Investing in Bitcoin

[jeevprem]

I have recently heard of bitcoin and decided to do a ton of research about it. Investing in bitcoin does seem to be enticing due to the ever growing issues with our current economy.  I'm from Canada and is going through the verification process for Mt. Gox. During this time I want to see what people would recommend in investing and how people reaping the benefits from it. What to do and what not to do! Also if digital currency does become the way we do business online how does the value of bitcoin translate to other digital currencies in the future. Would this have a negative affect?

Thanks!

-Jeev

[dyseac]

I have recently heard of bitcoin and decided to do a ton of research about it. Investing in bitcoin does seem to be enticing due to the ever growing issues with our current economy.  I'm from Canada and is going through the verification process for Mt. Gox. During this time I want to see what people would recommend in investing and how people reaping the benefits from it. What to do and what not to do! Also if digital currency does become the way we do business online how does the value of bitcoin translate to other digital currencies in the future. Would this have a negative affect?

Thanks!

-Jeev

Do yourself a favour and use any other exchange other than mtgox.

[jamesc760]

^^^^^^^^^What he said!

I've had good results with coinbase. MtGox has not replied to my request since early July. I fear I will never get my money back from them.

[jeevprem]

The problem is Coinbase only does exchanges with american banks. I have my wallet setup on coinbase however cant purchase anything! What are Canadians using to exchange funds over to bitcoins other than mt. gox?

[01BTC10]

The problem is Coinbase only does exchanges with american banks. I have my wallet setup on coinbase however cant purchase anything! What are Canadians using to exchange funds over to bitcoins other than mt. gox?

https://www.cavirtex.com/home

[pacojones]

The problem is Coinbase only does exchanges with american banks. I have my wallet setup on coinbase however cant purchase anything! What are Canadians using to exchange funds over to bitcoins other than mt. gox?

https://www.cavirtex.com/home

Welcome!  I've heard very good things about bitcoin and Canadian regulators - the cavirtex site should be good for you, it's been reviewed on a couple of podcasts but I don't know much more since I'm not Canadian...  good luck though!

[jeevprem]

Thanks for the help everyone!

Looking at that cavirtex site just curious why the price is so low. 1BTC = $90CDN. Where as in other sites that I have looked 1BTC would be worth around $110. Do different sites sell at its own various rates?

Sorry I'm pretty new to this and trying to wrap my head around everything still.

[01BTC10]

Thanks for the help everyone!

Looking at that cavirtex site just curious why the price is so low. 1BTC = $90CDN. Where as in other sites that I have looked 1BTC would be worth around $110. Do different sites sell at its own various rates?

Sorry I'm pretty new to this and trying to wrap my head around everything still.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=277609.msg2964519#msg2964519

Hope you don't mind paying a cheaper price and get your bitcoins faster than with MtGox!

[Xyver]

Where abouts in Canada are you?  Vancouver has a pretty sweet Bitcoin economy, you could go to one of the physical exchanges.

http://www.bitcoiniacs.com/

[jeevprem]

Yeah I have heard some great things happening in Vancouver. I'm actually in Toronto and can hardly find anything bitcoin related over here. Hopefully this continues to grow so I can eventually start using bitcoins that I purchase locally!

[Adrian-x]

Thanks for the help everyone!

Looking at that cavirtex site just curious why the price is so low. 1BTC = $90CDN. Where as in other sites that I have looked 1BTC would be worth around $110. Do different sites sell at its own various rates?

Sorry I'm pretty new to this and trying to wrap my head around everything still.

How did you bypass the mandatory newbie jail?

The rate is market driven so it fluctuates, and it is going to get bigger. So not a bad Idea to get approved on Gox as you can sometimes make an instant profit.  

That said Gox. Has its problems I suspect people trying to get money out are buying on Gox and selling on other exchanges (you can't stop Bitcoin but you can stop Fiat)

See:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=272418.0 for info of CAvirtex.

