BitcoinGateway.com - BTC & MtGoxUSD via Visa/Mastercard (US only)

[S3052]

FWIW, I've known Chaord for a while now, and he's a stand-up guy.

I've been directing people to BitCoinGateway.com when they need Bitcoins to play Dragon's Tale, and all have reported quick and hassle-free service.

I agree with you, teppy. Chaord is a great guy, I have talked to him via the phone already and worked on a joint project charter. I full trust him.

[Bruce Wagner]

I've been reluctant to spread the word to friends when the best way to get coins would be for people to buy from me.

I heard THAT....

New people, hearing that the best/easiest way to buy Bitcoin is from ME....  are instantly like, "Huh?"  

It sounds totally fishy if I'm the only seller of Bitcoins.      Makes it sound like I'm either a drug dealer or a ponzi schemer.

That's why I'm working so hard on growing the listings on BitcoinBuy.com - a directory of local Bitcoin-for-Cash (and vice versa) dealers.  ( If YOU are reading this right now, and YOU are not on that list on BitcoinBuy.com, email or PM me so I can add you! You only have to be willing to meet someone in person, locally, and sell them Bitcoin for cash and/or vice versa. )

BitcoinGateway.com and Bitcoin2cc.com just make it all that much easier...  and make it sound that much more respectable at the same time.   Bravo for both these services!  

By the way, BOTH are linked from  BitcoinCard.com  now...

[chaord]

BitcoinGateway.com is back OPEN for business!  Buy yourself some bitcoins and send your friends!

[chaord]

Just to clarify.  Unfortunately, we can only accept US orders right now.  It was pointed out to me that according to Alexa.com: 
Visitors by Country for Bitcoin.org
Country
Percent of Site Traffic
 Russia
25.4%
 United States
16.0%
 Switzerland
7.1%
 India
5.3%
 Australia
4.3%
 Canada
1.9%
 OTHER
40.0%
 Canada
1.9%
 OTHER
40.0%

Needless to say we will be working on an international solution as quick as possible

[slush]

Chaord, I appreciate your work and I'm looking forward payments from EU.

One question/idea. Do you plan to make integration API for services using Bitcoin? It would be cool to make automatic bridge between Visa(USD, EUR, ...) and bitcoins for 3rd party services.

Nowadays merchant/service provider have three possibilities (relevant to bitcoin economy):

a) Accept only bitcoins (ideal situation)
b) Accept bitcoins and Visa (thru paypal, etc).
c) Accept only Visa, not bitcoins (most common situation nowadays)

Many mechants see there is no real market in bitcoin at these days (it is true, we are on the beginning) so when they starts their business, it is fully rational to not support Bitcoins (costs for no real effect). I'm talking about real merchants, not fans of Bitcoins.

Imagine that you provide some API, which make payments from Visa to bitcoins fully transparent for merchants. They will make a request for bitcoins from you, you will ask for user details and card number, make a transaction and send bitcoins to MERCHANT. In this situation, merchant can accept only bitcoins and customer can pay only USD. Customer don't even need to know about Bitcoins (but during a transaction is the good time to show some interesting information about bitcoin, of course).

There are different 'merchant API' already (mybitcoin, mtgox), but they expect customer is already a bitcoin member.

[The Madhatter]

You should do what I do: assume that the boneheads at the bank have already leaked the card information.

chaord's service is the least of our worries.

[nanotube]

i trust chaord, but still, those are legitimate questions, and i think chaord would do well to detail his data treatment procedures, in order to foster trust from the community.

(and hopefully, those details include not storing cleartext cc numbers, as slush suggests ).

[ribuck]

... can I trust that he has the technical expertise to store my number safely in a database?

If he is motivated enough and intelligent enough to use a non-mainstream language like Scala, it's obvious that he has the technical expertise. But that's not really what you're asking, is it?

Anyway, don't fall for the attempt of corporations to try to make you accept the blame for abuse of your number. It's just a number. If a fraudulent purchase uses that number, you don't have to pay for it. That's the law. You're not responsible for auditing Visa and MC merchants' internal systems.

[chaord]

Wow, lots of activity here since I last posted!  I will attempt to address a number of issues:
1) BitcoinGateway.com is currently a one-man shop (me).  However, I am not interested in keeping something as incredible as bitcoin small.  I am looking into the possibilities seeking investment capital and going for a home run.

