Buying Bitcoins

[galz]

I was looking information about buying Bitcoins, and I found out Bitcoins can be bought only using sites which offer this kind of service. How can I buy Bitcoins without using those sites? There should be another method, based on the P2P network of Bitcoin. Besides, those sites offering exchange of money, which means replacing my money with existing Bitcoins, and not creating new Bitcoins.

[1714894543]

1714894543

[tiktoc]

Maybe find someone on the forums or on https://localbitcoins.com/ to purchase from with cash in person?

[camaro69327]

I was looking information about buying Bitcoins, and I found out Bitcoins can be bought only using sites which offer this kind of service. How can I buy Bitcoins without using those sites? There should be another method, based on the P2P network of Bitcoin. Besides, those sites offering exchange of money, which means replacing my money with existing Bitcoins, and not creating new Bitcoins.

First Bold...yes thats how it is done.

Second Bold....you meed to Mine to find coins...nobody Creates them per say.

[mmmmyah]

Google bitcoin otc   or localbitcoins like another poster mentioned :-)

[DannyHamilton]

Bitcoin is money.

You have a few options.

You can provide a product or service and receive bitcoins as payment.
You can exchange your local currency for bitcoins.
You can beg and hope people will donate bitcoins to you out of the kindness of their heart.

(I suppose you could also consider scamming/stealing them)

[canada]

I haven't bought any in person yet, probably because it seems intimidating and risky.. I live in a big city and meeting some stranger to exchange cash for anything is shady to say the least.

Anyone on here has met and exchanged for cash? How'd it go? (good, bad). Everyone remembers their first time :p

[TheButterZone]

Here's my customers' experience:
See my ad. Text me how much you want. I confirm amount, lock rate for the 1 hour it takes to get anywhere within the county to my place (I recalc just before arrival if more than an hour passes), and text my home address, and ask for your BTC address. Arrive at my place, I let you in. I show you the scanbook iOS app with your BTC address pasted into it already, to confirm that's really where you want your BTC sent. You give me the agreed-upon amount, I make sure it's all there, go into my office, hit send (as the purpose of having the BTC address in advance is to have the TX amount and destination filled, ready to push immediately - also to make sure your address is even valid before you arrive - I've been given invalid ones by Blockchain.info Wallet users a bunch of times). I come back to the front door, refresh the app (you refresh yours as well, if you have one), and you see that you've received your BTC. Shake hands, bye.

If you want, you can wait in your car outside for 1 confirm, but who knows how long that'll take, since fee or no fee, there is no speed guarantee.

If a supposed seller isn't at least as meticulous as I am, expect to get ripped off.

P.S. The only time I sold away from home was at a restaurant, and I'd printed/funded a paper wallet with the purchase amount, and wrote down the rate, and his number on it, like a check. I texted the paper wallet's BTC address in advance, so the buyer could check it, then when we met, I let him sweep the corresponding private key on the paper after I made sure he gave me the agreed-upon amount. I hung around long enough that he could have reported problems, but he left without incident. I literally could not have spent out of that private key before he broadcast the sweep TX on his phone, because I didn't have internet access there, WiFi or otherwise, only at home. I wouldn't recommend this, unless you have experience sweeping your BTC from one private key to another immediately. And people can easily take your money and run from a public meeting place, compared to their own home.

[galz]

I don't understand. There should be a way to create new bitcoins (increasing the amount of existing bitcoins, that is how it gains its value), because creating bitcoins is allowed until 2140. After that, there will be only exchanging.

[Mike Christ]

I don't understand. There should be a way to create new bitcoins (increasing the amount of existing bitcoins, that is how it gains its value), because creating bitcoins is allowed until 2140. After that, there will be only exchanging.

All 21 Million bitcoins are already existing, miners just find them (referred to as minting) and add them in what we currently can use right now.

[DannyHamilton]

All 21 Million bitcoins are already existing, miners just find them (referred to as minting) and add them in what we currently can use right now.

That is a bit of a metaphor. The concept of "a bitcoin" is really an abstraction that allows us to converse a bit more easily about using the results of the bitcoin protocol as a currency.  In actuality no "bitcoins" actually exist or ever will.  What exists is a public ledger and a protocol with rules about what requirements must be met to update the ledger.  Miners follow these rules to add transactions to the ledger and the entire network ensures that the miners are following the proper rules.  In exchange the entire network allows each new ledger entry to include a special transaction having no input that assigns outputs to one or more addresses, but does not exceed a value specified by the protocol.

[nitrous]

When you talked about mining bitcoins, that happens when your wallet solves enough mathematical problems to verify enough of a block/s that you can be awarded some bitcoins. This is typically not cost-effective, at least for most normal computers, as generating them is fairly slow and energy-intensive. The only alternative to get substantial amounts of bitcoins, buy buying them, can only happen if you find someone who wants to sell you bitcoins. The most reliable way is through the sites you mentioned, however if you can find some user out there who is willing to trade, say via an irc channel, or some other way, you are free to trade that way. This is less safe though, which is why it is better to stick to the trusted exchanges and marketplaces.

