Looks like people setting up local bitcoin exchanges.

[killer2021]

Was looking on craigslist in different cities. Looks like people are buying/selling bitcoins in cash. Obviously they don't offer competitive rates but still good idea if lots of people start dealing locally. Thats how the person-to-person bitcoin market starts. First starts with these exchanges then moves to physical products then people start working directly for bitcoin. Once your working for bitcoins, then why the hell convert it to fiat. Just spend it on the physical goods and services you need.

The post i saw said the guy buys at -3$ last trade price and sells at +3$ last trade price.

[Waldschrat]

Good to read;  that is exactly what Bitcoin needs in my opinion.
I guess you are talking about the US, aren't you? For Bitcoin to really take off it would need many more exchanges in many more countries.

Do you have any links by the way?

[frutza]

Interesting. How can this be made safe and large-scale?

[Waldschrat]

Interesting. How can this be made safe and large-scale?

Well, which safety problems do you see with a local exchange?

Large-scale deployment is indeed a big problem, which needs to be solved

[foggyb]

Here is a link: https://www.cavirtex.com/home

If by local you mean national, and by cash exchange you mean directly to bank.

Then yeah. This is a brand new Canadian exchange dealing in canadian dollars directly to canadian bank accounts. Using the Canada-only Interac system they can move a decent amount of cash between accounts in about 30 minutes. They also support direct transfers which take longer obviously, as well as supporting the transfer of inbound and outbound BTC.

This site is not yet two weeks old and there is already a 5000 BTC weekly volume. Given that the Canadian market is much much smaller than US, this should be quite impressive to the casual observer.

One can only surmise that exchanges will start popping up in more countries around the world.

Someone should do a news article on virtex and publish it in a Canadian magazine.

[Fizzgig]

Let's get a ton more people on http://btcnearme.com/

I need more sellers in my area guys! Also if anyone has any other bitcoin local exchange websites let us know.

[bitbot]

go down there with a baseball bat and muscle some btc into your account

[chiropteran]

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/sys/2449772893.html a local example.  Interesting.

[BitcoinPorn]

Building trust.  I like it.  A little risky (to me, it's like having a banker meet you somewhere and then having the ability to follow that banker to their house).

I think things could possibly sway where bankers would handle cash to btc transactions, through offline super duper secure wallets or something.

[AngelusWebDesign]

Let's get a ton more people on http://btcnearme.com/

I need more sellers in my area guys! Also if anyone has any other bitcoin local exchange websites let us know.

WOW this is actually good news for Bitcoin -- why?  Because there are 26 buyers in my area, but only 2 sellers! And that's within 400 kilometers. If Bitcoin were worthless, you'd think everyone would want to sell and few would want to buy...

A word of advice for the creator of the site -- you might include a miles <--> kilometers option for those of us in the United States

Isn't it a US-based site? Apparently not...

[cuddlefish]

There's also ubitex.org: Public order map, phone API, and escrow coming soon (in that order.)

[1.21gigawatts]

Of course be very careful when trading bitcoins locally.  You can easily meet someone, you bring the bitcoins, they bring the cash, but instead bring a gun

[BitcoinPorn]

Of course be very careful when trading bitcoins locally.  You can easily meet someone, you bring the bitcoins, they bring the cash, but instead bring a gun

Always meet in police station parking lots people.

[d.james]

Of course be very careful when trading bitcoins locally.  You can easily meet someone, you bring the bitcoins, they bring the cash, but instead bring a gun

Always meet in police station parking lots people.

then you meet a corrupted cop 

[Vinnie]

Jesus, people! Folks trade goods and services on craigslist all the time! Yes, fraud and theft happens, which is why people take very normal precautions. Don't go and trade $10,000 worth of BTC, obviously. Meet in a public place and keep the transaction total below the amount of money that the most valuable personal item in that public place is worth; which is likely the value of a laptop or smart phone. Plan out the trade to happen before you go off and do something else, like going to see a movie or going for a bike ride or out to eat. If you're only exchanging  tens of dollars worth then you simply won't be worth the trouble.

[Ratman2050]

Here is one near me:

http://lansing.craigslist.org/fns/2440689507.html

Hmm, I live near lansing, but when I go to search "bitcoin" on craigslist in the lansing area nothing comes up, how did you find the post?

[newunit16]

then people start working directly for bitcoin. Once your working for bitcoins, then why the hell convert it to fiat. Just spend it on the physical goods and services you need.

would you work for Euros if you live in the US? How about gold? I live in the US and I work for USD, and only USD. Why? You can't pay your taxes with Euros, Bitcoins, or even gold. If I worked for BTC, it would be one step extra to take to get my taxes paid.

Though I dig local exchanges. There's one at the Cincinnati hackerspace.