Canadian Bitcoins Launch

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Hi Everyone,  thought I'd introduce myself first, then the site I just finished setting up.

I've been involved with Bitcoins since the CPU mining days, and double digit difficulty (man, when it jumped to 43, that was rough!)  My company (Lightbox Technologies) has been accepting Bitcoins as payment for web hosting and VOIP for over a year now. (Yes. our website is horrible, its in the process of being redeveloped - it looks like its 9 years old because it is!)

So, being Canadian I was drunk last Friday, roaming around Parliament Hill with 300,000 other people and hanging out with friends, telling them all about these wonderful Bitcoins, when it dawned on me that there was no way to easily convert BTC to CAD... so I figured I'd do something about that!

So introducing....

http://www.canadianbitcoins.com

Its simple and straight forward.  You can BUY and SELL Bitcoins with $CAD at rates pegged to the overall exchange rates.

This is NOT another trading site. You do not list buys & sells and hope they get filled as the market moves.  You don't need an account, you don't maintain a balance, every transaction is handled when it comes through.

That said, for my protection and yours,  I decided to institute a soft-launch for the first few days/weeks, where the overall volume per 24h has limits. Once those limits are exceeded, the appropriate forms will be temporarily disabled.

So all you fellow Canadians out there (that are still hungover from a week ago!), FINALLY there is an easy way to get our colourful money in and out of the BTC world.  I'd appreciate any feedback you have on the site (even if you just look at it and don't use it!)  Feel free to post here, or I'll be hanging out in #canadianbitcoins on Freenode

http://www.canadianbitcoins.com

Cheers,
 James

[1714770477]

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[1714770477]

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We now accept Interac Email Transfers for BUYing Bitcoins!  (we always had the option to sell with Interac Email Transfer)

[darkskypoet]

I like the simplicity and anon of it... (well, if your masquerading and have a way of obfuscating your IP) But your split between Buy and Sell is quite large...

On https://www.cavirtex.com/ for example its like 40 cents... on yours it was almost $2... Perhaps a scripting error? or is your B/S differential meant to be that high?

Thanks

[lightbox]

I like the simplicity and anon of it... (well, if your masquerading and have a way of obfuscating your IP) But your split between Buy and Sell is quite large...

On https://www.cavirtex.com/ for example its like 40 cents... on yours it was almost $2... Perhaps a scripting error? or is your B/S differential meant to be that high?

Thanks

The "sell" is fairly close to the actual rate but we keep the "buy" buffered a bit more, because we guarantee those rates (within reason) while waiting for your payment (and the markets could move drastically in that span of time).  Essentially you're paying a bit more for the convenience factor and (potential) anonymity and it helps cover our ass :p

James

[darkskypoet]

Do you set your rates off the available Canadian exchange? or Mt. Gox and others? Just curious, as once we get a few more exchanges going... the mobility of BTC should allow reasonably connected international players to normalize the pricing via arbitrage... However, that doesn't appear to be happening yet... I know from where I am sitting, the transaction costs to cash out of the US exchanges are too high in terms of wire fees. Hmm... i guess until more merchants use it, BTCs are always gonna be defined by their liquidity into other currencies.

[lightbox]

Do you set your rates off the available Canadian exchange? or Mt. Gox and others? Just curious, as once we get a few more exchanges going... the mobility of BTC should allow reasonably connected international players to normalize the pricing via arbitrage... However, that doesn't appear to be happening yet... I know from where I am sitting, the transaction costs to cash out of the US exchanges are too high in terms of wire fees. Hmm... i guess until more merchants use it, BTCs are always gonna be defined by their liquidity into other currencies.

Its currently based of the bitcoincharts JSON feed for USD, then converted to $CAD, then the buy/sell spread applied.

The stupidly high wire transfer fee's and other ways of getting BTC out as real $CAD money was the main reason I setup the site to begin with... I was as fed up as every other Canadian, so decided to take matters into my own hands :p

James

[darkskypoet]

Oh agreed, then Canadian Virtual Exchange opened, and since then I've been happy. .59% fees, and usually a 40-60 cent spread between buy and sell. Plus i can get paid out in email interac transfers. Wicked place Althought i noticed If i was buying and selling at the prices on Canadian Bitcoins, I'd be able to buy and sell at Canadian Virtual Exchange and make a killing.

Glad to see another service operating up here tho. Gotta have options.

[pippipcheerio]

CAvirtex is just fine. Screw this shizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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CAvirtex is just fine. Screw this shizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Everyones entitled to their opinion.  We've done quite a bit of volume so far and feedback has been positive overall.. people like the simplicity and speed of it... its not supposed to compete with cavirtex, rather compliment it.

Cheers

[SmokeAndMirrors]

I'm in the 613 too. Canada days get pretty fucking hectic on the hill, especially around 10-12 at night.

As for the site, I will give it a shot.