Bitcoin about the free world, but not for us in the Middle East!

[KnightElite]

I think that you're country is not yet accepted and legalized the bitcoin. It is very hard to you to enter the world of ceyptocurrency it is because the government of yours is prohibited the bitcoin.

[megynacuna]

i've never come anywhere the id bullshit that's related to crypto either.

people who seem to think this is normal are wrong. you can open a bank account with a scan of a couple of documents.

i think it's because the people who operate this stuff are ultra twitchy. by the sounds of it most localbitcoins sellers want your sperm sample these days. um, nope.

I definitely feel the pain for OP. It's a huge reflection of how Bitcoin and crypto, after all, is still limited to the first world Western sphere of influence - the cheapest and easiest to access Bitcoins are outside of the Global South.

@OP if you're still reading, Localbitcoins is still the best cost-effective way to get Bitcoins with the least hassle. Unless it's changed recently, basic verification is still automated and quick (phone and ID). Yes, you pay a 10-15% premium for BTC, but that's the option available to us (I'm from Southeast Asia).

At least you have the finances to buy. Most like me earned all our coins over time, and only now have something resembling significant amounts to trade/exchange.

I totally agree with you, localbitcoins is the single most cost effective way of securing yourself some bitcoins globally, it is safe and if you have any doubts you can decide to meet in person to transact the sale, it's as simple as that and I will recommend that to OP because that's the best chance he has in acquiring bitcoins without verification.

[mindrust]

Bitcoin makes money laundering very easy thats why governments are so strict on the KYC regulations the exchanges have to follow. Localbitcoins is obviously a more expensive solution but to bypass exchanges you will always have to pay a premium, thats how the world works.

no it doesn't!
because simply put, everything is recorded publicly and you can't fake the records which are the transactions on the public ledger known as blockchain.

you can mix your coins but that is not helping the money laundering thing. you still put some money in and put some out it doesn't become clean. you should read what money laundering means.

You can launder your money with help of merchants who accept bitcoin.

I don't say it is easy but it is doable and may consume some time.

Lets say you have 100btc that you can't prove its source; If you always spend bitcoins for your daily expenses, your bank account will stay untouched. You decided to buy a laptop? Do it with your bitcoins. Buy a coffee, buy groceries etc. It will all go under the radar.

Just don't try to buy a car or house.

[Yutikas_11920]

Bitcoin is all about free world. Exchanger's is obviously not about free world they are making business and if they won't let anyone from middle east its their perception and not bitcoins purpose. If you want to use the free will of bitcoin then you have to use bitcoin - bitcoin freely

well, it is bitcoin is a digital currency that is most free and better provide advantages to its users. Indeed bitcoin is not tied into something the rules, because it now has a lot of problems of the bitcoin where there are several groups who want a legal umbrella in order to obtain a bitcoin every transaction could have a pretty good security. But it's all I think will never happen, because the server is bitcoin is very awake to that. Bitcoin is profitable if you use it wisely
 

[chixka000]

Bitcoin is all about free world. Exchanger's is obviously not about free world they are making business and if they won't let anyone from middle east its their perception and not bitcoins purpose. If you want to use the free will of bitcoin then you have to use bitcoin - bitcoin freely

well, it is bitcoin is a digital currency that is most free and better provide advantages to its users. Indeed bitcoin is not tied into something the rules, because it now has a lot of problems of the bitcoin where there are several groups who want a legal umbrella in order to obtain a bitcoin every transaction could have a pretty good security. But it's all I think will never happen, because the server is bitcoin is very awake to that. Bitcoin is profitable if you use it wisely
 

That is also the problem of other people because they get alot of benefits from that certain groups they dont care anymore if they will tied up by those rules or shall we say a tool of taking away of our freedom on notion

[joganuts]

It's too bad to know that about middle east countries. As i understand, they have hard rules to follow their and it's not easy to buy bitcoin their, anyways you can deals with trusted people whether in localbitcoin.com or in this forums you can find many trusted members here can help you in currency exchange section.
Good luck

Government specification can be a vital part on bitcoin globalization. And middle east as country with a different form o hierarchy or form of leadership maybe there is a wide differences between the partial alignment of technology to people. And the laws can void the system of bitcoin on bringing its development system through out the nation. The standards may be differ also on buy and sell when it comes to local bitcoin, it might need more support of both the people and the government system with a high power to handle it.

