Bitcoin Forum

What is the appeal of services like localbitcoins in the US? Is privacy that important to people? Personally, I don't have a good reason to use these services but I am curious to hear from people that do

You're on a Bitcoin forum.


Yes, privacy is important. In the age of NSA hanging out in replicas of Picard's starship Enterprise bridge, sitting in the captain's chair probably reading our Gmail (http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/9157295/NSA-war-room-modelled-after-Star-Trek), I think it is relevant and volume will continue to increase within private transactions.

A "good reason to use these services" would simply be that you want to acquire BTC. There is nothing illegitimate about acquiring BTC in a private manner. Have you ever been to a garage sale or purchased something from a friend? Or is it simply that you must only use official channels to acquire or do a thing?

Thanks for the response BitCoiner2012. I understand the value of privacy and that buying/selling locally is totally legal, it just seems like an inconvenient and potentially sketchy thing to do for all of one's exchanges compared to buying/selling through a major exchange. Aren't you still required to pay taxes on any profits? How private is that?

You are "required" to pay taxes on garage sales you hold (and in many areas, require permitting now..) in the States. Any income you get, no matter what the source barring special exceptions or specific instances, is the King's money to tax, one might say. Take from that what you will in regard to the answer of your question, I don't endorse any specific behavior. How private is anything one may or may not keep to themselves?

It is about as inconvenient as going to the store for milk, as far as I am concerned. I find nothing sketchy about meeting to purchase or sell Bitcoin, just as I find nothing sketchy about meeting to purchase used items I find on Craigslist. As it turns out, meeting in person to perform a transaction is actually quite common and not sketchy in the least, though the chilling effect of police and security states would love for you to believe otherwise, after all, Napolitano says "see something, say something"!

I'm not ultra thrilled about sending all sorts of legal information to any exchange. What reason do I have to trust MtGox with my license among else? Not much.

I sell a lot of bitcoins on LocalBitcoins. Most of my buyers are first-time buyers or BitInstant refugees. LocalBitcoins is the best method if you don't intend to buy regularly, or if you just don't know where to start.

My repeat buyers generally come back for many different reasons: it is convenient, they don't have a bank account, they don't trust the exchanges, they don't trust the banks, they don't trust the government, anonymity, etc.

Maybe you don't trust online transactions, or just don't have credit and want to use cash...

I use local exchanges because I'm not stupid enough to bother with MtGox. I trust people I meet face to face more than a faceless website.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=295723.0;topicseen

Send my money to some unregulated, uninsured, unaudited website and hope that they'll remain honest, trustworthy, and unhacked?

Or meet up with someone local who I can identify and can verify the transaction as it happens, allowing me to maintain control over my cash until I have the bitcoins?

Sorry, I don't see the benefit of using a "major exchange", it seems inconvenient and sketchy to me.

Depending on the exchange that you think people should be using, there are often significant fees (wire transfer, and transaction fees).
Depending on the exchange that you think people should be using, there are often limits on how much can be transferred in or out of the website in a given timeframe.
Depending on the exchange that you think people should be using, there are often significant issues with the level of customer service they provide.
Depending on the exchange that you think people should be using, there may be a requirement that the user have a bank account (many people don't have one).

Using a service such as craigslist or localbitcoins to advertise and then meeting up in person to exchange seems MUCH safer, faster, cheaper, and more reliable to me.

Informative replies, everyone! I think I will give this a try sometime

You should also be concerned by the Bank Secrecy Act. Especially with payment processors (like Dwolla), it's very likely you'll have suspicious activity reports filed against you for significant transactions ($2.5k+ for processors, $5k+ for banks/CUs) every freakin' time you make that kind of transaction. Banks/CUs are gagged from sharing any of that info with you, too. If you ask, they'll probably take it as an indication to file SARs on you more often than required. I don't care about the privacy aspect so much except that I don't want a bunch of government attention on me for having multiple SARs on me each month which may trigger a heightened volume of other kinds of surveillance. I'd prefer being the first person to read mail addressed to me, for instance.  :)

Yup, privacy is important

I was dismayed at how difficult it is to get your hands on buttons in the US...  Surprisingly local buttons may be the most practical option for many.