I keep biting my finger off, trading bitcoins seems so nice but to enter you need to give RID access to shady merchant, which is a bummer.
Anyone know an exchange where btc can be bought simply with paypal?
Anyone know an exchange where btc can be bought simply with paypal?
https://www.coinbase.com/global - Initial setup can be slow, as with identity verification, but once you're set up buying is relatively painless. Withdrawing can sometimes be slow, expect to wait 2 to 5 business days after purchasing before you can withdraw. Shadiness Level - Just shady enough it might work. 4.5 stars would cupcake again. (They're a YC company too, so you'd be helping, airquotes, the cause - as it were.
https://www.bitstamp.net/ - Better for trading, more like an actual exchange whereas Coinbase is much more of a broker/dealer. (Correct me if I'm wrong on that someone who would know better) Shadiness Level - Low. They're venture backed, Slovenian based, and good peoples in my experience.
https://btc-e.com/ - Great for variety of coins traded. Based on my experience I'd recommend. That being said... Shadiness Level - Moderate. Nobody really knows who runs the site, although there has been speculation. I think they're based out of Russia.
https://www.bitfinex.com/ - This would be my go to for actual trading if I wanted to make/lose a lot of money. Based in Singapore IIRC. Shadiness Level - Low from what I've heard, just low on the list because I haven't had any personal experience with them. Something about Singapore and Financial makes me think of super villains though.
https://localbitcoins.com/ - Limited by who is selling in your area, have to meet in person, cash only, and markup is usually high. (5% to 7.5% above market) Shadiness Level - hit-or-miss, ranges from awesome people to scum of the earth types. Make sure you meet in a public place.
Coinbase operates a real exchange™: https://exchange.coinbase.com/
Available to US customers in most states and a few other countries. 0% fee if you add liquidity.
Problem with all of these is that they can be reversed.
PayPal T&C says virtual currency isn't allowed.
Yep. I'm pretty sure MtGox was selling identities, as my california ID got maxed out on pseudoephedrine not much longer after I was MtGox verified. It was a bit awkward when I tried to get some flu meds from the pharmacy.
I have good experience with bitcoin.de -- although I'm currently stuck in a loop needing to verify my account (again), after they got a bit more strict with account verification.
At any rate, since I was "smart" and sold my experimental 5 btc test purchase and made thousands of percent (and 100s of USD...) - I don't really have any bitcoin to sell any more. It's kind of funny when you make back lots more than you put in, and still feel regret because the bubble kept going up (I forget when I sold, suffice to say it was way below 200 USD per coin - I think I bought at an overwhelming ~2 USD/bitcoin or something. And then forgot about it for a year or two.).