[Prodigan786]

What your really trying to do here if your really want  to invest on bitcoin find genuine way dont expose your wealth infront of people there is lots of scammers exists they will trap you one or other way if they knows that your having money. So please don't expose your wealth. I may suggest do some research how to buy bitcoin from different exchanges and also keep some escrow service in BCT and buy bitcoin again you have to research lot before you spend your hard earned money.

[doomloop]

I think that you're country is not yet accepted and legalized the bitcoin. It is very hard to you to enter the world of ceyptocurrency it is because the government of yours is prohibited the bitcoin.

  i am agree with your point that may be your country bitcoin is not yet accepted by government or maybe you people are lack of knowledge about bitcoin so I guess it can be the reason for it, bitcoin is useful for all people not for a specific country or a specific society.

[joebrook]

It's not so straightforward to buy bitcoin  in the Middle East. Yes, I have tried everything. If bitcoin was about the free world, why all the exchanges ask for very strict verification that even the stock exchanges don't ask for?  I have never had to take a selfie with my passport in my entire 40 yrs of life until I came in to the bitcoin world, what the heck?!! All the exchanges take ages to verify and when they do, they discriminate those from the middle east. Most of them don't allow us to use fiat currency to buy bitcoin, so how the hell new comers will buy it? The barriers of entry to the bitcoin world are too many for people in middle east, am sick of it.

I find the conventional banks much easier to deal with than  the bitcoin exchanges. Guess what? I was successfully registered in one after waiting for a month, only to be told I can't spend more than  300 Dollars a week in buying bitcoin, seriously??? I freaking have thousands of dollars to invest and they want me to spend 300 dollars a week for a coin worth $2500???

Now, the easy way is to buy from others, but I am gonna have to pay a premium of 10 to 20 pct above fair market value to buy and that's BS!

I am thinking to start my own ICO for an exchange that has commercial sense an open to the world. We need a revolution here.

This normally happens when you try to purchase bitcoins online with either PayPal or a credit card,  they want to be sure there is no charge back in case it is a fraudulent order, they are just protecting themselves from losing money that's all.

[BigBall]

I think that best way to fix your problem is to try to change skrill to btc or payeer to btc ,neteller to btc or try to find some online trusted person which can change paypal money for btc or something else.

[sana54210]

It's not so straightforward to buy bitcoin  in the Middle East. Yes, I have tried everything. If bitcoin was about the free world, why all the exchanges ask for very strict verification that even the stock exchanges don't ask for?  I have never had to take a selfie with my passport in my entire 40 yrs of life until I came in to the bitcoin world, what the heck?!! All the exchanges take ages to verify and when they do, they discriminate those from the middle east. Most of them don't allow us to use fiat currency to buy bitcoin, so how the hell new comers will buy it? The barriers of entry to the bitcoin world are too many for people in middle east, am sick of it.

I find the conventional banks much easier to deal with than  the bitcoin exchanges. Guess what? I was successfully registered in one after waiting for a month, only to be told I can't spend more than  300 Dollars a week in buying bitcoin, seriously??? I freaking have thousands of dollars to invest and they want me to spend 300 dollars a week for a coin worth $2500???

Now, the easy way is to buy from others, but I am gonna have to pay a premium of 10 to 20 pct above fair market value to buy and that's BS!

I am thinking to start my own ICO for an exchange that has commercial sense an open to the world. We need a revolution here.

When we speak of verification it is not only limited to the Middle East, Asian countries have also that kind of system. This is due to the AML/KYC policies and regulations being place by your Central Banks. The exchanges have but to comply with those laws in your country so they can operate. It is the same also with stock exchanges, countries outside the middle east have also a strict verification in terms of trading. There is no discrimination and that is not the problem here. The biggest problem is the limit of the exchanges to convert your bitcoins into your local currency since that is their safety net so that their business will go on. But hope all exchange will increase the withdrawal limit.

The KYC policies are universal and every country of the world that is part of the United Nations has implemented these laws in the country. The AML laws vary from country to country so every country has made its own laws for the prevention of the AML.

All the financial institutions in country such as banks, the stock exchange and any other companies that are related to the financial services and productions are liable to follow these laws and policies. These are the steps taken by government to avoid the illegal flow of money inside the country.