All in all, keep your Bitcoin's safe, given all the history of lost/stolen coin, I prefer to manage my own coins, and only keep coins on an exchange long enough to sell them.  

edit
I think you can find Bitcoin meetups in Toronto.
Also if you hunt around the net you can find there are at least 2 Bitcoin meetups almost every month in Vancouver, you can buy face to face. (I think Vertex is still a more cost effective option right now.)

[01BTC10]

How did you bypass the mandatory newbie jail?

You can get whitelisted in the whitelist thread or if you have insider contact 

[jeevprem]

How did you bypass the mandatory newbie jail?

The rate is market driven so it fluctuates, and it is going to get bigger. So not a bad Idea to get approved on Gox as you can sometimes make an instant profit. 

That said Gox. Has its problems I suspect people trying to get money out are buying on Gox and selling on other exchanges (you can't stop Bitcoin but you can stop Fiat)

See:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=272418.0 for info of CAvirtex.

All in all, keep your Bitcoin's safe, given all the history of lost/stolen coin, I prefer to manage my own coins, and only keep coins on an exchange long enough to sell them. 

Also if you hunt around the net you can find there are at least 2 Bitcoin meetups almost every month in Vancouver, you can buy face to face. (I think Vertex is still a more cost effective option right now.)

All you need is one post to get out of newbie jail!

Hearing about the issues on Gox has thrown me away from that site. I am going through the process of approval on the CaVirtex site. As well getting a new bank account so my other funds don't get tampered with.

[halfawake]

The problem is Coinbase only does exchanges with american banks. I have my wallet setup on coinbase however cant purchase anything! What are Canadians using to exchange funds over to bitcoins other than mt. gox?

I really like Coinbase, it's a shame they only support ACH transfers from American banks.  However, if you like what you see of the site, you'll be happy to see that Canada got the most votes when they were asking where they should bring bank transfers to next.  So it looks like you and your fellow Canadians be the next ones to be able to use Coinbase.

If I couldn't use Coinbase, I'd probably use CampBX with Dwolla.  It's not as reliable a website as Coinbase is though, sadly.

[jeevprem]

Yeah it is a shame. But I was actually thinking of using cavirtex to purchase bitcoins since its got a really low exchange rate and then end up selling on CampBX or wherever has a much higher prices.

[halfawake]

Yeah it is a shame. But I was actually thinking of using cavirtex to purchase bitcoins since its got a really low exchange rate and then end up selling on CampBX or wherever has a much higher prices.

I saw a talk by a trader of bitcoins who said there's no free lunch and that the fees basically cancel out any benefit you'd get from trying to make a profit off the spread between exchanges.  Good luck though, I hope you find a good place to buy them and all. 

[sayulita]

I have recently heard of bitcoin and decided to do a ton of research about it. Investing in bitcoin does seem to be enticing due to the ever growing issues with our current economy.  I'm from Canada and is going through the verification process for Mt. Gox. During this time I want to see what people would recommend in investing and how people reaping the benefits from it. What to do and what not to do! Also if digital currency does become the way we do business online how does the value of bitcoin translate to other digital currencies in the future. Would this have a negative affect?

Thanks!

-Jeev

Instead of waiting on MtGox, you could walk into any TD Canada Trust and buy bitcoin tomorrow when the banks open with Bitcoin-Brokers.

Here is an 11,000 view thread discussing the service:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=237164.0

[jeppe]

do not use Mt.gox use BTC-e instead. Mt.gox will not pay out USD to costumers

[ScryptAsic]

do not use Mt.gox use BTC-e instead. Mt.gox will not pay out USD to costumers

Yup, I hate it why people still use Mt. Gox....

[seafarer124]

I have recently heard of bitcoin and decided to do a ton of research about it. Investing in bitcoin does seem to be enticing due to the ever growing issues with our current economy.  I'm from Canada and is going through the verification process for Mt. Gox. During this time I want to see what people would recommend in investing and how people reaping the benefits from it. What to do and what not to do! Also if digital currency does become the way we do business online how does the value of bitcoin translate to other digital currencies in the future. Would this have a negative affect?

Thanks!

-Jeev

Do yourself a favour and use any other exchange other than mtgox.

100% agree.