Bitcoin Forum

 Every site seems to have 5-10 nightmare stories accompanying it.

Which do you think is the safest, best site to use as an American?

I think I like BTC-E and Cryptsy (for all the currency it deals in) but I'm afraid to trust them.

Thanks!

If you are just looking to purchase Bitcoin, I'd probably go with Coinbase.  They are based out of SF and are very transparent about their operations.
They do charge a fee for transactions, but if security is what you want, I'd probably go with them.

Otherwise mtgox and btc-e seem like relatively reputable sites.

I'm looking to exchange altcoin into BTC.

You realize that once you get your fiat into mtgox it's incredibly difficult to get it out, right? Basically you can buy bitcoin on mtgox easily, but selling is a pain in the ass.

That's what I thought... and why I didn't mention it as one I was taking a look at.

Is there no site that isn't a pain in the ass?

BTC-E is trustworthy enough, its up and running since 2011, and has good volume (was like 100+ millions $ on LTC/USD pair at peak). There are users, which can instantly put 50-80k LTC walls,
guess how much money they have on accounts there :) I've personally hold like ~500 LTC for a month on account there, and its all ok.

I've been using Cryptsy for ages now and have never had an issue that has not been quickly resolved  :)

Great, thanks for the input.

What about withdrawing money from BTC-e? It seems like it's impossible to even deposit USD from America. Will I ever be able to withdraw it?

Cryptsy for sure!  :D

Cryptsy is good. It's buggy, but their team is reliable.

What country are you in? Bittylicious is incredibly swift but I think it's UK banks only.

I have been using btc-e and cryptsy for a long time now.
I have had no problems whatsoever.
Btc is a bit shady in that the team remains fairly annonymous. de site works great though. even when it is crowded.
With cryptsy you have a somewhat lagging site, but you know who owns it.

Bittylicious seem easy to buy bitcoins, but selling them again seems much harder. I can't see any instructions for selling them again, short of becoming a formal "seller"?

I'm in the USA...


And thanks all for the feedback!

I've had endless problems with Cryptsy. They are well documented on this forum. Just type "Cryptsy" and "scam" in Google and you'll have plenty of reading.

Sites I've dealt on with satisfaction: btc-e, mtgox, coinedup, coins-e, coinex.

You were satisfied with MtGox? Havent heard that before.

BTC-e is good, avoid mtgox cause of withdrawal issues..

I'm use btc-e

Hello,

In next days, weeks new exchange will be launched. Crycurex.com

We try to avoid problems which have other exchanges like cryptsy, btc-e.

;)

I've always used Bitstamp.net, never had a problem.

Be cautious if you are going to start out by doing a wire-transfer deposit into an exchange.
I wired $600 USD into BTC-E in June 2013 and $200 USD into Mt Gox in Dec 2013 and neither have confirmed the transfers, despite my bank doing traces and confirming they worked.
Depositing bitcoins into each has worked however and i've traded on them since without trouble.

An easy but expensive (compared to normal exchanges) is to buy bitcoins using paypal with virwox.
First you have to buy SLL (an online game currency) w/ fiat currency & then buy bitcoins w/ the SLL.
There are heavy fee's attached but it's a safe and easy way to start.

You can't trust anyone on this site.   TradeFortress was in the default trust here, and he managed to screw a shit ton of folks over.  Funny thing is, they still didn't remove him from the default trust.    Always use a very established escrow.  Do big deals in person.

This place is, as they say in IRC channels, a cesspool and will certainly become irrelevant as bitcoin becomes more mainstream and established.  Perhaps that's why theymos gave it the big fuck you and decided to keep the donations. :)

Bitstamp is best for btc/usd trading, but if you would like to trade other alt-coins with usd ... there is lack of exchanges ... thats why my exchange will offer trading alt-coins with usd, but lots of "paper work" has to be done when I want to add Usd trading option.

Well, I have since traded on coinmarket and have received money in my bank account from selling bitcoin - so I definitely recommend them!

https://coinbase.com/?r=52ccda4f9a0f329570000058&utm_campaign=user-referral&src=referral-link

There is a referral... you get a free 5 dollars in bitcoins when you make any sale over a hundred dollars if you use it. I accidentally used someone's referral link and was surprised by the 5 dollar bonus after my first over $100 sale. :)

You may try localbitcoins, and find a cash trade near you.
Of course, you should meet the trader in a public area instead of an empty alley lol.