Wall Observer BTC/USD - Bitcoin price movement tracking & discussion

[Elwar]

Hmm. That's a bit of a damp squib. They seemed to be hinting at getting a proper banking relationship but clearly couldn't pull it off. If somewhere with the muscle of Coinbase can't do it then than doesn't bode too well.

UK banking is a walled garden and they're all interlinked somehow. There's no way one bank could start to play bitcoin without the others threatening to refuse to play with them.

All an interesting object lesson in how incestuous and self serving the sector is.

From the coinbase support page :

You may transfer EUR to your Coinbase Wallet via SEPA transfer or bank wire. You may transfer GBP or USD to your Coinbase Wallet via bank wire.

https://support.coinbase.com/customer/portal/articles/1963197-uk-customers-funding-coinbase-exchange-wallets

*sigh*

SEPA for EUR is still quite good.

This would be useful. Though ANX already does this. Competition is always good though.

[TakeTheSkyRoad]

SEPA for EUR is still quite good.

True but I've been waiting for a Faster Payments exchange for what feel like forever (well, a couple of years).

So many announcements of UK exchanges and so much promise but not one yet has a UK banking partner.

[Fatman3001]

I don't get this project at all. How is it going to transfer wealth?

If it's just digital IOUs to WU itself then I guess regular fees will apply, unless it's a premium service and fees are higher.

I mean purely based on the speculators..... what if the investors in XRP realise that it's entirely possible that Ripple Labs might licence out the technology rather than add institutions to the existing network ?

Either is a win for Ripple and brings money in to the company.

Yes, sure. But I meant their project with or without XRP.

Ripple can't handle those kinds of transfers atm(not talking technically, but economically.... i think?). In BTC you have people buying and selling BTC on such a scale that you can buy it in one country and sell it in another country and get roughly the same sum back(unless we're talking many millions). So how will ripple/wu transfer the wealth?

[gentlemand]

From the coinbase support page :

You may transfer EUR to your Coinbase Wallet via SEPA transfer or bank wire. You may transfer GBP or USD to your Coinbase Wallet via bank wire.

https://support.coinbase.com/customer/portal/articles/1963197-uk-customers-funding-coinbase-exchange-wallets

*sigh*

No faster payments which are free and near instant. You still have to dick around with old school bank transfers that cost money and take time.

You end up with £ in your account but it might take days and my bank costs £30 to send it. It looks like they're using an Estonian bank.

[Fatman3001]

Hmm. That's a bit of a damp squib. They seemed to be hinting at getting a proper banking relationship but clearly couldn't pull it off. If somewhere with the muscle of Coinbase can't do it then than doesn't bode too well.

UK banking is a walled garden and they're all interlinked somehow. There's no way one bank could start to play bitcoin without the others threatening to refuse to play with them.

All an interesting object lesson in how incestuous and self serving the sector is.

From the coinbase support page :

You may transfer EUR to your Coinbase Wallet via SEPA transfer or bank wire. You may transfer GBP or USD to your Coinbase Wallet via bank wire.

https://support.coinbase.com/customer/portal/articles/1963197-uk-customers-funding-coinbase-exchange-wallets

*sigh*

SEPA for EUR is still quite good.

This would be useful. Though ANX already does this. Competition is always good though.

We had a bit of a scare with Bitstamp this year, so another (BTC-E is a bit too shady) big player is needed in Europe.

[Fatman3001]

SEPA for EUR is still quite good.

True but I've been waiting for a Faster Payments exchange for what feel like forever (well, a couple of years).

So many announcements of UK exchanges and so much promise but not one yet has a UK banking partner.

If all this noise from The City is for real, you should have it soon. I think there is a larger idea behind placing the european branch of Coinbase in the UK.

[TakeTheSkyRoad]

Yes, sure. But I meant their project with or without XRP.

