[ANN] TorBroker - Fund your account in Bitcoin, trade >1000 real stocks and ETFs

[TorBroker]

I found a security hole:

To exploit this vulnerability an attacker would have to control the specific exit node the targeted TorBroker user is currently exiting through. This is not easy to accomplish, so we do not consider this to be a critical vulnerability. However, given the nature of our service we insist on providing the best possible security for our customers, so we have updated the code to remove this point of attack.

Thank you for the report!

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[slacker]

we have updated the code to remove this point of attack.

Thanks for the fast reaction. I can confirm that there is no external scripts now:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EO9qQWw2pTw/UbhzCTTIcUI/AAAAAAAAADs/se54X3zYA_k/s1600/ok.png

[slacker]

Also, found minor bug:

Code:

                     <ul class="nav pull-right">
                                <li><a href="/accounts/register/" data-toggle="modal"><i class="icon-globe icon-white"></i> Sign up</a></li>
                                <li class="divider-vertical"></li>
                                <li><a href="/accounts/login/" data-toggle="modal"><i class="icon-user icon-white"></i> Sign in</a></li>
                                </li>
                            </ul>

There is one additional "</li>".

[TorBroker]

TorBroker is featured in an article on Bitcoin Magazine: http://bitcoinmagazine.com/torbroker-anonymous-finance-and-trust/

slacker, thanks. It should be noted that it only relates to layout, not to functionality or security.

[teamhugs]

Did you ask the Tor people about this name?

https://www.torproject.org/docs/trademark-faq.html.en

[moni3z]

Did you ask the Tor people about this name?

https://www.torproject.org/docs/trademark-faq.html.en

I don't think torservers.net or tormail or torpm asked either

[piotr_n]

Don't you need to pay some kind of capital gain taxes, if your customers make profits?

[statdude]

Anyone using this still?

[flix]

Anyone using this still?

I'm starting to test it. I share the concerns of many here regarding the possibility of it being a scam... however I would very much like to see TorBroker succeed. There's nothing more annoying and intrusive of privacy than opening a brokerage account, especially internationally.

[flix]

A few questions..

Is there a minimum deposit?
Is leverage available?
When are real time trades going to be enabled? (Not next-day trades)
Is there some kind of demo account to test the system with?
Will bonds, FX and commodities be available at some point?

[statdude]

Thnks  what are your thoughts on functionality?

[TorBroker]

Is there a minimum deposit?

No, but since our minimum fee on trades is 10USD (currently a 5USD promo), small trades of less than 50USD become relatively expensive.

Is leverage available?

Not yet, but this is on the top of our to do list.

By offering leverage we can lower the amount that people will need to deposit with us in order to make significant trades, thus also lowering the amount of trust that people need to have in us. As you mention, people are naturally reluctant to deposit significant amounts with an anonymous service, so offering leverage is a top priority for us.

When are real time trades going to be enabled? (Not next-day trades)

This is also on our to do list, but you should expect this to take longer for us to implement than leveraged trading.

Is there some kind of demo account to test the system with?

At the moment no. But you can of course create an account for free and take a look around the interface.

Will bonds, FX and commodities be available at some point?

This is also planned. But note that to some degree you can already get exposure in these areas through ETFs.

[flix]

Question:  Where is the withdraw funds button?  

Deposits seem to be working fine... but I can't seem to find the withdrawal option...

Update Found it. Apparently it takes time for funds to be confirmed and the withdrawal button doesn't appear until your BTC are turned into $ balance.

[Hfleer]

This seems risky located on TOR and all.  Do they have BTC held by someone trusted as was suggested in earlier post or decided not to?

[piotr_n]

This seems risky located on TOR and all.

Maybe that's why it's in the Gambling section.

This service is definitely useful and the business model seems solid, so they can have a nice steady profit, if it kicks in - unfortunately that is the only thing we have to relay on, as a trust measure.
I'm careful myself, but I just love this idea and could not resist...
Anyway, so far so good - that's all we know.

[TorBroker]

New securities added & commission lowered during the rest of 2013

TorBroker is happy to announce the following platform updates:

* +350 ADRs (American Depositary Receipts) added enabling exposure to international stocks such as Rio Tinto (RIO), Sony Corporation (SNE) and Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS-A)
* Minimum commission lowered to 5$ during the rest of 2013
* Extended order window meaning orders are now executed at the following market opening if placed before 9:00 EST am

Furthermore, we are working hard to bring live trading, automated transactions, margin trading and a better and more informative interface to TorBroker in the following months!

[Cudahuda]

I knew this service was very ambitious to be running from the start.  Glad to see you're still up!

[jgarzik]

Definitely an ambitious and exciting service.  Glad to see it.  This sort of investing is key to growing bitcoin, and creating "100,000 little links" with the legacy financial world.

Problem #1:  impossible to prove this is not a scam, besides actual service testing and observing the results.

Problem #2:  US capital gains tax liability, which the operators presumably must pay

Problem #3:  Bitcoin income/exchange tax liability, and other regulatory risk.  Move any significant amount of money into TorBroker, and it is noticable that you are suddenly appearing at your brokerage's doorstep with USD cash from already-watched bitcoin exchange sources.

Even assuming 100% honest site operators, a more realistic fee seems like it would be closer to 33% to cover all taxes, since operators seem unlikely to be able to prove to the IRS that receiving thousands/millions of dollars in bitcoins is not income.

Disclaimer:  Of course, for legal and risk related reasons, I do not plan to actually connect to the website.

[eb3full]

I'm sure it would be trivial to discover the owner by making signature investments on certain scales and identifying the pattern on an exchange.

[piotr_n]

Problem #2:  US capital gains tax liability, which the operators presumably must pay

I asked this question before, but it stayed unanswered.
Maybe they are just located in one of the countries that does not have capital gain taxes - in such case they would not say and I can understand it somehow.

But as for the service itself, assuming it isn't a scam, IMHO it is the second best bitcoin-only service in the existence.
Just don't ask me to mention the first one