Is there an actual Bitcoin bank yet?

[Amph]

wow! that would be great if there will be a bitcoin bank.
i think there has been a bitcoin bank but its just an online bank

there was an attempt that will operate in new york, it was announced in the legal seaction, it was said to be the first bitcoin bank

to be honest this will only turn bitcoin to be more centralized, i don't see the point

[louise123]

I haven't really kept up with what's going on in the banking side of the Bitcoin ecosystem, but I was talking with an acquaintance about Bitcoin and he mentioned something about an actual Bitcoin bank. A quick search yields results that are all over the place, so I'm turning to the members of this forum to see if anybody has any info. Does anybody offer an insured solution for storing coins that pays interest? The closest thing I can think of is Circle, but I don't think they pay interest. Any insight would be much appreciated.

In order for a bank to pay you interest on your savings they need to be making profit out of your savings.
And to make profit out of your savings they lend it out for a much higher interest to get your savings interest and of course their huge profit.

[jacktheking]

My advise to you is to never trust a bank with your Bitcoin. Bitcoin is anonymous in a way that it is hard to track where your Bitcoin go. The 'bank' can just run off after you deposit your Bitcoin in their storage. If you are keen to earn interest, check the lending section. You might get more profit than putting physical money into physical bank.

Also, as others said, it make Bitcoin more centralized and defect the purpose of decentralization.

[Daniel91]

Very well said jacktheking.
In fact, whole purpose of bitcoin is decentralization, to stay anonymous and financial freedom for its user, how I see it.
If official banks will start using bitcoin, I will not trust them and will prefer to stay anonymous, even pay more for exchange fees just to avoid banks.
I enjoy my freedom with BTC, ad  if need bitcoin fast and cheaper, I can just go to BTC ATM in my city and that's all

[spazzdla]

I haven't really kept up with what's going on in the banking side of the Bitcoin ecosystem, but I was talking with an acquaintance about Bitcoin and he mentioned something about an actual Bitcoin bank. A quick search yields results that are all over the place, so I'm turning to the members of this forum to see if anybody has any info. Does anybody offer an insured solution for storing coins that pays interest? The closest thing I can think of is Circle, but I don't think they pay interest. Any insight would be much appreciated.

How many bitcoiners do you think would want to be involved with a bank...

[crazyivan]

Well there are couple well reputable exchanges which offer classic interest rate on your deposited BTC.

Regarding lending, there are also several companies which do BTC lending. So, all in all, there s no classic BTC bank but there are several proxies.

[RitzBitzz]

Well there are couple well reputable exchanges which offer classic interest rate on your deposited BTC.

Regarding lending, there are also several companies which do BTC lending. So, all in all, there s no classic BTC bank but there are several proxies.

Yeah the closes I have seen to banking with bitcoin is this.

[stallion]

Bitcoin bank? What for?

I hate banks.

[Stephen Gornick]

Does anybody offer an insured solution for storing coins that pays interest?

Do I presume correctly that you aren't looking to receive interest on the USD value of the coins but instead are looking for interest paid on the bitcoin balance instead?  (i.e., with 1 bitcoin deposited you always end up with more than 1 bitcoin after interest is paid and principal returned).  

That type of investment probably won't happen.  Commodity money (yes, even Bitcoin) has a carrying cost.  So instead of earning interest you have demurrage ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demurrage_%28currency%29 )

Similarly, you won't see banks where you deposit gold and earn interest on that capital.   (Well, except for the draft proposal by the government of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Gold-monetisation-schemeInterest-on-deposits-to-be-tax-exempt/articleshow/47342494.cms, which would be crazy because most of those people would never get their gold back).

But I can see the reason you want something like this ... you believe bitcoin will rise in price so rather than sell your coins you give them to someone else to hold who will give them back to you at a later time plus a little interest on top.    But derivatives can help with this somewhat (i.e., give you a way that with a 1 bitcoin investment if the exchange rate does rise you end up with more than 1 bitcoin at a later time.)

[AccPort]

Eventually there will be some BTC banks.

[Lovethecoins]

I haven't really kept up with what's going on in the banking side of the Bitcoin ecosystem, but I was talking with an acquaintance about Bitcoin and he mentioned something about an actual Bitcoin bank. A quick search yields results that are all over the place, so I'm turning to the members of this forum to see if anybody has any info. Does anybody offer an insured solution for storing coins that pays interest? The closest thing I can think of is Circle, but I don't think they pay interest. Any insight would be much appreciated.