[timerland]

You are obviously dealing with a pretty crappy exchange then. Because if you have a good exchange then you should be able to just submit your documents once and you'd have pretty much no limit as to how much you are allowed to exchange and withdraw.

Don't blame this on bitcoin, because this isn't bitcoin's fault. This is the government's fault for having such strict KYC and AML laws, and these laws aren't even universal. They are only targeted at bitcoin which makes me think they're very scared that bitcoin is going to take over the financial system and they want to restrict the amount of people having access to bitcoin.

Once you get your funds into bitcoin i guarantee you 100% that the experience will be smooth. And the reason is exactly because there is no government, every transaction is irreversible, therefore you can transact with ease. And the good thing is anyone can use it, even in North Korea. So in the middle east you'll definitely be able to use it. The hard part is how to get yourc fiat into bitcoin, thats the main issue.

[TomUyamot]

The world is still free bro. 

All you are experiencing for now are some unnecessary glitches that are for me very local. Apparently, bitcoin has nothing to do with it. Laws on that side are rather strict.

I hope you will be able to come across that process and enjoy bitcoin.

[btcney]

It's not so straightforward to buy bitcoin  in the Middle East. Yes, I have tried everything. If bitcoin was about the free world, why all the exchanges ask for very strict verification that even the stock exchanges don't ask for?  I have never had to take a selfie with my passport in my entire 40 yrs of life until I came in to the bitcoin world, what the heck?!! All the exchanges take ages to verify and when they do, they discriminate those from the middle east. Most of them don't allow us to use fiat currency to buy bitcoin, so how the hell new comers will buy it? The barriers of entry to the bitcoin world are too many for people in middle east, am sick of it.

I find the conventional banks much easier to deal with than  the bitcoin exchanges. Guess what? I was successfully registered in one after waiting for a month, only to be told I can't spend more than  300 Dollars a week in buying bitcoin, seriously??? I freaking have thousands of dollars to invest and they want me to spend 300 dollars a week for a coin worth $2500???

Now, the easy way is to buy from others, but I am gonna have to pay a premium of 10 to 20 pct above fair market value to buy and that's BS!

I am thinking to start my own ICO for an exchange that has commercial sense an open to the world. We need a revolution here.

I find it illogical to blame all this on bitcoin.

Bitcoin is for everyone. You can generate new bitcoin addresses and send and receive from them in your country or am i mistaken here? The real issue here is that your country's restriction on bitcoin exchanges are too strict, and that is something that unfortunately only law makers in your country can change. The bitcoin community can do nothing to help, really.

I would definitely start try to establish local some contacts in bitcoin, if i were you, so that you are able to easily get bitcoins and sell them whenever you have the need to without having to go through an exchange. I find that p2p trading is much easier to execute, more convenient, and sometimes if you add up all the fees you pay on exchanges it actually ends up being cheaper.

Takeaway lesson: bitcoin is decentralized and can't be regulated, exchanges are centralized and can be regulated.

[Monnt]

I don't think that it is permanent for the middle east people to not be able to get bitcoin because if the governments in the middle east will see bitcoin as a good opportunity for their country to also get economic growth because it can attract more tourist like bitcoin users to spend their bitcoin to that country because of the beautiful sight seeing that they can see in the middle east countries.

Who knows when is the government going to look at the BTC and also government has bigger issues to work on. The Middle East government is busy looking the oil prices and revenue generation for the state.

Bitcoin is only for the benefit of a person for a state the bitcoin is no good to have with because it is tax exempted and it is not easy for the government to regulate it so they don’t concentrate on it not do declare it legal.

[saidtalib]

Thanks all for the replies and advice. I am overwhelmed with all your feedback. Some of them are harsh, but that's ok, others are very good.

I bought my first bitcoin using bitoasis.net. More of that experience below. Some of you asked where I am from? Am from a nice quite country called Oman. Bitcoin is not really famous here. If you ask someone in the street about it, he wouldn't know what the hell you are talking about. Some of you asked me which exchanges I have tried? to list few: bittrex (verified but no fiat), Poloniex (verified stage 1 with no fiat), raken (verification pending over a month), bitstamp (verification pending over a month), CoinsBank (verification pending), Coinbase (doesn't support my country), etc. So you see, all of them didn't finalize my verification until now (over a month) and still waiting.

