
Instant Bitcoin Purchases at Coinbase - FredEE
http://blog.coinbase.com/post/55203204550/instant-bitcoin-purchases-at-coinbase
======
downandout
Someone credible is finally trying to compensate for the abysmal failure that
is Bitinstant (see [http://bitinstantscam.com](http://bitinstantscam.com) and
basically any Bitcoin forum). That is fantastic.

However, let's not get carried away. This is not instant for first-time users.
You still have to go through verification and wait at least 4 business days
for your first purchase to go through before reaching the qualifications for
instant purchases. Coinbase really needs to adopt convenient, instant deposit
methods such as Western Union and Moneygram in order to reach critical mass.

~~~
avree
Bitinstant isn't any more a scam than Mt. Gox is.

They're just both services that are run by folks who weren't expecting to hit
the scale they are now, have no experience building financial systems, and are
waaaay in over their heads.

~~~
downandout
Bitinstant recently laid off all of their support staff and has gone quiet for
nearly two weeks on support related matters. Their CEO, Charlie Shrem, used to
constantly tweet several times per day. He hasn't tweeted in 9 days now and
seems to have vanished
([https://twitter.com/charlieshrem](https://twitter.com/charlieshrem)). Over
the holiday weekend, their $8/mo SquareSpace account used for hosting their
blog was suspended for billing issues (though they have since scraped up the
$8).

Bitinstant is taking money from new orders and allocating it to old orders
(aka Ponzi Scheme). I suppose that means that as long as new orders continue
to arrive, customers will be made whole and eventually they could earn enough
in fees to cover up whatever they did that caused the mess they are in. That's
if someone doesn't complain to the FBI first and get them shut down.

[https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=128314.8180](https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=128314.8180)
(that is one of the most recent pages of a thread containing ~411 pages of
complaints). The last few pages are especially disturbing.

~~~
dobbsbob
Their bitcoin service to top up phones disappeared pretty quickly too and
never came back, also their debit card service never happened. They used
'VouchX' which was run by a shady guy who disappeared after LR went pop so
maybe that's why they can't afford staff.

------
geuis
I have an issue with Coinbase. I have an account that I opened a few months
ago but didn't use. I'm trying to sign into it now, and it brings me to a
screen asking for a code from "Authy" (whatever that is) or Google
Authenticator.

Ok, so I grab GA again. GA wants me to setup an account using a key provided
by Coinbase. Coinbase has never provided such a key to me, as I have never
setup GA to work with them before.

Fine, click "Code not working" and they'll text the code to you. Why they
don't do this to begin with, I have no idea. Anyway, its now been 15 minutes
and no text has come through.

Exactly what is a user supposed to do when their entire login system is broken
and offers no information on what to do?

Please, please, PLEASE test your systems BEFORE you go public and make big
announcements.

~~~
barmstrong
Sorry to hear that happened.

Please send us a note on
[http://support.coinbase.com/](http://support.coinbase.com/)

SMS is unfortunately unreliable in some instances. You should be able to
receive a call with the verification code also as a backup.

------
lwhalen
To be honest, it's kind of creepy. I just identified myself, and they somehow
knew what month and year I purchased my car, a list of names I may or may not
have been 'associated' with, a list of counties I may or may not have lived
in, and stuff like that. I'm not particularly comfortable with a company
knowing that much about me, but it's already complete so... horse, meet barn
door?

I wish they would at least tell me what sources they're getting this
information from.

~~~
downandout
That's actually pretty simple. Equifax is the biggest provider of these types
Q&A's. I'm not even sure that the company itself is exposed to the actual
answers - I believe the credit bureau just responds with a pass/fail.
Admittedly, it would be less creepy and more welcoming if they sent you to the
Equifax website to do the verification. That way you would know that no one
else actually has or will receive your personal info.

~~~
lwhalen
They did have a blurb that said this was all "public information", but if I
pop my name and car into $search_engine (for example) nothing relevant comes
up.

~~~
mathrawka
Search engines haven't indexed everything yet. There are lots of public
records that aren't indexed by google, unless they make the news or get the
attention of some blogger. This includes civil judgements, tax liens and
bankruptcy to name a few.

------
ferdo
Different strokes for different folks, but I'll never understand why someone
would want to buy bitcoins with their personal info attached to the coins. It
seems to defeat the purpose of a pseudonymous, decentralized currency.

~~~
pdeuchler
What, did you expect bitcoin to suddenly create an anonymous economy out of
thin air? Unless you can create value, and then charge bitcoin anonymously for
that value you have to convert previous holdings into bitcoin. You can do so
anonymously via cash P2P. But if you would like to convert funds from the
current system, you have to 1) use the current system 2) play by their rules.

This really doesn't even hurt the anonymity of bitcoin anyway, simply buy your
bitcoins, run them through a tumbler, and voila, out comes anonymity.

~~~
ferdo
I've never used Bitinstant, Coinbase or any of the other services that would
attach my info to btc. I've worked to establish trading trust with other
Bitcoin users and have traded physical metals and electronic gear for btc.

It takes a little more effort but all good things do.

------
tocomment
I've wondered about starting a service to sell bitcoins via credit card but
the catch is he service holds your coin for you for 6 months or whatever the
period for chargebacks is.

Is that a viable idea?

