I want to turn $10,000 in to BTC.

[Thursday]

Like the title says I'm interested in turning my savings account in USD in to a savings account in BTC.  Just want to invest which is the most economical secure way to go about doing this, bit instant?  Also what wallet will be the most secure method of storing such an investment?

Thanks,

Matt

[DannyHamilton]

. . . Also what wallet will be the most secure method of storing such an investment?

Depends on what you want.  If you will just be saving it, and know for sure that you won't be spending any of it or converting any of it back to USD for a few years, then you are probably best with a paper wallet.  Store multiple copies of the paper wallet in locations that you feel are secure (a safe, a bank safety deposit box, burried in your back yard, whatever you think is a physically safe location that you will have access to).  Anything connected to the internet is potentially at risk from hackers.

[thebaron]

Anonymous? Bitinstant.com
Don't care about anonymity? A verified Mtgox.com with a Dwolla.com account for funding.

Personally, I have both options available to me. But I hate waiting a week for the money to clear, so I use Bitinstant.

[jojo69]

My wallet is by far the most secure choice

PM me for the address

[Thursday]

That was quick!

I plan on this being an investment, no telling how many months or years.  I don't see any foreseeable transactions with BTC, but that may change with there acceptance and my better understanding of them and ways I can use them.

Can you explain more about armory offline, and any links or how-to's with paper wallets?  

The baron; good points I'm not sure how much I value it being anonymous or not.  Are there deposit limits with dwolla, mtgox, and bit instant?

[thebaron]

The baron; good points I'm not sure how much I value it being anonymous or not.  Are there deposit limits with dwolla, mtgox, and bit instant?

If you get verified at Mtgox, you'd be able to transfer up to $10k daily and $50k monthly into your account. You do have to ask for your account limits to be upgraded after the verification process, though. They are not automatically increased. I don't think Dwolla has a limit, as long as the payment clears your bank account.

Bitinstant has a practical limit of $500 per transaction and $2k per day. It's going to cost you a minimum of $24 in fees for every $500 you buy. But since BTC are going up so quickly, you will probably have an advantage of buying them now instead of waiting for MtGox verification and your Dwolla payment to clear. My 2 Satoshi's, anyway...

[Thursday]

The baron; good points I'm not sure how much I value it being anonymous or not.  Are there deposit limits with dwolla, mtgox, and bit instant?

If you get verified at Mtgox, you'd be able to transfer up to $10k daily and $50k monthly into your account. You do have to ask for your account limits to be upgraded after the verification process, though. They are not automatically increased. I don't think Dwolla has a limit, as long as the payment clears your bank account.

Bitinstant has a practical limit of $500 per transaction and $2k per day. It's going to cost you a minimum of $24 in fees for every $500 you buy. But since BTC are going up so quickly, you will probably have an advantage of buying them now instead of waiting for MtGox verification and your Dwolla payment to clear. My 2 Satoshi's, anyway...

Well that sucks.  What's the verification entail at dwolla and mtgox?

[phantitox]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=87094 this  , they work like charm , transfer the funds lock the price pum BTC on your wallet, all in the same day. Totally recommended

[Bjork]

I'm about to pm you

edit: phantitox already linked to them.  Great service, I've used em before.

[Thursday]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=87094 this  , they work like charm , transfer the funds lock the price pum BTC on your wallet, all in the same day. Totally recommended

Thanks for the suggestion.  What's the anonymity of these guys and what kind of fees on say $1000 to start with?

[Bjork]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=87094 this  , they work like charm , transfer the funds lock the price pum BTC on your wallet, all in the same day. Totally recommended

Thanks for the suggestion.  What's the anonymity of these guys and what kind of fees on say $1000 to start with?

No fees.  It is cheaper than mt gox actually instead of bitinstant (5% more than mt gox)  also, no slippage.  Tangible makes his money by buying bitcoins cheap and he just wants a fast turn-around on his money.

As for the anonymity, well they use pgp encryption so what more could you want?

[jwzguy]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=87094 this  , they work like charm , transfer the funds lock the price pum BTC on your wallet, all in the same day. Totally recommended

Thanks for the suggestion.  What's the anonymity of these guys and what kind of fees on say $1000 to start with?

Bitcoins Direct/Tangible Cryptography is the way to go.
No fees on their side for buying BTC, you'll get a discount in most cases. I've used them several times and the main operator runs a very smooth operation, read the feedback thread.

Do you have a Wells Fargo or BOA near you? Deposit cash into their account...get sent BTC - couldn't be easier. Otherwise you can use a wire transfer, but your bank will probably charge for that.

[Stephen Gornick]

Also what wallet will be the most secure method of storing such an investment?

