Bitcoin Forum

I have reworked the idea of BitAvenue, and I am happy to introduce a new project in development dubbed AlphaExchange. Our site, AlphaExchange.org will be a P2P Bitcoin trading forum. I am looking for two moderators or administrators* who would like to create the site with me and split the revenue stream. A knowledge of site administration or moderation is important but not required. Please PM me regarding applications.

*The application process is formal. I will only accept your application if you are serious and will be dedicated to AlphaExchange. A copy of your resume or a rundown of your accolades will be necessary.

Also guys please note that I cut off the hosting for the time being while I migrate to a Linux VPS.


Feature Rich

• Ease of use, No more IRC! -The famous Web of Trust  (http://trust.bitcoin-otc.com/) system will be integrated within the site itself, so you can trade with reputable users and avoid sketchy or unknown ones. The WOT will work in tandem with an on site a reputation system, so you will be able to record successful transaction on AlphaExchange without having to GPG verify, or over IRC.
• Gone are the times of cumbersome PM trading- conduct your trades and transactions over a streamlined chat interface with the integrated forum board messenger.

Safety:

• Reputation System
• Rumor Mill subform for asking questions and leaving feedback for traders
  
• Escrow System - trusted volunteers from BitcoinTalkwill offer free escrow services.
• Users with legitimate scam reports against them will be banned immediately if they cannot provide counter-evidence.
  

A More Personalized Forum Board:

• Earn awards and prizes for achieving certain feats.
• Join one of the official groups with like minded people and use your own private group subform
• Be one of first 7 users to hit 1,000 posts and receive a $50.00 Mt Gox code.
• Customize your profile with no signature image limitations
• Expanded BBCode
  

http://i48.tinypic.com/2egcjzt.png

http://i50.tinypic.com/2zh028j.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/34h9o5c.jpg

Out of curiosity, how do you plan to accept PayPal deposits when they're reversible, and PayPal has consistently frozen accounts of people who use it to buy Bitcoins?

This is a super idea. The more exchanges the better. Mtgox has become too much of a police exchange. It's not their fault.. They just got too big too fast.

Watching.

Sorry for doubting you, but I recommend you look into it a lot more seriously. The last thing we need is another exchange set up who will go bust. Read up about chargebacks and the relevant bank accounts required. You will notice that their services for what you want to provide for your clients will not come cheap, or easily. Most of the exchanges that have gone bust, have done so because of chargebacks. This is one of the main reasons for brokers requiring verification.

Also, if you do get short-changed. Who will pay the price if you do not collect any fees? What if your BTC float (or worse, your offline wallet) is compromised, who will pay the price for that?

Most of us who have thought about setting up our own exchange have weighed the pro's and con's. Even with a 0.65% charge on each trade, the profit you will get on a moderate trade volume will not justify the effort required and the costs incurred.

A few questions:

How much are you investing into this project?
Whats in it for you, personally?

And a pointer: Intersango's code is open source, it contains a very powerful and capable trading engine which supports multiple currencys. If you are serious about this then you should consider using it.


(on a side note, you have a typo: you put down GBD as a supported currency)

nice

Definitely interesting. Could you elaborate on your motivation? It seems you want to do this "just" to bring bitcoin forward? Or any other background?

Our motivation is really to bring more people to Bitcoin. See below:



Thank you. We think it is nice too.


@ SEAL LINK:


Thank you for your opinion Seal Link. We have taken the risks into consideration and are only currently accepting ONE payment method which is reversible (easily). However, we have sidestepped that issue already using a series of dummy PayPal accounts. PayPal might not like it, but we are not breaking their T/S and if PayPal is to point the finger at anyone, it should be the fraudsters, not BitAvenue.
As for verification, we are willing to take that risk and possible pay for it too if it means our userbase can remain anonymous, the way Satoshi designed Bitcoin to be. Also, we are accepting PayPal because we KNOW it will expand the userbase of Bitcoin.

In the event that someone takes advantage of the service we are offering and 'rips us off' so to speak, I will be the one footing the bill. We are not after profits on this venture. Our model is based on the belief that anyone should be able to buy and sell Bitcoins easily WITHOUT having to pay for the privilege to do so. Do banks charge us to use Visa? No.



Our current capital base is $23,000. BitAvenue has been number crunching and we believe it can cover the costs of building the website, our own mining Pool (My favourite part) paying for hosting costs, and doing some moderate advertising. We will also be accepting donations once our site is up and running.
Personally, I have the satisfaction that I have created something useful. To some it sounds cliché, but our goal is to have people look at BitAvenue and develop a positive association towards it as many people do towards non-profit organizations. We aim to expand the userbase of Bitcoin. Mt. Gox and Intersango are not ideal in terms of 'user-friendliness'.
1) They charge fees
2) They are not completely transparent
3) They require verification of identity for certain transactions


We have been taking a look at that. I have also been in contact with BitInstant's founders and their dev team MIGHT take a look at writing our website.


Thanks you.

Updated to consolidate required features. 

Fair play. I hope it works out, more brokers is never a bad thing, it'll help increase the bitcoin userbase and ultimately, liquidity.

Thanks for the support Seal. I will keep you posted.

watching

Watching.

Double_watching

Triple_watching ;)

Also watching.

+1 and good luck on getting it up and running looks promising from what you have listed.

Thank you. I am getting some designs created today. I will post sketches if they are finished.

In what country are you considering to base your server?

I like this. Very John Galt-ish ;)

Make sure you're not in the US. I recommend forming it and/or hosting and/or running it from Guatemala, which has no reciprocal information treaty with the US (Hong Kong also good).

You should also build a backup or mirror of it that exists as a Tor hidden service.

Update: BitAvenue is looking for a website designer as well as a programmer to do the backend.  In the past week we have been focusing on the legal process involved with incorporation and setting up a ltd.

We are in contact with Charlie from BitInstant and Piuk from Blockchain.info who will permit BitAvenue to integrate our services with theirs.

Feel free to send me a message if you are an exchange, brokerage, or other Bitcoin related website that wishes to work with us.




Hi Marucs,
  We will be hosting either in Panama or Hong Kong, depending on the macro server costs that we will face. Ideally, we will host in a place with very little government interference as we believe it will enable us to protect the privacy of our customers.
We are open to suggestions, as long as you know the hosting company. We will not buy from a reseller.



We have permission from Freedom Hosting to setup a mirror of BitAvenue in the unlikely event of seizure or shutdown.

did you consider starting with an existing software like bitcoin-central?
has the trading part done with LR support I think and configurable currencies.

edit: bitcoin-central is open source, search for user davout on github or here.

interested

monitoring

Wow, 0 fee exchange, i love this.

Get on the bitcoin-central.net train ;)

My schedule will be clear by next week, pming OP
Any webdesigners out there? Im best at programming

Hi Robs!

Of course, we will be delighted to work with you for such noble cause. Please let me know how we can help! Because of my line of work, I have deep knowledge of offshore jurisdictions and legislation, so if you need help with that, please do let me know.

Thanks!
Roberto

Searching for mods.

Eh I'm busy I 'll talk to a few friends and see if they are willing to do it.

Elaborate if you would.

I'm currently a moderator and administrator for http://www.coinconnect.org/ (http://www.coinconnect.org/) and have some spare time.

XD

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/52452135/Capture%20d%E2%80%99%C3%A9cran%202012-04-30%20%C3%A0%2009.31.50.png

That site gets attacked by at least twelve different spammers a day and I can't watch it 24hours a day but do check at least twice a day.

That spam was made at 3am last night and I have to sleep.

just teasing you <3