Bitcoin Forum

Last week I bought 0.26 BTC off Coinbase on Thursday and they said they wouldn't get it to me until the following Thursday. I was just wondering why is Coinbase so slow about purchasing when Mt. Gox did it instantly. And does anyone know any good reliable alternatives to Coinbase? I'm trying to get BTC to by alternate currencies namely Curecoin but the price is fluctuating all over the price and I can't get my BTC for another 4 days.

once you're a verified account, it'll be much smoother. i don't know how mtgox worked, but since bitcoin is nonreversible and ACH bank payments are, they want to make sure you don't run off with their money.

Mt. Gox was an exchange. When you have money on their site, it's already there. Coinbase is not an exchange; they have to wait until your money gets there (which is 3-4 business days on average) before they can make the purchase. Therefore you also wait.

Coinbase abides to regulations. Get verified and it'll be a much quicker process.

I have a verified account but I couldn't attach a card because they only wanted credit cards and I only have a debit.

Ok, thanks for this.

NP! Also, when you are eligible for the "instant" purchases on Coinbase, it's worth noting that they still don't have your money for 3-4 days. They are essentially trusting you with the coins before they even get anything from you.

Coinbase is presently working on bringing that time down further
Not an exchange but key to adoption in US nonetheless

I attached a debit card fine the only problem for me is when I try to verify my identity its say "identity cannot be confirmed" I've contacted coinbase multiple time about it and they say they literally can't do anything about it so basically I can never be verified:/ If your not verified It is very slow. I bout some monday and it didn't arrive till friday. Just waiting for a legit alternate service that I can buy coins instantly with.

Banks don't work on Weekends and Holidays.  Apparently they even turn off their computers because electronic ACH transfers also take those days off.  As a result, 3-4 business days is essentially a full week.

Order submitted Thursday -> Friday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday -> 4 business days later.

I'd like to see this become a reality. As it is, they are still having issues with "high risk" transactions being flagged. They still have a ways to go, but I think if they can work around the problems, they can be our prominent exchange (in the US).

coinbase is probably busy answering stupid questions and get verified to bitstamp  :P

Just buy bitcoin earlier than you want to spend them. Keep a few in your wallet. That way you won't be in a rush for Coinbase to send you some more. At least they lock in the price that you buy for at the moment you buy.

Just for info.

Even after being fully verified you can only buy up to $1000 in BTC instantly. Anything more than that and you have to wait the four business days (which means a week or more).

Just try a different exchancge. Btc is fast for me and no verification.

how coinbase works and how an exchange like bitstamp work with a us bank account 

coin base buying bitcoin
day 1 start the trade with them and lock in the price with a 1% fee and .15cent bank fee(so long as they have btc they run out just wait a few hours and they will have more)
day 2 thought 3 payment from your bank account to theres as long as you have the funds in there
day 4 you get your btc in your coin base account

once your verified with credit card on file you can buy up to 1000 dollars of btc instantly per day

buying bitcoin with bitstamp

day 1 start a wire transfer 15.00 fee(estimated all banks are different)
day 2-5 wait for wire transfer to clear into your account (can be longer or shorter)
day 6 buy btc at market price

This is why Circle is going to be tons better and cost Coinbase a lot of business...

They are painfully slow to pay when you sell bitcoins to them!  They promised me Tuesday August 26th, but now because of a glitch they say September 5th. 

I would love to know why coinbase imposes the 4 or 5 day wait period to buy/sell to/from bank account when everywhere else gets it done sooner. Hell, even paypal makes a transfer in less time.

They follow the law. Slows things down but at least you know your stored funds wont just get seized by the fed.