account at an exchange. It is too troublesome to wire cash to exchanges and comply to their KYC questionnaire and verification. I understand the difficulties... 

I don't understand why people think it is hard to buy bitcoins?  Was a very simple transaction for me and I didn't have any issues at all.

I bought my first bitcoins using PayPal on eBay. Easy as another ebay transaction. The price was padded but my newbie excitement at seeing bitcoins jingle into my account absorbed it.

Download and install a Bitcoin wallet.

Find the LocalBitcoins dealers in your area.  Identify the established ones.

Check the Craigslist bitcoin sellers in your area.

Try to find dealers who are listed in both.

Contact one by internet or phone.  Tell him how much you want to buy.  Discuss the procedure and costs.  If buying more than one Bitcoin, consider doing incremental payments and transfers to limit the risk.

Meet him, pay cash, receive the Bitcoin transfer to your wallet.

It is not complicated.  It is not frustrating. 

Later, if you want to, establish an account with an online Bitcoin dealer like Circle.

because it is complicated and frustrating to buy bitcoins for the first time ... not to mention expensive beyond the current value ... you either need to send a wire transfer of money from your bank account to some overseas shady exchange and wait for a week or two for it to arrive there or at best expect to lose 2% through any available "respectable" broker right away ... 1% for markup and 1% for fees ... gosh .. sign me up ... i'd like to lose 2% of whatever money i convert to bitcoin right away ...

i got underhelmed by drek, wasnt too farky, just wiped myself down and got on with logan. all good now in honesty!

Translation?

when i was at dreks gthe other day i had this feeling i god underhelmed

It is complicated buying bitcoins for the first time, because of increasingly stringent KYC norms.
With that, pseudonymity of bitcoin addresses goes out of the window.

This. Buying bitcoin on an exchange for the first time is going to be very similar to opening a new bank account, as both of these are very similar in what you are getting and very similar as to the verification requirements.

You do have options other then to buy bitcoin on an exchange, for example you can buy on LBC or can buy on the currency exchange section here (or in some other p2p way)

Yes, I will definitely look further into that board as I noticed it looked like a place where individuals are trading.



Checking account was an in person interview after making sure to have all the correct information alongside me.  Other than that, I believe I was able to use the account immediately provided I had loaded the funds in before I left the bank with my temporary card that day.  It took near a week to receive the physical card.  I am not sure if FDIC insurance has anything to do with this process.

Western Union, I have not utilized that service yet.

You bring up quite a good point with PayPal as it was near the same complexity to set up my initial PayPal account many years ago but I wasn't viewing the places to acquire bitcoin via fiat at the same level as PP.  I think it is near the same process for a CC as it is a bank account with the verification of multiple small deposits into the account.


The good news is that circle did work out and I was able to load the small amount of funds into my account.  There was a manual verification required (not sure what happened as I didn't need to provide any extra information) and it took a little over 7 hours.  I did put a phone call into customer service to try and get this sped up as well.  I guess it wasn't too bad of a timeline considering a PP account would take 2-3 business days but again, I didn't see it as highly regulated as it currently seems.  Definitely not a bad thing, but it could be off-putting to some people.

I will answer this question  with a few questions

What was it like the first time you set up a checking account?

How was your first experience with sending money via western union

How easy was it to get your paypal account stated linked with your bank account and a bank debit/credit card?

To be honest, compared to paypal I dont see why getting bitcoin started seems to be so complicated to a lot of people? It is actually easier than paypal, and takes a lot less time I had my bitcoin stuff up and running (including my wallet) in less than 20 minutes.