2) I'm also looking to start a bitcoin-auditing company that verifies the integrity and security procedures of bitcoin businesses.  BitcoinGateway.com would be only one of the member businesses.  I see this as a mechanism by which the underlying software of companies like bitcoingateway.com and others could actually open source it, subject it to scrutiny, etc, yet be a "verified implementer."  Eg, sure a fraudster could take the software and implement his own bitcoingateway, but his site would never be approved by the auditing company (and therefore not frequented by customers).  This way, however, we could all gain the additional advantage of open source software, transparency, etc.

3) About credit card number encryption.  If you are a current or prospective customer, I am happy to discuss the measures I am taking in private. (no need to open my playbook on this forum .  To nanotube and sharp's points, I will also work on a public statement of my security philosophy. Edit:  as soon as any credit cards are verified/denied they are moved to the Authorize.net CIM (PCI compliant) servers.

4) With regard to API.  The short answer is "yes."  I will be creating an API.  However, the timeline for the API is unknown at this point (probably depends on whether I can recruit some outside talent .

Thank you all for your support.  Together we can change the world, one bitcoin at a time!

[jimbobway]

Just to clarify.  Unfortunately, we can only accept US orders right now.  It was pointed out to me that according to Alexa.com: 
Visitors by Country for Bitcoin.org
Country
Percent of Site Traffic
 Russia
25.4%
 United States
16.0%
 Switzerland
7.1%
 India
5.3%
 Australia
4.3%
 Canada
1.9%
 OTHER
40.0%
 Canada
1.9%
 OTHER
40.0%

Needless to say we will be working on an international solution as quick as possible

My feeling is you are getting a lot if russians who may be attempting to hack your site.

[chaord]

My feeling is you are getting a lot if russians who may be attempting to hack your site.

I'm not entirely convinced one way or the other, but yeah, that's why I'm being super cautious at this point.

[chaord]

BitcoinGateway.com now allows you to purchase MtGoxUSD via credit card.  Currently there is a 10% processing fee and amounts are limited 30 mtgoxUSD to 100 mtgoxUSD.

[jgarzik]

BitcoinGateway.com now allows you to purchase MtGoxUSD via credit card.  Currently there is a 10% processing fee and amounts are limited 30 mtgoxUSD to 100 mtgoxUSD.

Nice addition!  Relieves some worries about exchange rate (though 10% with a maximum $100 is a bit tough).

[chaord]

Nice addition!  Relieves some worries about exchange rate (though 10% with a maximum $100 is a bit tough).

Glad you like it! I will raise the maximum and lower the fee eventually.  Initially, and due to my current inventory, these numbers make the most sense.

[chaord]

Just an FYI, I take identity theft very seriously.  In fact, one thief has already attempted a number of fraudulent purchases on BitcoinGateway.com.  Luckily I was able to speak with the actual card holder and have since forwarded all communication I had with the thief to the cardholder.  Hopefully they find the bastard.  It's that type of sh*t that are going to make normal people (and governments) scared of bitcoin.

Incidentally, the cardholder had no idea what bitcoin even was (not surprising) but was impressed overall upon further review

That's my rant.  Happy bitcoining everyone!

[FreeMoney]

Just an FYI, I take identity theft very seriously.  In fact, one thief has already attempted a number of fraudulent purchases on BitcoinGateway.com.  Luckily I was able to speak with the actual card holder and have since forwarded all communication I had with the thief to the cardholder.  Hopefully they find the bastard.  It's that type of sh*t that are going to make normal people (and governments) scared of bitcoin.

Incidentally, the cardholder had no idea what bitcoin even was (not surprising) but was impressed overall upon further review

That's my rant.  Happy bitcoining everyone!

Wow, that's actually a really good advertisement to that guy about bitcoin imo. Bitcoin businessmen are careful and responsible etc.

[chaord]

Bitcoingateway.com will be closed for the holidays as we restructure and add new features...hopefully the crumbling non-bitcoin economy can hang on just a little longer :-)

[Binford 6100]

Bitcoingateway.com will be closed for the holidays ...

i wish i had 2 months vacation /y

[chaord]

Thing are certainly taking longer then expected 

I'll open the site back up eventually, but I have a bunch of things to get done first.  If you're a developer and would consider developing and improving Bitcoingateway, contact me privately.

[Binford 6100]

If you're a developer and would consider developing and improving Bitcoingateway, contact me privately.

yes, i'm developer and interested in help but more i'd be willing to test than write code (write test scripts, automate, run them & evaluate data). because testing can be planned and usually also finishes in finite time