Bitcoin-Central, first exchange licensed to operate with a bank. This is HUGE

[kiko]

We're announcing today that Bitcoin-Central.net is allowed, through a partnership with Aqoba and the Credit Mutuel to operate as a bank, (or more precisely a PSP which is basically the same as a bank, just without the debt-money issuing part).

FTFY (It did not previously make sense in english).

Congratulations BTW!

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[will]

This is awesome. Signed up because of this announcement. Will definitely be using this account in the fute, can't wait for he debit card

Thank yo ufor all the hard work in getting this sorted.

[Lethn]

You mean I can actually buy Bitcoins now without it being a complete bitch to do?

[Remember remember the 5th of November]

May I ask where is the proof of the statement? Any document to back the claim?

[davout]

May I ask where is the proof of the statement? Any document to back the claim?

You may ask.

No, right now there is no document that we can publish. However we put all the required legal mentions in the footer of the website.

Additionnally you'll be able to see that our EUR bank account information is consistent with what we say when we tell you the funds will be held by the Crédit Mutuel Arkéa.

There should be a joint press release with Aqoba pretty soon which will then be visible here.

[Monster Tent]

Your competitors will need to lift their game.

[Remember remember the 5th of November]

Your competitors will need to lift their game.

I don't really think they can, at this point.

So are the people who made this happen aware that hacks happen, and that trading Bitcoin is not just to own, but to day trade. And that day trade volume can reach 100k of USD for instance.

[kiko]

You mean I can actually buy Bitcoins now without it being a complete bitch to do?

No, I presume they will only sell bitcoins to customers that have gone through all the identity checks. This is a way to get easily get rid of all your bitcoins in your favourite shop, again once you have gone through all the identity checks.  Please correct me if I am wrong.

[thoughtfan]

Sorry, I got carried away with the other stuff but what I mainly wanted to say was: That's fantastic news - Congratulations and thank you

IBAN, automatic conversion and dual debit card sounds spot on.

Ideally I'd have my pay go directly in but I'll need to consider the following:

• I think it costs my employer more to do a BACS transfer with SEPA than into a UK bank - I'd need to find out how much.
• The automatic conversion sounds great but the GBP orderbook would need to be a lot more lively because unless there is some serious arbing going on I'd hurt badly on the conversion rate!
• I'd be interested to see too how the costs will work out in withdrawing GBP from an ATM when it's automatically converted from Bitcoin.

This could all be simply too prohibitively expensive for some time but the blocks are all in place and frankly I'm likin' it

So I have opened an account, uploaded my ID sent a handful of Bitcoins and intended to 'do my bit' by offering them slightly cheaper than what's currently there *

But more so than for my own convenience right now I'm really liking this as a step towards integrating bitcoin into normal banking and normal people's lives - makes it look just that little bit less like an outsider only-for-geeks!

I can understand some thinking this is too good to be true and that somehow it will go tits up but it is always the risk for those pioneering the way.  The very best to you with it and I hope your persistence on this will reap you ample dividends in time.

* However, I could only get a glimpse of the GBP order book due to lots of Chrome 'Aw, Snap!' messages necessitating reloads.  In the end I used bitcoincharts.com Market Depth tab to look at your order book and decide on my ask price.  Then found too late I'd somehow flipped back into Euros and ended up making my order in the wrong currency- which of course got snapped up immediately! Doh!!  I am now the proud owner of 62 Euros LOL!  Tip:  maybe something on the order page showing current prices or with the currency more prominent would help?  I guess it's a work in progress and there's still a lot of work to be done on site features and stability?

Main message is still CONGRATULATIONS!

[repentance]

This is massive news.  Yes, you'll probably encounter issues as time passes just like PayPal and Dwolla have and those issues will probably mean that your service needs to adapt its model but someone needed to take that first step forward.

[conspirosphere.tk]

You mean I can actually buy Bitcoins now without it being a complete bitch to do?

No, I presume they will only sell bitcoins to customers that have gone through all the identity checks. This is a way to get easily get rid of all your bitcoins in your favourite shop, again once you have gone through all the identity checks.  Please correct me if I am wrong.

So the other side of the (bit)coin is that the banksters and the eurocrats will know how many bitcoins you have in there, how do you trade them (capital gains? repent!) and above all they will be enabled to lock your bitcoin-backed credit card if you end in some black list of them.
Thanks, but no thanks.
After all these efforts and complications to get out from the banksters' matrix, it is ironic to get back at square 1.

[davout]

You confuse Paysius with Paymium.

Sorry about that.

You're happily forgiven.

I'd love to be proven wrong.

I'd love it too!

I believe that you have done your homework, and I believe that it's perfectly legal.  However, I also am aware that there are vested interests for which any advancement for Bitcoin is a threat.  I am also aware that some of these vested interests really don't care whether or not Bitcoin is or should be legal.  Pressure will be imposed upon your trading partners to abandon you, for whatever excuse that they can conjure up.  Ultimately they will all conclude that the business that they stand to gain from working with you is far outweighed by the business that they stand to lose from other sectors.  Paypal is much larger than the whole Bitcoin economy, but they were strong armed to not permit users from places in the world for which the US federal government lacks influence.  There is no gain for Paypal to exclude potential markets, either; but that is what has happened.  You have just become a single point of failure for the Bitcoin economy in Europe, and aspects of your life are about to turn crazy and beyond your own control.  I will add you and your family to our prayer list, because that is the extent for which I can do anything.  I would caution you to retain a good lawyer, if you have not already, and set up a bitcoin address for legal donations, should things really start to spiral.

