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Comment by blhack | Hacker News Reader

Okay. I have $10, and I want a bitcoin. What do I do?

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Buying_Bitcoins_(the_noob_version...

You'll need to find a currency exchange, open an account, and buy BTC with your 10 USD. It's the same thing you'd need to do if you wanted to buy yen or euros.

http://www.mtgox.com is one such exchange.

> It's the same thing you'd need to do if you wanted to buy yen or euros

No, it's not. I can go to pretty much any local bank and buy euros.

You can go to several banks, Wal-Mart, CVS, 7-11, and other places and buy them, albeit indirectly: https://www.bitinstant.com/home

The procedure is the same. Adaption is not. Of course.

> The procedure is the same.

No, it's not. I can buy currency with cash, it will take me 10 min to get them from a local bank.

With bitcoins you have to jump through all kinds of hoops and pay all kinds of fees.

You pay fees for currency conversion at your local bank to. It is just hidden in the spread between their rates and the market rates.

I had to travel to Europe recently, and for my bank the difference between the market rate and what they gave me was less than 1%.

Now, what % of $20 would be gone by the time you get your bitcoins?

So, the article refers to the price of BTC increasing with respect to USD which lead me to think about things like investments, speculation, and currency trading. FOREX.com is a currency exchange that enables trading USD, euros, and yen. MTGOX.com is a currency exchange that additionally supports BTC. You would open accounts with either company to trade currencies. I apologize for any confusion.

You invest your $10 in these shares of the moon I'm selling. When their value increases, you can buy many bitcoins.

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