So eventually someone here in the post referred me to BitOasis. I tried them, they operate from Dubai and they finished my verification in less than a week (exactly same docs I submitted to the other exchanges). I bought my first coin (as a trial), using a credit card and it worked. I got charged 5% fee for that, but at least I paid market price. I think BitOasis is the only one in the middle east that works, so hooray. However, the exchange is limited to what other cryptocurrencies I can trade bitcoin with, so far only Ether. So soon enough I will still need the other exchanges. However, at least I can use fiat with BitOasis to buy bitcoin, transfer the bitcoin to the other exchanges who would allow me to trade against other currencies. Then transfer again my profit to bitcoin, put it back into BitOasis to exchange for fiat.... looool. no easy shortcut here!

Don't get me wrong about bitcoin, I was referring to the exchanges, not the coin itself. Anyhow, reading your feedback and the KYC saga, it is what it is.

I was joking on the ICO, I just got into the bitcoin world, so I don't have an intention to start one  .

Thanks all!

[Adbitco]

The question is why do you (op) find following rules and regulations so difficult? I suppose you're a legitimate citizen of the country you are from and you legitimately hold the national id so why can't you show them to the exchanges while buying bitcoins, you should. Bitcoin is for everyone living any where in the world but that doesn't mean there shouldn't be any rules and regulations in regard to it's buying, selling or converting to your local fiat currency. Exchanges are required by the government to follow some rules and regulations to stop the misuse of bitcoin and one should follow them.

[saidtalib]

The question is why do you (op) find following rules and regulations so difficult? I suppose you're a legitimate citizen of the country you are from and you legitimately hold the national id so why can't you show them to the exchanges while buying bitcoins, you should. Bitcoin is for everyone living any where in the world but that doesn't mean there shouldn't be any rules and regulations in regard to it's buying, selling or converting to your local fiat currency. Exchanges are required by the government to follow some rules and regulations to stop the misuse of bitcoin and one should follow them.

Who said I don't or didn't? As I said, I submitted all the docs they asked for (passport, a selfie with passport, bank statement, utility bill, ID both sides, etc). But no word yet from all of them about accepting me to buy bitcoin using fiat. All still say verification pending. Only one that worked so far is BitOasis.

Cheers

[olubams]

It's not so straightforward to buy bitcoin  in the Middle East. Yes, I have tried everything. If bitcoin was about the free world, why all the exchanges ask for very strict verification that even the stock exchanges don't ask for?  I have never had to take a selfie with my passport in my entire 40 yrs of life until I came in to the bitcoin world, what the heck?!! All the exchanges take ages to verify and when they do, they discriminate those from the middle east. Most of them don't allow us to use fiat currency to buy bitcoin, so how the hell new comers will buy it? The barriers of entry to the bitcoin world are too many for people in middle east, am sick of it.

I find the conventional banks much easier to deal with than  the bitcoin exchanges. Guess what? I was successfully registered in one after waiting for a month, only to be told I can't spend more than  300 Dollars a week in buying bitcoin, seriously??? I freaking have thousands of dollars to invest and they want me to spend 300 dollars a week for a coin worth $2500???

Now, the easy way is to buy from others, but I am gonna have to pay a premium of 10 to 20 pct above fair market value to buy and that's BS!

I am thinking to start my own ICO for an exchange that has commercial sense an open to the world. We need a revolution here.

What you really need to understand that for all the exchange sites to have been towards one particular cause of action means its something beyond their power and by the time you launch your own site, that's when you will realize what they are going through. The fundamental fault is not the exchange but rather the laws that regulate the actiivites of the country you found yourself which is something the exchange sites cannot do anything about. Start the revolution from your end to promote liberalism then buying bitcoin won't even be an issue.

[audaciousbeing]

My contribution to this is that, what you are facing is and why the restriction to people in the Middle East is probably the same reason why some ICOs will willing not accept citizens from a particular country and the same reason why some gambling sites will refuse making their services available to some countries and its not unconnected with the laws of those country. All exchange sites wants to make money and would be happy to see new sign ups everyday but they prefer to disallow that than to have a running legal battle with the agents of government which might eventually bring an end to the project they are running.