buying bitcoins uk

[Mouchtaris]

Hello all, im looking to buy 500-750 pounds worth of bitcoins was wondering if anyone could point me to the right direction?
Already on localbitcoins but they are selling at a quite expensive price to take advantage of the current growth :/

Thanks

[botsofbitcoin]

My current high margin on local bitcoins is purely because if I don't see the message immediately, by the time I get around to replacing what I've sold I'm already making a loss. No help to you, I guess but hopefully explains why the mark-up looks quite large.

[BitFutex]

Why not just buy on one of the exchanges?

[Dargumin]

Why not just buy on one of the exchanges?

Unless you want to wait 3-4 days for a bank transfer to got hrough (which considering the bubble could burst at any time is waaay to long) its very hard to fund an exchange from the UK.  I'm struggling with this as I'm keen to buy some BTC asap.

[Gator-hex]

Yeah last I heard MtGox had their UK bank account closed. Did they ever fix that? 

[nobbynobbynoob]

Yeah last I heard MtGox had their UK bank account closed. Did they ever fix that? 

Apparently not.

[funkimon]

Yeah sign up on an exchange. Getting funds on from uk is a bit of a mission

[NABiT]

Why not just buy on one of the exchanges?

Unless you want to wait 3-4 days for a bank transfer to got hrough (which considering the bubble could burst at any time is waaay to long) its very hard to fund an exchange from the UK.  I'm struggling with this as I'm keen to buy some BTC asap.

My last SEPA from UK to Bitstamp went through same day, today's is taking longer.

You can avoid extortionate bank charges and exchange rates by using Transferwise - http://transferwise.com/u/054b

[botsofbitcoin]

Blockchain.info are pretty quick with bank transfers from the UK. Also, usually pretty good prices.

[NABiT]

Blockchain.info are pretty quick with bank transfers from the UK. Also, usually pretty good prices.

blockchain.info have "ceased UK deposits indefinitely"

[WikileaksDude]

Made this guide: www.bitcoinuk.blogspot.com

So far the cheapest way that I found to buy btc from UK..

Hope it helps.

[botsofbitcoin]

Made this guide: www.bitcoinuk.blogspot.com

So far the cheapest way that I found to buy btc from UK..

Hope it helps.

Thanks for that. Any idea what happened to blockchain.info?

[SusiBiker]

Made this guide: www.bitcoinuk.blogspot.com

So far the cheapest way that I found to buy btc from UK..

Hope it helps.

I hope so too.
Many thanks for taking the time to do this.

The UK situation really sucks! Anyone would think that UK banks don't want us to use digital currency. Wait? What? They don't...? I wonder why? 
What puzzles me is why other companies do not set up shop in the UK to enable the easy purchase of Bitcoins? Is our goverment/treasury somehow causing problems?
I would have thought that being the only exchange in the UK would be quite lucrative no matter what the tax situation with respect to Her Majesty's Goverment is.

Regards,
Susi

[jlchcc]

Made this guide: www.bitcoinuk.blogspot.com

So far the cheapest way that I found to buy btc from UK..

Hope it helps.

I hope so too.
Many thanks for taking the time to do this.

The UK situation really sucks! Anyone would think that UK banks don't want us to use digital currency. Wait? What? They don't...? I wonder why? 
What puzzles me is why other companies do not set up shop in the UK to enable the easy purchase of Bitcoins? Is our goverment/treasury somehow causing problems?
I would have thought that being the only exchange in the UK would be quite lucrative no matter what the tax situation with respect to Her Majesty's Goverment is.

Regards,
Susi

Similar guide, different explanation:

http://howtogetbitcoinsuk.blogspot.co.uk/

[whitetoo]

Been using https://localbitcoins.com as hit a brick wall with all other avenues in getting GBP to BitCoins.
Pricing on the above website is a little insane now though, it was ok a few days ago.
Otherwise talking to these nice folk on the forum is proving the best method.

[botsofbitcoin]

Been using https://localbitcoins.com as hit a brick wall with all other avenues in getting GBP to BitCoins.
Pricing on the above website is a little insane now though, it was ok a few days ago.
Otherwise talking to these nice folk on the forum is proving the best method.

Prices on the website are insane at the moment because it's slow to get money back in. I'm barely breaking even on a 15% - 20% markup (varying depending on how many coins I have and where I think the price is going as it takes a 24-48 hours to get funds back onto an exchange. We're easily seeing that sort of a rise over two days at the moment.

I'm looking forward to another nice bit of consolidation like last week so I can catch up.

[bowen151]

With a UK debit card you can do this:

Simply sign up to transferwise: http://transferwise.com/u/f0bd

Open bitstamp in another tab and login (sign up if you havent already)

Click SEPA deposit on bitstamps deposit page to get payment/banking information

Go back to your transferwise page and input the details from bitstamp by pressing the "make a payment" button.

Upload your funds to transferwise by debit card or bank transfer and when they get payment, they will then send it on to bitstamp as a SEPA payment.

24-72 hours later your bitstamp account should be credited and ready to buy bitcoin

Or alternatively you can use www.bitcoinfridge.co.uk for both BTC and LTC although he may be a little busier than normal due to the UK going coin crazy the past few weeks, plus he only reopened his doors about 3 days ago! Tell him I sent you lol, maybe he'll start doing referral bonuses for a chosen few

[bear1981]

you should use local bitcoins it is worth the extra, i did about 8 trades through them with no trouble

[bowen151]

localbitcoins charges too high of a premium, far too high

same as bitbargain IMO, they seem to be working though so fair play to them.

