CoinJar - Australia's first VC-backed Bitcoin startup

[ArcticWolf]

have just made first deposit into coinjar to purchase bitcoins, hoping for an easy happy experience, will keep everyone posted. aint gunna be leaving my coins there but tranfer straight to QT client

Thats what Ive done a few times. No problems as yet.

[1715255745]

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[1715255745]

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[triib4l]

great service very good all aussies should jump on this service

[TimJBenham]

great service very good all aussies should jump on this service

Seems too good to be true. Unless they have a clever new way to do verification they will suffer the fate of Bitpiggy. Also they are exposed yet trying to play the regulatory gray area as to whether Bitcoin is a financial product or not.

[Rodyland]

great service very good all aussies should jump on this service

Seems too good to be true. Unless they have a clever new way to do verification they will suffer the fate of Bitpiggy. Also they are exposed yet trying to play the regulatory gray area as to whether Bitcoin is a financial product or not.

Yeah, wonder how many reversed transactions they'll absorb before things change?  Even bitinnovate, that only accepted over-the-counter cash deposits, closed their doors....

[TimJBenham]

great service very good all aussies should jump on this service

Seems too good to be true. Unless they have a clever new way to do verification they will suffer the fate of Bitpiggy. Also they are exposed yet trying to play the regulatory gray area as to whether Bitcoin is a financial product or not.

Yeah, wonder how many reversed transactions they'll absorb before things change?  Even bitinnovate, that only accepted over-the-counter cash deposits, closed their doors....

They do have a progressive limit raising system where your limit goes up for each successful transaction, and a 7 day hold on the first transaction (which is limited to $100). This will help protect them from casual scamming.

The fact that they claim their product is taxed as a financial product but they're not registered to deal in financial products is another worry. Some people are bothered by the fact Mr. Zhou is a principal. I wasn't on the scene then but apparently he has a controversial history with his previous ventures. Another pink flag is the very low spread they charge. AFAIK it is far tighter than any competitor in the Australian market which makes you wonder, why? A grocer undercuts his competitor by 5c, not a dollar. Businesses with extraordinary prices often have non-business motives, such as scamming or money laundering.

[btctraderr]

Haters gonna hate, Coinjar is fine, if you dont like dont use it. I'll continue using them.

They're the lowest fees and best price, nuff said.

[Rodyland]

They do have a progressive limit raising system where your limit goes up for each successful transaction, and a 7 day hold on the first transaction (which is limited to $100). This will help protect them from casual scamming.

That makes good sense.  Protection from casual scammers is relatively easy, it's the dedicated scammers you have to be careful of.

The fact that they claim their product is taxed as a financial product but they're not registered to deal in financial products is another worry.

Not with you on that one.  Calling something "X" for tax purposes is not the same as saying something is "X".

Some people are bothered by the fact Mr. Zhou is a principal. I wasn't on the scene then but apparently he has a controversial history with his previous ventures.

Dunno about anyone else, but I think keeping any more than a couple of coins on any exchange is risky.  Move them home, move them offline.

Another pink flag is the very low spread they charge. AFAIK it is far tighter than any competitor in the Australian market which makes you wonder, why? A grocer undercuts his competitor by 5c, not a dollar. Businesses with extraordinary prices often have non-business motives, such as scamming or money laundering.

Maybe they recognise that Aussie exchanges are gouging the hell out of us locals, and want to become the Australian bitcoin exchange (they've said as much).  Maybe they are hoping that by becoming internationally competitive, not just locally competitive, they can increase the size of the market?  Makes some sense to me.

[clicksmoney]

Can we get an update due to the stupid CBA news - would a Coinjar NAB to Commbank withdrawal not be advisable/safe?

Half considering quitting CBA if there's any chance they'll treat me the same (though my volume is 100x less that CoinJar's).

[zhoutong]

Can we get an update due to the stupid CBA news - would a Coinjar NAB to Commbank withdrawal not be advisable/safe?

Half considering quitting CBA if there's any chance they'll treat me the same (though my volume is 100x less that CoinJar's).

