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Patlal
You ask too many questions



Registered: 10/09/10
Posts: 44,797
Loc: Ottawa
Last seen: 4 hours, 11 minutes
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We will soon have bitcoin ATMs.
#18814288 - 09/08/13 08:21 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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TORONTO -- The first time Ryan Johnson bought Bitcoins -- an emerging digital currency that isn't controlled by any authority such as a central bank -- was with a pocket full of cash from a stranger he had met online.
"It was almost like a sketchy drug deal," recalls the 31-year-old Vancouver resident.
Since that first transaction in January, Johnson has been exchanging his Canadian cash for digital currency at Bitcoiniacs, a physical store in Vancouver that acts like a Bitcoin broker.
"It's just much more comfortable to go sit down in an office at a brick-and-mortar building with a professional that knows a lot about Bitcoins, do a professional transaction and get a receipt for it," says Johnson. "It's reassuring."
Soon, Johnson and other Canadian Bitcoin enthusiasts will be able to exchange Canadian cash for the digital currency through a kiosk that's similar to an ATM.
Bitcoiniacs says it has ordered five Bitcoin kiosks from a Las Vegas-based company called RoboCoin and intends to roll them out across Canada in the coming months, with the first machine expected to land in Vancouver in early October.
Four more kiosks will arrive in December and although their locations are not yet certain, Bitcoiniacs says it's eyeing major Canadian cities such as Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Ottawa.
"Basically, it just make it easier for people to buy and sell Bitcoins and hopefully will drive the adoption of Bitcoin, and make it more accessible for people," says Mitchell Demeter, the 27-year-old owner of Bitcoiniacs.
Bitcoins are mathematically generated through a series of commands executed by computers in a peer-to-peer network. The process is called Bitcoin "mining" and is set up so that the total number of Bitcoins that can ever be generated is limited to about 21 million.
While some have doubted Bitcoin's validity and others have raised concerns that the unregulated currency is being used for nefarious means, a U.S. judge ruled last month that Bitcoin, which has been around since 2009, is a real currency.
Currently, acquiring Bitcoins is often done through an exchange, an arduous process that requires users to jump through several hoops, including linking their bank account to the exchange and sending in paperwork to verify their identity.
When Toronto resident Robert Burko signed up with a Canadian Bitcoin exchange in April, he says it took more than 10 days -- "an eternity" -- for his account to get verified.
By then the price of Bitcoin had ballooned to around US$260, before falling back down to closer to $100, and Burko had missed his chance to cash out. "I didn't really want a long-term investment opportunity in Bitcoins, I wanted a short-term one," Burko says. "And because they took so long to verify my account I missed out on that entire window, which was very frustrating."
The alternative to using an exchange is to find someone who wants to sell their Bitcoins in an online forum, meet up with them in person, hand them some cash and scan each others' smartphones to transfer the Bitcoins to your digital wallet -- which is managed through an app.
The RoboCoin kiosks are expected to make the process of buying and selling Bitcoins much easier says Jordan Kelley, the company's chief executive. "Our goal is to make Bitcoin truly grandma-friendly," says Kelley.
Using a kiosk means you don't have to wait to verify your account on an exchange or hand cash to a stranger, says Kelley. It also makes Bitcoins more accessible to people by adding an element of legitimacy and increases liquidity in the market.
"We're trying to provide customers an in-person access," says Kelley. "Doing that really provides visibility to Bitcoins and adds a lot of trust." The kiosks allow users to select how much money they would like to spend, insert cash into the machine and then scan a QR code on their phone to transfer the Bitcoins to their wallet. It also allows users to redeem their Bitcoins for cash.
Kelley says since announcing the machine, they have been swamped with pre-order inquiries, from everywhere from Australia to Kenya.
According to sourceforge.net, the largest number of downloads of Bitcoin software last month were in the U.S., followed by China, Germany, Russia and the U.K. Canada came in sixth place.
RoboCoin plans to ship out 10 to 15 kiosks to customers before the end of the year. The first one will go to Bitcoiniacs, says Kelley.
Demeter says many Bitcoin startups are gravitating to Canada because the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada -- also known as FINTRAC -- aren't as strict as regulators in the U.S.
"It's a lot more open up here, that's for sure," says Demeter.
Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/atms-that-swap-cash-for-bitcoins-coming-to-canada-this-fall-1.1445199#ixzz2eJLRfwC6
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A Day InThe Life
Jack of All


Registered: 03/06/09
Posts: 1,175
Loc: Canada
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Re: We will soon have bitcoin ATMs. [Re: Patlal]
#18814326 - 09/08/13 08:47 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Wootwoot go Canada! Gonna have to keep on the lookout for one of these when it hits Toronto.
I wonder if the exchange rates gonna be stupidly expensive though.
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Uzziel
O_o


Registered: 12/30/10
Posts: 11,689
Last seen: 4 years, 1 month
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I'm sorry but isn't the whole point of bitcoins to be anonymous? It kind of defeats the purpose if you just walk into a store and say hey, I need some bitcoins..
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A Day InThe Life
Jack of All