[WikileaksDude]

Made this guide: www.bitcoinUK.blogspot.com

So far the cheapest way that I found to buy btc from UK..

Hope it helps.

[btcxchange]

We're looking to help facilitate trading between buyers and sellers in the UK.

If you are interested please visit https://btcxchange.co.uk and we'll keep you up to date.

[1m1nd]

I use transferwise to deposit into Bitstamp. Well worth doing to avoid unnecessary bank charges.

New users get their first transfer free with this link

http://transferwise.com/u/879c

[uMMcQxCWELNzkt]

Lots of issues with Transferwise. I got to the payment stage where I had the Bank Transfer and the Debit card options. However I could not complete either. My card is Visa but not verified so I was getting errors and it turns out in order to send money to a new payee I need a PINsentry device which is going to take 7 days to arrive lol.

[jlchcc]

Lots of issues with Transferwise. I got to the payment stage where I had the Bank Transfer and the Debit card options. However I could not complete either. My card is Visa but not verified so I was getting errors and it turns out in order to send money to a new payee I need a PINsentry device which is going to take 7 days to arrive lol.

Just get verified by visa, you can do it in your online banking. Having said this, if you still wanna buy Bitcoins in the UK, directly without intermediators on ebay or other middle men (with huge fees) is difficult, I made this guide with an easy process:
http://howtogetbitcoinsuk.blogspot.co.uk

[michaelGedi]

I agree with the TransferWise plan - use it with one of the exchanges... it's pretty straightforward and will save you a fair bit of money on charges and exchange rates.

If you choose priority payment it always arrives the same day for a small fee, and still a lot cheaper than UKASH or using blockchain.info (they charge something like 6%) or other transfer methods with hefty bank fees...

I use Bitstamp and it always lands quickly and safely, but it works with other exchanges as well. Then you can just move your coins to your wallet and voila  

Link here:

http://bitcointransfer.blogspot.co.uk/

best wishes and make sure you secure your wallet. I found Electrum to be easy to use and feels pretty safe once I got used to how it works  

[ryand188]

Hi all,

Im new here so go easy, after looking into the bitstamp method it seems to work out more expensive than local bitcoins, even when the rate is 75.76 per bitcoin! am I missing something here?
I was only looking at doing a .50 BTC transaction at first as i've always used blockchain 

[michaelGedi]

I haven't used local bitcoins but I guess when the price is fluctuating that could well be the case?

Bitstamp keeps up in real time.

I would say exchanges like Bitstamp are only really worth investing your time if you are going to buy more than 0.5 BTC

[bowen151]

If you are looking for more than just a single coin or part of one then i'd recommend using the transferwise way that I mentioned a few times. Its handy and quick. longest wait Ive had was just over 24 hours.

[1m1nd]

you can always try bitcoinfridge.co.uk

never replied to me, but i know people who have done regular business with him

[bowen151]

Done a lot of buisness with mick from the fridge. Excellent service although he is having some problems finding uk sellers to keep his volume up, maybe ask him for a quote by using the website, if hes got coins to sell im sure he will not hold any back

[Pteppic]

I have always used currencyfair for my currency exchanges. They have no fee for exchanging currency, you can place an order to set your own exchange rate, but you pay about £3 per transfer. In reality, though, the spread between bids and asks is often about 0.5% off spot rate anyway. If you have had issues with transferwise, though, they are worth a look.

The cheapest way to get GBP to BTC depends on the amount you are dealing with. For larger amounts it is sometimes worth paying the international wire fee. You have to work out if the 0.5% exchange fee plus 0.3% Bitstamp exchange fee comes out to more than the international wire fee.

Since Mtgox EUR and bitcoin central trade in euros, you don't have to worry about the 0.3% fee for converting from EUR to USD, but it is also worth considering whether the site you are sending your euros to tends to have a higher or lower average price than other exchanges. It is no use saving 0.3% on currency conversion only to find out that prices at your destination site are 1% higher.

[evilscoop]

+1 transfer wire to bitstamp

[weisoq]

can't use transferwise any more
http://transferwise.com/blog/2013-04/notice-to-bitcoin-users-april-2013

[Dorijan Grey]

can't use transferwise any more
http://transferwise.com/blog/2013-04/notice-to-bitcoin-users-april-2013

Bummer

[botsofbitcoin]

CurrencyFair are still happy to take money going onto an exchange. I had a good phone lconversation with one of their guys in Ireland yesterday and he sounded fairly clued up about Bitcoin. Apparently their bank (Bank of America) don't allow them to move money out of an exchange though. That's fine by me as I do most of my selling through LocalBitcoins anyway.

He couldn't give any sort of guarantee that they will keep accepting transfers though. They're as much at the mercy of their bank as TransferWise.

[litecoin_messiah]

http://www.reddit.com/r/litecoin/comments/1g2r9n/litecoin_sales_uk_gdp/ best way with pingit detailed here.

[bonker]

Hello all, im looking to buy 500-750 pounds worth of bitcoins was wondering if anyone could point me to the right direction?
Already on localbitcoins but they are selling at a quite expensive price to take advantage of the current growth :/

Thanks

 Ill sell you some if you are down London way... I'll skin you alive on rate though. I ain't getting out of bed for no charity run.