For a larger amount of funds, you want to give a larger amount of attention to security.

Here's a good article on cold storage:

 - http://codinginmysleep.com/bitcoin-cold-storage-in-plain-english/

It is as simply as using a computer where you unplug the network cable, boot to a LiveOS like Ubuntu, load the html from BitAddress.org that you previously saved to a thumb drive, and hit print.  Make a few to hold like $1K worth on each.

Then store two copies of each in secure locations (a safe, or a hollowed out book, whatever you would use).

Here's more:
 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Cold_storage

[InsightSoul]

MTGOX with a wallet created by Armory on an offline only machine.

[🏰 TradeFortress 🏰]

MTGOX with a wallet created by Armory on an offline only machine.

Shouldn't you back it up so if your hdd breaks you won't lose your $10k?

[greyhawk]

That would be sensible, yes.

Of course, sensible doesn't happen too often around here, so that we'll have another post of "I lost my life savings in a HD crash. Help me, Bitcoin Talk, you are my only hope." somewhere in the future.

[c4n10]

That is AWESOME. I hope to someday have my own $10,000 worth of BTC.

[aneutronic]

Also what wallet will be the most secure method of storing such an investment?

For a larger amount of funds, you want to give a larger amount of attention to security.

Here's a good article on cold storage:

 - http://codinginmysleep.com/bitcoin-cold-storage-in-plain-english/

It is as simply as using a computer where you unplug the network cable, boot to a LiveOS like Ubuntu, load the html from BitAddress.org that you previously saved to a thumb drive, and hit print.  Make a few to hold like $1K worth on each.

Then store two copies of each in secure locations (a safe, or a hollowed out book, whatever you would use).

Here's more:
 - http://codinginmysleep.com/bitcoin-cold-storage-in-plain-english

+1

[TangibleCryptography]

Thursday as others have indicated,  Tangible Cryptography LLC offers private off exchange bitcoin sales for large buyers like yourself.  We charge no fees to buyers and use an exchange rate of 1% below "MtGox last" at the time of the deposit.  If you have a PNC, Bank Of America, or Wells Fargo local branch nearby you could have your coins today by making a cash deposit.   A bank wire may be a viable alternative.  We don't charge a fee on incoming bank wires but you bank may charge a fee (usually $10 to $25) to send one.  

One thing you should also consider is slippage.  If you buy $10,000 on an exchange you will be driving the price higher.  This will result in 1% to 2% less coins for the same amount of funds.  Another thing to consider is funding delays.  Even an international bank wire to MtGox is going to take a few days to clear.  Nothing worse than committing to a transaction and seeing the price rise over the next few days.   Between funding costs, trading fees, slippage, and opportunity cost we can provide you 2% to 5% more coins for the dollar.

We limit first time transactions to $5,000 (per deposit & per week).  This limit can be raised based on trading history.  We have facilitated sales as large as $48,000, anything larger than $10,000 will require delivery over multiple days.  

One thing you may want to consider is acquiring over time.  If you purchase $10,000 BTC today @ ~$12 per BTC the price could rise of fall significantly in the coming weeks or months resulting in a large loss or gain.  A more conservative strategy would be to use dollar-cost average.  For example purchasing $2,500 a week for four weeks or even $1,000 every other week for the next five months.  Our local branch cash deposit option offers an easy way to achieve this.

Before you buy be sure you understand proper wallet security and backups.  There are a variety of options to consider such as offline wallets,  hybrid wallets (eWallets where encryption is done client side) like blockchain.info and the traditional client side wallet.  We can provide assistance in verifying your wallet is functional and synchronized with the blockchain, send test transactions, and verify you have made proper secure backups before sending you a large number of coins.

We are happy to answer any questions you or other new buyers may have.  Feel free to send us an email (info@tangiblecryptography.com) or a PM (TangibleCryptography) is you would rather discuss this in private.

Gerald Davis

Executive Manager
Tangible Cryptography LLC

[Herodes]

Seeing as you're a newbe, be vigilant, and don't divulge that you hold larger amounts, this may attract hackers.

Compromizing your computer could be as easy as sending you a link with a pdf or to some malicious website that
let an attacker gain access to your personal computer. If you haven't secured your wallet properly with a pass phrase
and so on.

I recommend that you educate yourself on safe storage of coins. Preferably for such a large amount, cold storage would
be the way to go. A wallet could also be created in offline mode. And balance could be checked with one of the block chain sites.

Also have in mind that bitcoin still is an experiment, so don't put more into it than you can afford to lose. I don't think you
would lose anything, but don't rule out the possibility of it happen at some point.

Welcome to the bitcoin world!