Registered: 03/06/09
Posts: 1,175
Loc: Canada
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Re: We will soon have bitcoin ATMs. [Re: Uzziel]
#18814345 - 09/08/13 08:59 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Can't you just exchange them with cash?
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shivas.wisdom
בּ



Registered: 02/19/09
Posts: 13,432
Loc: Turtle Island
Last seen: 3 minutes, 9 seconds
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Re: We will soon have bitcoin ATMs. [Re: Uzziel]
#18814410 - 09/08/13 09:22 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Uzziel said: I'm sorry but isn't the whole point of bitcoins to be anonymous? It kind of defeats the purpose if you just walk into a store and say hey, I need some bitcoins..
that's if you wish to use them to purchase illegal items
some people could simply be wishing to get in on a decentralized currency--anonymity would not be as integral then
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pwnasaurus
Stranger



Registered: 07/16/08
Posts: 12,317
Loc: Canada
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Re: We will soon have bitcoin ATMs. [Re: Uzziel]
#18815181 - 09/08/13 01:07 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Uzziel said: I'm sorry but isn't the whole point of bitcoins to be anonymous? It kind of defeats the purpose if you just walk into a store and say hey, I need some bitcoins..
No. The "whole point" is completely dependant on what you plan to do with the BTCs. Not everything revolving around BTCs is illegal, that is only a fraction of the market.
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Legend
RIP Sasha



Registered: 03/29/10
Posts: 28,336
Loc: TX
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Re: We will soon have bitcoin ATMs. [Re: pwnasaurus]
#18815188 - 09/08/13 01:09 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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aren't bitcoin's supposedly the future of currency?
man when shit hits the fan, i think people will regret online currency.
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No sympathy for the devil, keep that in mind. [url=]Buy the ticket, take the ride. [/url]Are you lost?
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pwnasaurus
Stranger



Registered: 07/16/08
Posts: 12,317
Loc: Canada
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Re: We will soon have bitcoin ATMs. [Re: Legend]
#18815235 - 09/08/13 01:19 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Could you elaborate? BTC also isn't an "online" currency - it's an electronic crypto-currency.
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Legend
RIP Sasha



Registered: 03/29/10
Posts: 28,336
Loc: TX
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Re: We will soon have bitcoin ATMs. [Re: pwnasaurus]
#18815252 - 09/08/13 01:24 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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i mean im not the most knowledgeable on bitcoins, so correct me if im wrong, but it is all electronic right? well i figure when shit hits the fan, when the system goes out, through warfare, or solar flares, the grid is not going to last forever. i mean i guess when that happens no currency will be worth much. so that makes my opinion obsolete, but interesting none the less.
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No sympathy for the devil, keep that in mind. [url=]Buy the ticket, take the ride. [/url]Are you lost?
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r00tuuu123
Now I'm just really piseed



Registered: 04/20/12
Posts: 8,507
Loc: I'll be there in a minute
Last seen: 7 years, 10 months
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Re: We will soon have bitcoin ATMs. [Re: pwnasaurus]
#18815271 - 09/08/13 01:29 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Erm has it not occurred to any of you that electronic transactions can almost always be traced. For a forum filled with drug users let alone and I dare say it dealers/growers, this should be the last thing you want. Use your heads people.
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Please report me to a Mod for hurting your punk ass hippie feelings And all time Champion thread killer.
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Uzziel
O_o


Registered: 12/30/10
Posts: 11,689
Last seen: 4 years, 1 month
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Re: We will soon have bitcoin ATMs. [Re: pwnasaurus]
#18815331 - 09/08/13 01:50 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
pwnasaurus said:
Quote:
Uzziel said: I'm sorry but isn't the whole point of bitcoins to be anonymous? It kind of defeats the purpose if you just walk into a store and say hey, I need some bitcoins..
No. The "whole point" is completely dependant on what you plan to do with the BTCs. Not everything revolving around BTCs is illegal, that is only a fraction of the market.
I don't use bitcoins so I don't know.
Quote:
pwnasaurus said: Could you elaborate? BTC also isn't an "online" currency - it's an electronic crypto-currency.
How is it not an online currency? There is nothing really backing it from my understanding - but again, I lack understanding, so my knowledge is obviously limited. Enlighten me a bit?
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bryguy27007
Cosmonaut



Registered: 01/26/08
Posts: 10,525
Loc:
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Re: We will soon have bitcoin ATMs. [Re: Uzziel]
#18815358 - 09/08/13 01:58 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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I think he may be referring to the fact that you can store your Bitcoins offline. So although mug of bitcoin trading is done online it doesn't have to be.
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pwnasaurus
Stranger



Registered: 07/16/08
Posts: 12,317
Loc: Canada
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Re: We will soon have bitcoin ATMs. [Re: bryguy27007]
#18815369 - 09/08/13 02:01 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Now that I think about it, I suppose it does rely on having a network connection to verify transactions. But at this point ALL money needs the internet to exist. If the internet goes down, or power goes out across the world, there will be absolutely no value in ANY currency.
Quote:
bryguy27007 said: I think he may be referring to the fact that you can store your Bitcoins offline. So although mug of bitcoin trading is done online it doesn't have to be.
Also this.
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