[RobbieClarken]

All 21 Million bitcoins are already existing, miners just find them (referred to as minting) and add them in what we currently can use right now.

That is a bit of a metaphor. The concept of "a bitcoin" is really an abstraction that allows us to converse a bit more easily about using the results of the bitcoin protocol as a currency.  In actuality no "bitcoins" actually exist or ever will.  What exists is a public ledger and a protocol with rules about what requirements must be met to update the ledger.  Miners follow these rules to add transactions to the ledger and the entire network ensures that the miners are following the proper rules.  In exchange the entire network allows each new ledger entry to include a special transaction having no input that assigns outputs to one or more addresses, but does not exceed a value specified by the protocol.

Thanks, that's just the concise explanation of the bitcoin protocol that I've been looking for!

[DannyHamilton]

When you talked about mining bitcoins, that happens when your wallet solves enough mathematical problems to verify enough of a block/s that you can be awarded some bitcoins. This is typically not cost-effective, at least for most normal computers, as generating them is fairly slow and energy-intensive.

While the warnings are valid (that mining may not be cost effective for most computers), this is not a very good explanation of the mining process.  I suggest you search the forum a bit if you want to understand mining better.

The only alternative to get substantial amounts of bitcoins, buy buying them, can only happen if you find someone who wants to sell you bitcoins.

Actually there are other alternatives:

You can provide a product or service and receive bitcoins as payment.
You can exchange your local currency for bitcoins.
You can beg and hope people will donate bitcoins to you out of the kindness of their heart.

(I suppose you could also consider scamming/stealing them)

The most reliable way is through the sites you mentioned, however if you can find some user out there who is willing to trade, say via an irc channel, or some other way, you are free to trade that way.

Some currency exchange suggestions are:

• MtGox.com
• coinbase.com
• bitfloor.com
• localbitcoins.com
• IRC bitcoin-otc channel
• bitcointalk.org currency exchange sub-forum

This is less safe though, which is why it is better to stick to the trusted exchanges and marketplaces.

Less safe how?  Explain?  I haven't found anything less safe about it than using an online exchange.

EDIT: As of 2013-04-17 BitFloor has ceased all operations.

[nitrous]

Less safe how?  Explain?  I haven't found anything less safe about it than using an online exchange.

I meant that if, for example, you agreed with a stranger to buy x BTC for y USD over, say, paypal, then they could pay you, then you could not give them the BTC, or you could give them the BTC and they could complain to paypal. Paypal would be likely to reverse the transaction, and you would find it very difficult to prove that you were in the right. You need trust in the other party for a transaction to be safe, and big exchanges like MtGox are inherently more trustworthy than an anonymous person you meet in an IRC, for example.

Hmm, yeah I wasn't too sure how mining worked, I guess I still need to learn more about that side of bitcoins.

[DannyHamilton]

- snip -
I meant that if, for example, you agreed with a stranger to buy x BTC for y USD over, say, paypal, then they could pay you, then you could not give them the BTC, or you could give them the BTC and they could complain to paypal. Paypal would be likely to reverse the transaction, and you would find it very difficult to prove that you were in the right. You need trust in the other party for a transaction to be safe, and big exchanges like MtGox are inherently more trustworthy than an anonymous person you meet in an IRC, for example.
- snip -

True, it is very important not to accept reversible payment methods (such as paypal or credit card) when offering bitcoins for currency exchange unless you already have some significant form of trust relationship with the buyer.  It is much safer to meet in a public place and exchange physical cash for bitcoins (which can be arranged at localbitcoins.com or at the IRC bitcoin-otc channel).

[galz]

Ok, so the only way is exchanging money? How adding money to the network was done before there was enough bitcoins?

[ccl]

Ok, so the only way is exchanging money? How adding money to the network was done before there was enough bitcoins?

i think u missed this post: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=15918.0 click FAQ since ur excited:

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/FAQ#How_are_new_bitcoins_created.3F

Welcome to the Bitcoin world!

[rubens]

I have a question about Bitstamp:

Can I cancel limit orders? If not, will they stay up until infinity? Or be canceled after a certain period of time.

Thanks,

Ruben

[DannyHamilton]

Ok, so the only way is exchanging money? How adding money to the network was done before there was enough bitcoins?

Bitcoin is money.

You have a few options.

You can provide a product or service and receive bitcoins as payment.
You can exchange your local currency for bitcoins.
You can beg and hope people will donate bitcoins to you out of the kindness of their heart.

(I suppose you could also consider scamming/stealing them)

[coinator]

Ok, so the only way is exchanging money? How adding money to the network was done before there was enough bitcoins?

From the wiki, you will see that:
New bitcoins are generated by the network through the process of "mining". In a process that is similar to a continuous raffle draw, mining nodes on the network are awarded bitcoins each time they find the solution to a certain mathematical problem (and thereby create a new block). Creating a block is a proof of work with a difficulty that varies with the overall strength of the network.

You may read more about it here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/FAQ#How_are_new_bitcoins_created.3F
There is also a Mining category (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=14.0) here so that you can see how people actually "mine" bitcoins.