Ripple can't handle those kinds of transfers atm(not talking technically, but economically.... i think?). In BTC you have people buying and selling BTC on such a scale that you can buy it in one country and sell it in another country and get roughly the same sum back(unless we're talking many millions). So how will ripple/wu transfer the wealth?

Answering the bold bit I have to say I don't feel technical enough to answer with total confidence BUT if this was internal to Western Union then you could theoretically use the network to move IOUs between the different countries WU operate in, similar to the transferwise system I would imagine.  They would need to make a traditional transfer every now and then to balance the books but it could save them some money and another fraction of a % saved in costs is much money in the bank for them.

Either way Ripple is helping to prop up the old system so we should throw tomatoes at them and Boo loudly.

[gentlemand]

SEPA for EUR is still quite good.

True but I've been waiting for a Faster Payments exchange for what feel like forever (well, a couple of years).

So many announcements of UK exchanges and so much promise but not one yet has a UK banking partner.

If all this noise from The City is for real, you should have it soon. I think there is a larger idea behind placing the european branch of Coinbase in the UK.

Noise is free and makes you look cool in front of your friends.

Actually knuckling down and doing something with crypto is going to be too scary for any of them.

The UK government couldn't even get the banks to lend to small businesses in decent numbers despite actually owning some of the banks.

It would take a youthful upstart to kick things into action but they'll just be crushed by not being allowed to join in with the big boys. Fidor were looking into UK operations but shelved their plans.

Edit - no they didn't https://twitter.com/FidorUK/status/593323935711830016

Maybe things will roll soon.

[TakeTheSkyRoad]

We had a bit of a scare with Bitstamp this year, so another (BTC-E is a bit too shady) big player is needed in Europe.

I've used btc-e right from December 2013 and had no problems though I'm not entirely comfortable with the situation so I do now have my trading stash spread out across multiple exchanges.

There is also Kraken who have started to get a bit more volume these days and Coinfloor who I've only just registered with.

For small purchases I've tended to use https://bittylicious.com/ who do offer Faster Payments but between individuals accounts (which isn't ideal) and they are expensive.

Edit :  The current Bittylicious rate is £157 and the Coinfloor rate is £146 so for anything less than say 1 to 1.5 BTC Bittylicious is cheaper than a SEPA transfer to Coinfloor with the associated £10 to £15 SEPA fee plus exchange fees.

Edit2 : Worth noting using Faster Payments with Bittylicious the time taken from starting a payment to bitcoin showing against my mobile wallet is 10 to 15 minutes. A few confirmations later and I can spend it so if you need BTC in a rush maybe the extra cost is worth with quick turn-around.  My dream is this without the extra premium against the exchange rate

[empowering]

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/341306/Fintech_-_The_UK_s_unique_environment_for_growth.pdf

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(EDIT Also:)  https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/413095/gs-15-3-fintech-futures.pdf

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http://jackgavigan.com/2015/03/19/budget-2015/

There’s little doubt that here in the UK, lack of regulation has hampered the digital currencies sector. Banks, having been hit with punitive fines in the past for failing to do enough to prevent money-laundering, refuse to touch anything Bitcoin-related with a 10-foot bargepole, meaning that UK companies in this space are typically forced to bank overseas (e.g. Bitstamp, Coinfloor and CEX.IO bank in Slovenia, Poland and Latvia, respectively, despite being based in the UK). Applying AML regulation to exchanges should remove this barrier to banking services and help make the UK a more attractive regulatory regime.



Baby steps......

(but in what direction   , when I say baby steps I am referring to the path towards a true sterling based exchange with a UK banking partner(s)......but of course the banks are seemingly and at the moment at least throwing up barriers.)

[kehtolo]

Apparently Fidor are coming to the UK also!

This is the same bank that in Germany has dealt with bitcoin customers for about 2 years...



https://www.fidorbank.uk/

https://twitter.com/FidorUK

[Fatman3001]

Yes, sure. But I meant their project with or without XRP.

