Bitcoin Forum

There is not one exchange that is legit.  NOT ONE!  Bitstamp is the closest to being legit.  So how the fuck is BTC suppose to be even taken seriously by ordinary Joe and Mary?

Where are you located? There are many exchanges that work pretty well.

If you really desire a high level of customer service, maybe finding a sympathetic person on LocalBitcoins to help you out is the best way.

There's also many ATM's, most of them are pretty legit, you are only risking your money for a moment while it's exchanged.

That's a very good question. Bitstamp's address is a mail drop. So is Coinbase's. Mt. Gox at least had a physical office.

Most Bitcoin exchanges don't approach the legitimacy level of the average dry cleaners.

Because they work in the unregulated law - that's why they do everything in a minimalist way, without the protection of the client. But we look at German ambitious law for bitcoins. Soon there should appear an official cryptocurrency exchange on the basis of German license BaFin, which will have to ensure customer protection as a bank. Market niche will be filled, it's only a while, I think.

https://www.itbit.com seems legit but not for US customers. US customers should route for www.cryptsy.com
Cryptsy support has been satisfying.

Soon one of those Bitcoin ETFs will hit wallstreet and that will likely decide the price of bitcoin just like it does gold. Most of these exchanges will disappear since speculation with bitcoin will be much easier using the NYSE and be replaced by localbitcoins-like fixed rate exchanges to obtain the actual coins.

Depends what do you call legit. :-) In most countries there are no laws yet in regards to bitcoin trading. And if there are, then who is making them? Government tell people to get licensed, to pay taxes, etc, while themselves breaching their own laws on the large scale. I would just judge every exchange on its performance and track record.

I agree that the COIN EFT will likely cause the price of bitcoin to increase. However I also disagree that the exchanges are bad. If you are in the US, then coinbase is good as it is very simple and easy to use.

You also have a number of other options for trading bitcoin (the currency exchange section on this forum, LBC, selling on cragislist).

Possibly, although this does attack one of the core principles of bitcoin by requiring an intermediary. The danger with such a big and juicy intermediary like a BTC ETF is that it becomes a massive target for hackers, potentially compromising the whole system.

I think that we'll still see exchanges, but the introduction of ETFs will see massive consolidation among their ranks. This should result in better quality, more liquid and deeper exchanges, which is good news for everyone.

I agree that there is no problem to find a cryptocurrency exchange today, which you can judge on its performance and track record. The best international is cryptsy for me. Russian users use Bulgarian BTC-e, and in my country the best is bitmarket. Etc., etc., everybody finds something around the world:
http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/volumepie/

But still is the question - are they making their job with capital adequacy (like in the bank)? Without law regulation they will not do this rule, because it's less competetive.
MtGox would never have lost a giant amount of users' BTC if they had used this rule of capital adequacy (and several other procedures...)

As I pointed out months ago in a Mt. Gox thread, Mt. Gox lacked the financial controls of, say, the average supermarket.

At a big supermarket, there are lots of people handling money. People are using credit cards, cashing checks, buying things with everything from food stamps to Google Wallet. Sizable amounts of cash go in and out. If there's $10 missing at the end of the day in a supermarket, it will be noticed, and the store management will probably be able to pin the loss on an individual. Higher levels of management check up on the store manager's numbers.

Mt. Gox never had even that level of financial control. We know that now. They claim they had no clue of their own cash position. Yet they were handling hundreds of millions of dollars. Their business was simpler than a big supermarket and they got it wrong. (Whether this was stupidity or criminality remains an open question.)

Now, what  Bitcoin exchange do we know that definitely has basic accounting controls? Does anybody publish a quarterly financial statement?

I hope it will be in the nearest future, when people expect it. For example an exchange with UE financial license, monitored by finance supervision and maybe listed for example on London GXG - OTC stock exchange? Then publishing its finance statements, etc.
Maybe it will not be a rocket on this competitive market, but everybody would have a choice - to go to the "no-name-owner's" exchange paying less for fees or to trade on the "public" exchange but paying more for fees.
I'm discussing with my finance partners from Swiss about launching such trial small "public" cryptocurrency exchange in Europe, based on German license. But naturally it's a vision only at this moment.
   

There are some which are legit, but no run properly, and I guess only a hand-full of exchanges has built some trust. I agree that we need more trustworthy exchanges around the globe for bitcoin to take off. I really would like to see our high street banks offering bitcoin exchange services with a fair fee.

Today banks can't do it, no legal frames in the USA, what I know, but it will be changed soon, I hope.

In Germany it has been possible for Nov 2013, and I have heard about FidorBank, but hasn't co-operated with them to this time.
I have heard too, that Sofort in Germany haven't got any problem with integration with banking system to cryptocurrency payment.

Any stockbroker could do it. None of them have chosen to do so.

If you are in Canada (I think the US too), Vault of Satoshi is a legit exchange, I have been using them for almost a year, no problems,  volume is a little low.  But I can safely and easily get BTC when needed.

Better exchanges will start popping up as the bad ones get weeded out, they're is just a lot of bullshit red tape in the way ;)

I hope you can find one that works for you.

Use an ATM. They are quick and easy, and generally aren't going to rip you off.

Is there any ATM which exchanges e.g. dogecoin into bitcoin? There isn't. From an ATM you can get fiat or BTC, there is no client of any cryptocurrency exchange.
Only integrating three systems:
- banking ATM
- internet currency exchange
- internet cryptocurrency exchange
you would have an ATM terminal which is able to deposit, exchange and payout in various types of fiat and cryptocurrencies.

I think it's possible in the nearest future, but is this needed?

The Robocoin at Hacker Dojo in Mountain View has a 15% bid/ask spread and a $5 fee.

I like Coinbase. I have found their customer support to be very good. The only problem I have is that I can't verify my identity on the website. It keeps failing. Oh well, I gave up.... have never changed my information since birth and have had the same address for 16 years. Not sure what their problem is.

I wanted to try out BTC-e but their site seems so sketchy looking.

The robo coin in amsterdam use to have like a 30% spread. Not all machines are this crazy expensive though.