~~~
wilfra
Buy BTC from tocomment Inc with credit card. If in 5 1/2 months the price of
Bitcoin is lower, issue a chargeback and take no loss. If the price is higher,
do not issue a chargeback and take the profit.

Sounds like a bad deal for tocomment Inc.

~~~
wmf
This could be "fixed" by holding USD for 6 months and then converting it to
BTC, but it's still fairly pointless.

------
sgornick
How can I see what level my account is at?

What are the limits for Level 1?

~~~
sgornick
Ah: [https://coinbase.com/verifications](https://coinbase.com/verifications)

------
vijayboyapati
I filled out my verification details and it said failed to verify, you have 1
day to wait. Details were correct, so not sure what happened.

~~~
aeosynth
I was told "Insufficient Data for Questions". I guess my public record is not
juicy enough.

------
quackerhacker
Way to go Coinbase!

It's awesome to see some innovation coming to Bitcoin. This model (instant
purchasing) is similar to Paypal's Instant payment, and even accounting for
the risk/reward, I think it's an absolutely great method to help push Bitcoin
adoption and position Coinbase for a goto for merchants and more importantly
customers.

------
cdvonstinkpot
Instant my ass. It took 2 weeks for the ACH transaction waiting period, then
they said they couldn't do it anyway because they were being my conscience for
me & decided I was being to risky. Said to try again in 2 weeks. Not to
mention the initial account setup time I've waited.

Needless to say I'm looking for a new btc vendor.

------
ww520
If I give you cash, can I buy bitcoin without the hassle of fully verified
identification?

~~~
Brian-Puccio
Yes.

[https://localbitcoins.com/](https://localbitcoins.com/)

------
FlailFast
Love it! You guys keep getting awesome-er. If I may make one humble
request...would love to see a lower transaction limit (<0.01BTC) in the API.
My personal project (and I) would be forever grateful.

------
atom-morgan
This is huge for Bitcoin. Keep up the good work guys!

------
magoon
Think about it -- this is news because Bitcoin is a less approachable currency
than....stamps, or baseball cards.

~~~
oscilloscope
Those are simple because they are physical artifacts, but let us consider the
process of using those for trade.

A thirteen year old wants to send $4 to his friend. He wants to put money in a
pool to buy a 4-pack of Terraria on a Steam sale for $10. He will receive one
of the copies for his $4. His friend lives in another state.

He buys an envelope for 20 cents. He buys a stamp for 46 cents. He tries to
look up his friend address on Facebook. It's not there. He sends his friend a
text message, asking his address.

He addresses the envelope with his friend's address and his own return
address. He licks and places the stamp in the top-right corner. He folds the
dollar bills in a piece of scrap paper from the printer. He seals the envelope
and drops it in a mailbox.

Several days later, his friend receives the $4. The friend deposits this with
his own $6 to get a Visa prepaid debit card. Friend uses the prepaid card to
buy Terraria on Steam, a gaming service which requires an account and email
address.

Now, consider a transaction of $50 for a baseball card. Sending cash in the
mail requires two stamps and two envelopes.

Who sends the letter first? What happens if one letter doesn't arrive?

Even stamps and baseball cards can present challenges for real-world
transactions where physical co-presence between two parties is not possible.

~~~
magoon
Agreed.

Now consider Bitcoin:

Somebody wants to pay somebody else for something using Bitcoin, but can't
because You Can't Buy Bitcoins.

------
Splendor
Tried to sign up twice. Didn't receive the required email either time. :(

~~~
barmstrong
We're a little backed up on sign up emails at the moment! Should be arriving
shortly (scaling up workers). Apologies for the delay.

------
wowfat
Still cant purchase bitcoin in the UK

------
vessenes
Love it! Nice work guys.

------
eeky
Lol, I bought bitcoin with coinbase when this HN article was first posted 3
hours ago, and the price has gone up almost 5% since then. Is bitcoin magic or
something?

~~~
tedkalaw
There's a big rally going on. It found support around 68 a week ago and it's
been steadily climbing since.

------
joelrunyon
Isn't the point of bitcoin to stay anonymous? It's nice to be able to purchase
it instantly, but it seems to be going against the purpose of bitcoin.

~~~
wmf
For some people the point of Bitcoin is to get rich via speculation.

~~~
rglullis
While your comment is very much true, there is some apparent snarky feel to it
that seems unnecessary.

In my case at least, there is no speculation element attached to bitcoin. In
fact, its volatility is very detrimental.

I am dividing my life and work projects between the US, Europe and Brazil. I'd
love to be able to just charge people in BTC. I wouldn't lose 6-7% every time
I needed to convert money from USD to BRL, or from BRL to EUR. I can't say how
much easier it would be for me to report taxes...

Widespread adoption of BTC could be a good thing in itself. There are other
groups of people interested in bitcoin besides the "fiat must die", the silk
roads and the speculators.

