Onward
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2009
- Messages
- 1,934
I wanted to post an update to my earlier post on my attempts at bitcoin, and I thought I'd start a new thread and maybe attract some other people's experiences.
Update:
After 2.5 weeks and a crazy circus of hoops and obstacles, I am now the proud owner of 0.003866 bitcoins, purchased from the Coinbase exchange.
Current value is $44.17.
After hours and hours trying half a dozen different exchanges that never worked, I finally got through Coinbase's ID-verification hell, and bought $50 worth of coins via my credit card. Coinbase took a $2.19 fee. So I really got $47.81 worth of bitcoin.
I then transferred all my booty to my private wallet (which I'd set up beforehand), since online wallets aren't safe. Coinbase charged me (or rather, forced me to pay a miner) $5.00. So I ended up with $42.81 of bitcoin in my wallet.
It's already grown to $44.17.
As an educational exercise I've been trying to buy a small fraction of a bitcoin for the past four days.
It's bizarre, and almost comical, how difficult it is to get a few overpriced bits assigned to me.
I've tried two exchanges (Coinbase and Coinmama) and some other thing that's not exactly an exchange (SIMPLEX). I still have nothing to show for it.
Some highlights along the way:
Coinbase decided I was not in a trusted country, and blocked all purchases until I could prove I lived in the U.S.
SIMPLEX cancelled my order at the last minute because, they said, the price of bitcoin had changed too much in the time it took them to verify my identity.
Coinmama made me submit a photo of myself holding my driver's license alongside a piece of paper with certain things written on it.
And still ... no bitcoin.
It's amazing to me that anybody has ever gotten through this process.
Update:
After 2.5 weeks and a crazy circus of hoops and obstacles, I am now the proud owner of 0.003866 bitcoins, purchased from the Coinbase exchange.
Current value is $44.17.
After hours and hours trying half a dozen different exchanges that never worked, I finally got through Coinbase's ID-verification hell, and bought $50 worth of coins via my credit card. Coinbase took a $2.19 fee. So I really got $47.81 worth of bitcoin.
I then transferred all my booty to my private wallet (which I'd set up beforehand), since online wallets aren't safe. Coinbase charged me (or rather, forced me to pay a miner) $5.00. So I ended up with $42.81 of bitcoin in my wallet.
It's already grown to $44.17.