Bitcoin Forum

Lately, I've heard alot of worry about Mt. Gox and not being able to withdraw fiat currency, and also hearing about another Chinese or Japanese exchange that went out of business and simply stole everyone's money when they left. So my question to you guys is: How Safe is BTC-e? What about Coinbase? Is Coinbase the safest in terms of USA regulation and knowing that your money will still exist tomorrow if Bitcoin were to some how become  illegalized or it crashes to nothing and everyone's out of business.

Whats the safest exchange and why? Is there any exchanges that are safe to keep large amounts of money in?

Coinbase isn't an exchange per say,  but it is definitely the safest, with the SEC approval and all.

Yeah! I vote for coinbase!  :D  ;D  :D

Awesome Thanks guys, Question though, You can buy/sell on Coinbase correct? What is the difference from Coinbase and your average Bitcoin exchange? (BTC-e/Mt.Gox/Bitstamp) I'm looking for the safest option to day trade Bitcoins just for the fun of it, I trade Forex and am still a nooby at it, but I'd like to grow a crypto wallet that way I have some... Why not? I don't really want to put any trust into these foreign Bitcoin exchanges, because I know when shit hits the fan, the chances of my money getting back to me are slim to none. Though, I have been loving BTC-e's MT4 Platform with 1:3 leverage. I still feel like I'm playing with fire though.

 I was wondering if there is anywhere else that has a Metatrader4 terminal for Bitcoin trading that is safer than BTC-e? (Doesn't HAVE to be a MT4 platform, just a safe Bitcoin trading platform that I can add some indicators to) Can you trade Bitcoins on Coinbase as they rise and fall and follow the graphs of the other exchanges, or do the prices not fluctuate the same? Giants fees? How does Coinbase work? :S I am working on setting up an account and verifying everything now. I've heard of Kraken but I don't think its even used, and not sure where its based out of, Anyone know of anything close to what I'm wanting?

Also, I can't seem to find my wallet on Coinbase, Can I send straight Bitcoins to my Coinbase account and sell them for USD and hold the USD on my Coinbase account? Or do I have to have my bank linked first before I can do anything? Do I have to make a USD/Bitcoin purchase first as well? Lol SO confused, Sorry gentlemen.

Thanks for your answers and time, I appreciate it. Take care and good luck with big profits everyone.

Technically Coinbase is an exchange but in my opinion it's more suited to long-term investments. You can't store USD in your Coinbase account, so whenever you want to buy BTC you can only fund the purchase using your linked bank account. I've never sold BTC on Coinbase but I would assume that the USD is immediately transferred to your bank, since you can't store it on Coinbase. If you're planning to make multiple trades a day then Coinbase is probably not your best option, although they are by far the most reliable (that I've used).

Let me know what you think after you try it out.

Coinbase has probably covered itself pretty well regarding licensing. In that respect, more trustworthy than Bitstamp or BTC-E obviously. However, they are earning themselves a VERY shady reputation for constantly tying up people's dollars (held on order) and then reneging on their reserved bids. I would never, ever buy there.

The safest is always P2P. 3rd parties suck -- and trusting them will eventually bite you when the unexpected happens.

Ah ok, So how do people trade bitcoins securely? I mean I use local bitcoin but the liquidity there isnt great and I can't sell that easily, It'd work for long term investing but on a Day to Day basis I don't think that's plausible, Is my best bet just to stick to Forex? Thanks

Coinbase is the best for Americans.

i am from the u.s. and i see no reason why coinbase is the best. i use bitstamp and btc-e. the fact is, no exchange is safe, and coinbase is certainly not immune to its share of horror stories. never risk too much with a 3rd party in bitcoin. that is unfortunately just the landscape right now.

BTC-e and BitStamp are the best. If you americans can get in there, you definitely should.  :D

Of those 2, I think Bitstamp is the safest, with email confirmation on all withdrawals.

I've used coinbase and campbx in the U.S. for over six months and will continue to use both. They both have their pros and cons. Coinbase is easier but you can buy much cheaper at campbx. Good luck to you.

Did you try localbitcoins.com? If someone is close and trustworthy it should be easy for you...

Coinbase for sure!

Another exchange to consider is bitcoin-brokers. It can be done through a variety of US banks.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=237164.0

http://www.bitcoin-brokers.org/

I haven't used them personally but the setup seemed pretty promising. Has anyone used them before, care to comment?

coinbase.... but what about for non-americans?

i don't like coinbase. i stick to bitstamp. never had any problems with deposits/withdrawals, interface is great, support has been generally helpful the couple times i have had to deal with them over about a year's time. YMMV.

What about for foreign country like in Singapore?

https://www.fybsg.com/

I have never used it, but I'm Singaporean as well and it is the first local bitcoin exchange.

I like BTC-E.
It it good topic for Newbies.
Now I think I can trust coinbase.

Don't see how anyone can recommend Localbitcoins for safety since the buy/sell procedures require direct contact with strangers.

bitcoin-brokers doesn't show any buy/sell quotes. The buy/sell procedures seem unprofessional and risky.

With Firefox, the bitstamp website is does not display the navigation header once you leave the homepage. MSIE 11 worked fine.

My vote is for Crypto-Trade supports both USD and EUR, and a number of different payment processors, including withdrawl to paypal.
current currency pairs on the site:
https://i.imgur.com/BqE7Rhn.png

For some free XPM to get a taste of the site with, you can sign up using this thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=259927.new,  leave a reply in the thread with your username/PM me here and I will send you msg over there with a CT redeemable code. ;)