Ouch man I was looking over your first posts... I hope you didn't sell them all under $7.50!

[The Sceptical Chymist]

It kind of depends on your definition of a bank. If you want a place to store BTC in a third party, then a web wallet could be a bank. On the other hand, if you think of a bank in the traditional sense, then I don't think there are any. There is no way for the bank to make money for interest. These things could also be scams.

Banks operate on the 3-6-3 principle:  Borrow money at 3%, lend it out at 6%, and be on the golf course at 3pm. 

Why could this not work with bitcoin?  I do see the drawbacks of having someone else store the coins, but I don't see how interest couldn't be paid.

[H.W.Z]

Bitcoin bank? i don't think people would like to put their bitcoin into other people's control. Its really risk. They can scam your money to claim the bitcoin was hacked.

There are many scams, hacks around crypto world. No matter how high security they offers,  there is still a chance of losing their money. The ppl, as ordinary Joe, are still fear to use their service. Probably govs or some instituations need to step in this area, regulate their operation and secure the fund in this so called bitcoin banks. Ppl will be comfortable to deposit their real bitcoin in these banks. 

[bitbaby]

Well there are couple well reputable exchanges which offer classic interest rate on your deposited BTC.

Regarding lending, there are also several companies which do BTC lending. So, all in all, there s no classic BTC bank but there are several proxies.

Which exchanges are these? I doubt that I can trust an exchange to keep my BTC in it to receive interest, no matter how much interest they offer me.

You never know when they happen to get "hacked" and lose all the BTC. I don't know what lending sites you're talking about but I know only of BTCjam and I again don't want to use them and give out no collateral loans to unknown people over the internet.

I myself not know of any sort of bank or any other institution that can be trusted enough to keep bitcoins to receive any sort of interest, I'd rather keep mine in my cold storage.

[Asrael999]

I believe itbit has a new York banking license.  But a bitcoin bank isn't required to pay you interest.

at current rates - no one pays you interest on a current account

[Alley]

I would currently only trust coinbase or circle to store bitcoins.

[crazyivan]

I would currently only trust coinbase or circle to store bitcoins.

But they do not pay interest.

[gkv9]

I am in talks with some of India's biggest Authorities to start a Bank for Bitcoins, namely "BitBank"...
I know this name has already been used somewhere, but we guys are planning to introduce it in a very big and better way here in India...
We know we have very better market here and we can gain good amount of customers here for it, also the %s will be lower than what people offer at lending sites...

[tertius993]

Bitcoin bank? i don't think people would like to put their bitcoin into other people's control. Its really risk. They can scam your money to claim the bitcoin was hacked.

There are risks with everything.  There is a risk in keeping your (fiat) cash under the mattress - some people are fine with that risk; there are risks with keeping your (fiat) cash in a bank.

Generally I would say, most people consider that the risk of using a bank for (fiat) cash is the more acceptable risk - thanks to regulation, deposit protection schemes and, probably, experience.

In the same way there are risks associated with keeping your Bitcoins on your personal computer, in a paper wallet or in a "Bitcoin bank".

I do not see why some people, given the right model and the right assurances, and the right experience, would not prefer and choose to keep their Bitcoins in a bank.

Once that option becomes viable, the great thing will be the ability to choose.

[ElscottHavoc]

Does anybody offer an insured solution for storing coins that pays interest? The closest thing I can think of is Circle, but I don't think they pay interest.

Well, BTCPop.co offers some insurance for loan you provide...but the insurance is not 100% of losses and also is based on the risk factor of the loan.  They do have some pooled funds that work similar I suppose to a mutual fund that allows for greater diversification.  While it's not a bank and is a full out p2p lending site, the fact they have insurance features at all and are partnered with a collecion agency means it's probably the closest you'll come to earning interest and hedging the risk.  But then I think that's really what Bitcoin and furthermore, p2p lending is all about, shifting the control of money and lending to the population at large.

While Circle is obviously a decent place to store Bitcoin, I think it should be noted that Circle is making efforts or has already made implemented altering accounts to be USD based.  This means, while your funds are stored in Circle, they likely might be tied to the USD index rather than the value of Bitcoin.  But I'm not sure on the specifics.