We really don't have further information at this point. Yesterday all of our directors received notice from CBA that our personal accounts will be closed, but today when I called back again they said that was just a "current decision" and investigation was still in progress.

All sell orders are still stalled because we can't access client funds. There's not a single cent available under CoinJar Pty Ltd as we do not keep company cash. (But our all our Bitcoin are safe and we are still accepting buy orders as normal.)

[kelsey]

We really don't have further information at this point. Yesterday all of our directors received notice from CBA that our personal accounts will be closed, but today when I called back again they said that was just a "current decision" and investigation was still in progress.

Exactly the same story with many others who've tried the same, not that wasn't trying to tell you guys this, but then again you guys had done your "research"


so much dumb here

[perlboy]

All sell orders are still stalled because we can't access client funds. There's not a single cent available under CoinJar Pty Ltd as we do not keep company cash. (But our all our Bitcoin are safe and we are still accepting buy orders as normal.)

Sorry to kick someone while he's down (it's not an Aussie thing to do), but if you were "VC backed" how is it possible that CoinJar Pty Ltd did not have a cash position?

Hate to say "told you so" but requoting what I wrote July 12:

Ok, and further to this since you're targeting the use of a tax ruling associated with financial services and intend to onsell them to end users (essentially acting a currency exchange) does this mean coinjar has an Australian Financial Services license and conversely is coinjar registered with AUSTRAC to ensure money laundering regulations are adhered to?

Australian financial institutions are highly skittish on companies not playing by the governments rules.

Stu

[Oldminer]

Came across this service just googling..have registered an account & will buy some BTC today. 2% fee is nice. Site looks impressive too and I set up my account and 2-factor authentication in seconds. Good stuff for aussies 

[zhoutong]

CoinJar Filler's transaction volume has officially exceeded US$1 million today. We have traded more than A$1,100,135 in the first 77 days of our operation, and our business is continuing to grow at exponential rates. I represent the CoinJar team to thank all our customers and friends for the wonderful support.

We are sharing our success with every CoinJar supporter. Redeem the voucher ONEMILLION before the end of September in CoinJar Filler to get a no-strings-attached A$1.00 credit for Bitcoin purchase. This offer is available for all current and new CoinJar Filler customers with a verified mobile number! Get free Bitcoin now at CoinJar Filler.

[carpetbagger]

Thanks Zhou. Congratulations to the team.

[tobyaus]

Congrats! Great service. Will hit 2 mill before month end I am sure.

[redmetal]

Congrats on the milestone,

Love the service,

I would like to ask one thing, When selling BTC can you give the option to choose the amount of BTC or AUD rather than just AUD?
This would make selling alot easier,

Cheers,

[zhoutong]

Congrats on the milestone,

Love the service,

I would like to ask one thing, When selling BTC can you give the option to choose the amount of BTC or AUD rather than just AUD?
This would make selling alot easier,

Cheers,

Thanks for your feedback. We are working on this shortly. Stay tuned!

[jimbobway]

zhoutong, what happened to the third guy on the team?  I remember there was an engineer (Jerrold Poh?) and now it's just you and Asher.  See here:

http://coinjar.io/about

[Alienwalkerx]

Congrats on the milestone,

Love the service,

I would like to ask one thing, When selling BTC can you give the option to choose the amount of BTC or AUD rather than just AUD?
This would make selling alot easier,

Cheers,

+1

I often go to sell my btc and forget instantly how much I currently have so I have to go back to the coinjar wallet and double check (about 5 times because of my memory).
Also when selling BTC it would be good to place orders, as I am often refreshing to get that 1$ extra when the price is fluctuating.

[zhoutong]

zhoutong, what happened to the third guy on the team?  I remember there was an engineer (Jerrold Poh?) and now it's just you and Asher.  See here:

http://coinjar.io/about

Jerrold decided to go back to his previous job because he wasn't really comfortable with startup life (12+ hours a day with no salary). But now Asher and I are very proactively bringing new guys on board, and we are planning to raise another seed round in the US.