I hear you, it's perfectly possible that things go down that way. But hey, there's only one way to find out.
And even if it went that way there would still be another side to the coin, what I see on that other side is massive buzz and raised awareness about Bitcoin.
So even if we go down the drain it will have been useful.

[BitcoinSuite]

You mean I can actually buy Bitcoins now without it being a complete bitch to do?

No, I presume they will only sell bitcoins to customers that have gone through all the identity checks. This is a way to get easily get rid of all your bitcoins in your favourite shop, again once you have gone through all the identity checks.  Please correct me if I am wrong.

YES. You can, no need for crazy fees to Alternative Payment Processors. If you are concerned with loosing the increased level of anonymity by providing an ID just transfer your coins to a new address and use it for shopping.

[Come-from-Beyond]

So the other side of the (bit)coin is that the banksters and the eurocrats will know how many bitcoins you have in there, how do you trade them (capital gains? repent!) and above all they will be enabled to lock your bitcoin-backed credit card if you end in some black list of them.
Thanks, but no thanks.
After all these efforts and complications to get out from the banksters' matrix, it is ironic to get back at square 1.

Very good point.

[davout]

So the other side of the (bit)coin is that the banksters and the eurocrats will know how many bitcoins you have in there, how do you trade them (capital gains? repent!) and above all they will be enabled to lock your bitcoin-backed credit card if you end in some black list of them.
Thanks, but no thanks.
After all these efforts and complications to get out from the banksters' matrix, it is ironic to get back at square 1.

Beat them at their own game, that's the way I roll.

Also if they want to lock your Bitcoins they have to define them legally first : no matter the way you look at it Bitcoin wins.

[punningclan]

How did the french manage that? Nice one!! 

[thoughtfan]

So the other side of the (bit)coin is that the banksters and the eurocrats will know how many bitcoins you have in there, how do you trade them (capital gains? repent!) and above all they will be enabled to lock your bitcoin-backed credit card if you end in some black list of them.
Thanks, but no thanks.
After all these efforts and complications to get out from the banksters' matrix, it is ironic to get back at square 1.

Very good point.

For those of you (and I know you are not insignificant in number here) who think of Bitcoin as a weapon to be used in the war against the establishment I can see that Bitcoin-Central's move may be seen as fraternising with the enemy.  I which case I can see that this is not a service for you.

However, for the rest of us it's a means of potentially integrating Bitcoin more into the normal lives of normal people and in terms of more widespread adoption I can't see (if it really does survive the potential attacks that are being pointed out) that being a bad thing.  To the contrary it will be doing a lot to broaden the userbase and consequently strengthen the project - and we all benefit from that regardless of whether we choose to use the service ourselves.

[acoindr]

So the other side of the (bit)coin is that the banksters and the eurocrats will know how many bitcoins you have in there, how do you trade them (capital gains? repent!) and above all they will be enabled to lock your bitcoin-backed credit card if you end in some black list of them.
Thanks, but no thanks.
After all these efforts and complications to get out from the banksters' matrix, it is ironic to get back at square 1.

Very good point.

You two seem to think in absolutes. You act like one exchange becoming a bank equals bitcoin is now the same as banking fiat.

Bitcoin is a currency, a free market one at that. People use currencies (including dollars) differently, for both legal and illegal use, and in various ways. Not every single bitcoin user will open this type of bank account. I don't know why you might think so.

So, all the while Bitcoin becomes more widely accepted and easier to use various ways... it is still capped at 21 million coins in total guaranteed; and still has its anonymous and low/zero fee capabilities. Back at square 1? Not quite.

[marcus_of_augustus]

So the other side of the (bit)coin is that the banksters and the eurocrats will know how many bitcoins you have in there, how do you trade them (capital gains? repent!) and above all they will be enabled to lock your bitcoin-backed credit card if you end in some black list of them.
Thanks, but no thanks.
After all these efforts and complications to get out from the banksters' matrix, it is ironic to get back at square 1.

Beat them at their own game, that's the way I roll.

Also if they want to lock your Bitcoins they have to define them legally first : no matter the way you look at it Bitcoin wins.

Davout, I hear what you are saying and appreciate your enthusiasm. You are one of the guys who I've respected as having the right attitude from the first time I arrived at this forum ... so go for it I say. Fortune favours the brave.

That said, I wonder how much the ECB (who released their little report into bitcoin) are trying to take you (and bitcoin) "under their wing", so to speak, so that at a later stage it will be that much easier for them to regulate bitcoin into oblivion. At this point in time they have no moral (or even legal perhaps) standing to regulate bitcoin, in as much as they have no standing to regulate exotic rock mining in Angolia.

Be careful, as the old saying goes, "lie down with dogs .... ".

[247saver]

Congratulations, this is another good solid step along the way for Bitcoin!