Bitcoin Forum

Hi, I want to know the best secure way of buying bitcoins?

Anyone of the larger exchanges are pretty good.

If you're in Vancouver there's even a Bitcoin ATM at a Waves coffee shop here = )

We need more details to offer you a secure way to fit your needs. The best way would probably to meet someone and buy them with cash and get them sent straight to you, but without more info nobody can offer you tailored help.

Buy btc using ripple platform (www.ripple.com). Or there is a new website which insures bitcoins..i think its ellipse website.

If you're in the US, Coinbase is the best option.

Best?  What do you mean by "best"?


Secure?  What do you mean by secure?


Where are you located?

Mt Gox is one of the biggest exchanges. It is probably one of the most secure ways of buying bitcoins because it deals in such large quantities. However, they only deal in thousands of dollars worth. The minimum purchase is probably $1000.

I am not too sure about the smaller exchanges but I know the smallest sometimes get hacked and people lose their bitcoins. Maybe an expert on these forums could offer better advice than me.

Clearly you haven't used gox. Takes ages to get your money in and out of there. Avoid it.

I use bitstamp predominantly.

Very large and reliable exchange and I have never heard of much trouble happening there.

Although they trade a little lower than mt gox, you'll be able to get your fiat money out easily if you choose.  :)

Yup, that's where I buy mine. One of the perks is it's anonymous.

Coinbase is US only but has the best reputation and much quicker transaction times post authorization than MtGox etc.... They have put alot of effort and money into being as legit and accredited/compliant US company as possible. As others said, any of the big exchanges are fine.... I personally would use Coinbase or MtGox

can you withdraw in USD from MTGox now?

You've not actually used gox, have you?

Coinbase is the popular opinion, fairly unanimously. You can only Instant Buy in the US. As terrible as waiting four business days is, they do it to protect themselves from user scamming or having insufficient funds. But this slowness is really due to bank transfers... unless a company can take the risk, they need to pass the waiting period on to the customer. So that's what CoinBase does unless you have a credit card as a backup and don't buy too much.

Mt Gox is troublesome if you're in the US (probably other countries too) simply due to international currency issues. Hell, I still haven't gotten my identity verified after three weeks.

I'd ditch it now. You'll be waiting far longer than that to get your money in and out. Avoid.

I use https://bitcurex.com/ .

Buying in person for cash can be the best way - definitely the quickest!

a good way in the UK is https://bittylicious.com/

I've used Bitcoin Central. Getting registered took over a week, having to continually upload documents to them.
Then transferring money into my account there took 3 days whcih seems overly long.  
They only transfer bitcoins out once a day, I don't know if this is standard practice for once of these sites.  
I'd use them again as they seem secure but avoid them if you are in a hurry.

have used coinbase and the cash into coins link found on blockchain wallet.

both worked great.

coinbase direct deposit from my acct and cash at Bank of America with cash into coins.

 

https://localbitcoins.com/ is also an option

I know that Webmoney offers bitcoin exchange from their currency, so if you have web money you can change it to bit coins.
Has anyone done it and maybe can tell how secure is it ?

I've used also CanadianBitcoin (google for exact address)

If you don't want to do ID verification, go localbitcoins.
If you are in US, go coinbase.
Otherwise, go bitstamp.

Well, if we are talking about buying bitcoin, it is okay to use mtgox, if you don't mind the following:
1. The price is significant higher (Bitstamp: ~800 vs Mtgox: ~940 at this moment)
2. There is a bad delay in btc withdrawal (yes, BTC not fiat)
https://mtgox.zendesk.com/entries/26501000-Statement-Regarding-BTC-Withdrawal-Delays

I have always used mtgox to purchase but I wont use it for anything else.

No offense, just curious.
Why didn't you try to do verification in coinbase or bitstamp and save yourself ~$150 per bitcoin?

An exchange is ok, but if u want fastness too, u can do it in his forum with people with a great reputation.
U can see that in "trust" in the profile.
The exchanges can take weeks to validate ur account...

Coinbase works really great as they link directly to your bank account. One downside is that they recently downgraded everyone's daily limit from 10 bitcoins down to $3000.