Can anyone give me step by step directions on how to turn my MoneyPak into Bitcoins?
MoneyPak is an excellent way to cash out of bitcoin where you then use that MP to reload a debit card or PayPal, for instance.
But MoneyPak is a horrible way to try to buy bitcoins. Here's why:
The problem is no commercial service can accept MoneyPak as payment for the purchase of bitcoins. Green Dot doesn't want that happening. They only allow you using the MoneyPak codes with authorized merchants or for loading funds to your own debit card. So the only ones where trading MoneyPak for bitcoins is happening is with individuals who accept MoneyPak for payment when selling bitcoins person-to-person and are small enough to operate below Green Dot's radar. The person that accepts MoneyPak then uses it to load a PayPal account to to add funds to a reloadable debit card.
Cashing out your bitcoins to MoneyPak is not a problem, and there are a couple of commercial services which offer this:
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http://www.BTCPak.com -
http://www.FastCash4Bitcoins.com MoneyPak is a bearer instrument -- anyone who knows the code can spend it.
There are a few ways these MoneyPak codes can end up in the hands of thieves and criminal hackers who then trade them for bitcoins.
The theif might even provide what seems to be a valid MoneyPak code and the person selling bitcoins might see the funds loaded into the PayPal account or wherever the code were used but then later the funds are reversed after the rightful owner of the code reports theft.
To regain access to the funds, the person that accepted the MoneyPak needs to provide to Green Dot a copy of the receipt used to purchase the MoneyPak, using cash. Even with that, if there is someone else with the same receipt reporting the theft, that person would likely lose the dispute as another person was actually the party that bought the MoneyPak from the store.
So it comes down to ... you are offering a payment method that is reversible and is frequently used to defraud. Do you already have a trust history perhaps?
The #bitcoin-otc Web of Trust (WoT) will show the trust history of a trader. If a person is considering trading bitcoins for someone else's MoneyPak, that person's trust history might help to determine the level of risk -- but even then, proceed with caution.
