Bitcoin/Litecoin

Also does forex offer the same service so as Western Union or am I missing something?

Look at the 2yr chart for bitcoins, if I had some now id sell them and buy them back later at a cheaper price later on

murrayp4 wrote: »

Anyone know a decent site to buy Litecoins by SEPA?

I've been looking to buy Litecoins, but when I search google all that comes up is bitcoin.. Buy bitcoins directly using coinbase.com and then exchange your bitcoins for litecoins

People need to start storing their Bitcoins offline

arrowloopboy wrote: »

An Aussie guy reckons his bitcoin wallet was hacked and robbed of 700k ,if this is true ,it could be quite damaging .

It's like people losing faith in the dollar because someone got pickpocketed, or losing faith in gold because someone with a metal detector found someones buried stash. Unfortunately this isn't the first case, and many people have lost what are now large amounts of money.

Since Bitcoin has had a value people have had them stolen either by trusting online wallets (inputs.io) or by not password protecting their wallet (I would like the wallet software to make this mandatory) or by getting a virus (I wouldn't run a wallet in Windows).

Bitcoin isn't foolproof, you need to be tech savy or use a paper wallet to be safe. In the future I'm sure some trustworthy online 'banks' will exist for those that don't want to be their own bank, but in the meantime it's the risk you take.

KyussBishop wrote: »

If a bank is robbed, you get your money back because they are insured (among the fact that depositors are guaranteed up to a point, by the state - this is impossible with Bitcoin, since 'banks' need to be full-reserve, and you can't just create new coins on a whim) - if your Bitcoins are robbed, you have no insurance.

You're right, it was a bad analogy, edited my post to say pickpocketed instead, as it's a better real world comparison.

zpehtsfd wrote: »

Who the hell caries 700K in their pocket? It's a ridiculous analogy.

Maybe the same person who keeps 700k in a single bitcoin wallet unsecured.

Komsomolitz wrote: »

Can someone explain to me how exactly bitcoins have value in real world currency?

They have value because it's the first real digital money that works. It has properties that gold and fiat money have that made them useful as money in the past such as scarcity, fungibility, portability, easily recognisable, difficult to counterfeit and adds other benefits that they lack (and on the other hand, also some risks they don't have). This explains why it has value.

Komsomolitz wrote: »

I understand the black market value but for the every day joe blogs out there how can it have a future as a real currency?

I mean you can't exactly walk into your every day commercial building where you buy x y and z and use bitcoins instead of euros to maintain your daily life can you?

This is a different question, you're asking whether people can use it in their everyday lives in the same way they have used traditional money, and the answer is that this is still in progress.

You would not need to do it via a bank or bank issued card though. This is one of the great things about bitcoin - you can pay a retailer DIRECTLY with no bank or payment processor middleman. You can install a bitcoin wallet on your smart phone, and dedicated hardware wallets are in development.

Some bricks and mortar businesses already accept bitcoin, but I don't even know of any in Ireland yet. The transaction works by the seller displaying a QR code to the customer who scans it with the camera on their phone. The code contains the payment address and the amount, which is then displayed on the phone screen, so the customer just needs press ok to authorize it. It's really not much different than using a traditional bank card.

EDIT: here's a video showing a someone buying beer in Singapore: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2fDYJFMXEg

Yes the first bitcoin ATM was installed in Canada recently, allowing exchanges to/from fiat money.

Bitcoin is still only entering the early adopter phase and depends on progress like this continuing if it's going to be used by everyday Joes in this manner.

However, use for online payments is already way ahead of this as it's much easier to incorporate. For example, last week shopify announced they'll be supporting it in their shops.

The One Who Knocks wrote: »

Just hit $500!

Is there any real reason why Bitcoin has jumped up so much in value in last 3 weeks? It looks like the price has gone up due to speculation rather than real demand for it as a currenccy. If that's the case then surely BitCoin will crash soon. Look at what happened to it during Cyprus banking crisis, it shot up very quickly but then crashed right after.

What options would I have to buy. I have online banking. Could this be used and would it be secure enough.

I presume using credit card would be dodgy as hell. How did people on here buy their bitcoins ?

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

What options would I have to buy. I have online banking. Could this be used and would it be secure enough.

Yeah you can do SEPA transfer from your online banking to Mt.Gox and Bitstamp. It'll take a few days for the deposit to go through but I don't think that be avoided.

AtomicHorror wrote: »

Yeah you can do SEPA transfer from your online banking to Mt.Gox and Bitstamp. It'll take a few days for the deposit to go through but I don't think that be avoided.

You can pay 12e charge for fast transaction from bank to mt.gox .., mine acc was funded within 24hrs.... There seems to be issues with withdrawing funds from mt.gox and minimum 6weeks waiting for funds ..... I would be wary of using mt.gox and would advise to use other exchanges!! btce seems to be quicker but have not tried to withdraw yet!!!!!