Bitcoin Forum

Im sure this will have came up somewhere  before but cant seem to find what im looking for. Was just wondering what other options are out there to buy bitcoins within the UK seeing that intersango is closed down,

all help will be much appreciated

cheers

I've used Bitcoin Nordic (https://bitcoinnordic.com) a few times before without any problems.

Thanks ill try and give that ago,

 I was just thinking in general but it could be worth having a few all noted down in case similar problems arise elsewhere, again though if this has already been done  can someone just show me a link or something,

Cheers

Bitcoin-Central.net : open-source, launched in 2010, deals in EUR

Ive used Mt Gox with no issues!

I'm a UK bitcoin user suffering from this aswell and have been looking for the simplest and cheapest solution.

https://blockchain.info/wallet/deposit-pingit seems to be pretty simple if you have a smartphone because you can basically just send money direct from your Barclays bank account.. only via a different method. It probably won't turn out to be the cheapest but unless anyone can show me a better easier solution I think i'll be trying this soon.

I hope when I get some money it works. I still have some money in limbo between Barclays and Mt.Gox, what is going to happen to that? Should I contact my bank or what?


"If you have registered for Barclays Pingit with a Barclays current account, we will link your account with your mobile so that you can make payments from your Barclays current account using your mobile"
It seems like you just link your barclays account and then use some phone app to send the money to blockchain, I don't see why that's any different than sending it straight from the barclays website? Will it work?

The title is misleading, I believe.  Intersango is not closed down and as far as I know has no plans to do so.

Now it is true they currently have no UK bank (since end of August) and haven't announced any date that they expect to have one again, so for UK users trading GBPs they might as well be closed, but for those trading USD, EUR and PLN users, trading is still open.

Now as far as options,

Blockchain.info just added the ability to use Barclay's Pingit to buy bitcoins using GBP:

 - https://blockchain.info/wallet/deposit-pingit


And now there is another way, using BitInstant.  Choose the Online Bank Transfer method.

 - http://www.BitInstant.com


You can also send cash (GBP) in the mail to Bitcoin Nordic (in Denmark):

 - http://www.BitcoinNordic.com


And, or course, there may be a chance for a local trade:

 - http://www.LocalBitcoins.com

How long will this pingit thing last now that they just shut down the other method? I'm in an awkward situation where I am living with parents who have different second names and then i'm going to live on uni campus and so I can't get hold of any documents that will let me "verify" my current residence so I can't even do bank transfers, direct deposit was all I had.

I highly recommend Bitstamp.net , great customer service.

And, or course, there may be a chance for a local trade:

 - http://www.LocalBitcoins.com

Where did you see that Intersango is being closed?

I found Mercatbit very good! Excellent guy to deal with :)

I asked the same thing.  

The title is misleading.  Intersango doesn't have a UK bank so there's not much GBP trading right now, but it still services USD, EUR and PLN markets.

Hmm, can't keep a bank account open in the jurisdiction where their office is located . . .

Do any of the exchanges insure deposits?

Please edit the title. It scared me to death

nope

How would you believe them if they said they did?

It obviously didn't, since you'd have to be alive to post that.

Mt.Gox is a good alternative to Intersango.

Do you mean you do not have any business insurance in case you get hacked?

I am very satisfied with bitcoin-central.net so far, but if you don't have insurance, could you describe the security measures taken to protect your customers EUR and BTC funds?

No, I was referring to legal fiat deposit insurance that comes when you deposit funds in a regulated financial institution. As of today, no Bitcoin exchange has insured fiat deposits since no Bitcoin exchange is regulated as a financial insitution nor does any exchange partner with a financial instition for fiat storage.

Currently, all Bitcoin exchanges work the same way, your fiat deposits are pooled on one or several bank accounts with no clear funds segregation. To have insured fiat deposits would mean that every single customer has a nominative account with a regulated financial institution (not necessarily a bank though) that could either be the exchange itself, or a business partner.

There are both organizational and technical steps taken to protect customer funds :
 - The people who have full access to the bank account are clearly identified, they have different credentials to access our bank's interface, I personnally have read-only access,
 - The software has read-only access to the bank account,
 - The vast majority of our BTC deposits are in cold-storage, with the private keys securely stored in an actual bank safe meaning it's easy to send funds there, but hard to get them out, especially at gunpoint,
 - We keep very little funds on our servers, they are operating since late 2010 and to date have never been compromised,
 - We're very serious about preventing fraud and monitoring activity to avoid having bank accounts frozen or other bank-related issues

Security is *always* implemented in a combination of organizational and technical measures :
 - If you have reasonable technical measures but weak organizational procedures you end up with the Bitcoinica fiasco (employee steals the money), or the MtGox incident from June 2011 (an auditor's computer was compromised, had access to data he shouldn't have)
 - If you have weak technical measures you end up like Bitfloor (unencrypted backup gets compromised),
 - If you don't have very good relations with your bank you end up like Intersango/MtGox with accounts frozen

That's how we run things

What funding options do you accept from UK people? (With only a Barclays bank account and no way to verify residence according to all the documents that are acceptable for such a task on Mt.Gox (university))

I would pay more to put my dollars into an insured account. I don't really like or trust the FDIC though so would prefer a privately created insurance. But FDIC (or whatever national equivalent, if the exchange is overseas) insurance for my dollar balance would be better than nothing.

I would pay more if my bitcoin deposits were insured against hack/theft, too.

It doesn't have to be insurance, a surety bond deposited with some mainstream institution that I trust would be sufficient. ANYTHING, so I had some idea that I would get at least some of my money back if the exchange got hacked in the time between depositing cash or bitcoins and withdrawing bitcoins or cash.

Bank wire, about to accept Ukash, unlike some other exchanges, if we're unable to verify your account (if applicable) we send the funds back to the bank account they came from (ie. we don't steal indefinitely freeze them)

That makes sense and is a legitimate concern, if you're going to jump through the KYC loops, you might as well want to have your deposits insured along the way :)

Thanks, that clears things up! You should publicize this somewhere (on a FAQ?), this is a good point for bitcoin central!

I can't be bothered with ukash, is bank wire just sending money straight from my bank online like I did with Mt.Gox until they shut that down on the 25th?

Yes, except for the shutting down part.

Is the problem, whatever it is, not on Barclays end? That's what Mt.Gox is saying, how come it will work with your site and not anothers, amount of traffic or something?

Sorry about the title on reflection it should have been more specific to those in the UK, I changed the title there hope at makes it more clear.

Apologies for any panic caused hahah

Think il go down the bitcoin-central route myself once I get cash again over spent like fuck this week