Ripple can't handle those kinds of transfers atm(not talking technically, but economically.... i think?). In BTC you have people buying and selling BTC on such a scale that you can buy it in one country and sell it in another country and get roughly the same sum back(unless we're talking many millions). So how will ripple/wu transfer the wealth?

Answering the bold bit I have to say I don't feel technical enough to answer with total confidence BUT if this was internal to Western Union then you could theoretically use the network to move IOUs between the different countries WU operate in, similar to the transferwise system I would imagine.  They would need to make a traditional transfer every now and then to balance the books but it could save them some money and another fraction of a % saved in costs is much money in the bank for them.

Either way Ripple is helping to prop up the old system so we should throw tomatoes at them and Boo loudly.

So in theory we could see their internal system running ripple-tech and their books being balanced by BTC transfers in the future?

[empowering]

Apparently Fidor are coming to the UK also!

This is the same bank that in Germany has dealt with bitcoin customers for about 2 years...



https://www.fidorbank.uk/

https://twitter.com/FidorUK

Indeed, although they too have been running an obstacle course for a while....it seems they have reached the finish line.... though I am not sure it will necessarily mean they will automatically process domestic sterling payments for a UK based BTC exchange... at least not right away, maybe later. But you never know, it would be a interesting surprise. (What if Coinbase 1st UK banking partner turns out to be Fidor, would be interesting timing of the announcements, Coinbase UK yesterday and Fidor today.. but.......still I would be really surprised if it equaled faster payments sterling transfers anytime soon, if they did I think I would sign up for that right away tbh.) 

[ChartBuddy]

Coin
Explanation

[pa]

http://www.bloomberg.com/research/markets/news/article.asp?docKey=600-201504290300HUGIN___EUPRX____HUG1916185-1

XBT Provider Launches World's First Bitcoin Exchange Traded Note on Nasdaq Stockholm

[empowering]

[sAt0sHiFanClub]

Apparently Fidor are coming to the UK also!

This is the same bank that in Germany has dealt with bitcoin customers for about 2 years...



https://www.fidorbank.uk/

https://twitter.com/FidorUK

Fidor have had the same issues with UK banks as mentioned above - they cant get a partner to handle payments. UK banking is closed shop.

Unless they have reached an agreement in the last few days?

EDIT: Reading the tweet, it would seem they have. I wonder who sponsored them in the end?

[empowering]

Apparently Fidor are coming to the UK also!

This is the same bank that in Germany has dealt with bitcoin customers for about 2 years...



https://www.fidorbank.uk/

https://twitter.com/FidorUK

Fidor have had the same issues with UK banks as mentioned above - they cant get a partner to handle payments. UK banking is closed shop.

Unless they have reached an agreement in the last few days?

EDIT: Reading the tweet, it would seem they have. I wonder who sponsored them in the end?

Relevant

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/11513405/UK-launch-of-digital-bank-Fidor-hamstrung-by-payments-providers.html

" A German digital bank is planning to launch in Britain, once it is granted access to the payment system.

Fidor Bank had planned to open in the UK last month, but it has been held up by the difficult payments infrastructure. "

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https://www.fidorbank.uk/

[TakeTheSkyRoad]

So in theory we could see their internal system running ripple-tech and their books being balanced by BTC transfers in the future?

I'm speculating that they could use Ripple tech to move money around internally using a network just for Western Union using what I'll call WRP (not XRP) which may save them some money.  I don't know how they move money internationally at the moment but they will (I assume) have cut every corner to make it as cost effective as possible but this may allow an extra edge.  To rebalance the books if they end up with too much money in their Mexico account then they may move money back to the US but using traditional methods and denominated in fiat.

I would love to see them using BTC but I doubt it would happen since it would "legitimise" the competition.

For the same reason this is why I don't think they would use the existing ripple network (so XRP) but they could use the technology.

[TakeTheSkyRoad]

Awesome, best use of Hitler yet