Getting around a government ban on BTC

[bitcoinrocks]

Thailand has already banned BTC and China seems to be coming down hard on it.  The possibility of more countries banning it (including the US and China) seems very real.  What would an exchange look like that is able to get around this?

I can imagine a website in a BTC-friendly country (Denmark?) that displays an orderbook that is only updated every hour (for example).  At the top of the hour, you can see the latest status of the orderbook.  Then you click the order you want to transact with and you are given P2P payment instructions for a buy (PayPal, Dwolla, etc) or a deposit address for a sell.  The website could maintain a reputation tracking system for each member.  New members would need to built up their rep with small transactions before they are given permission for larger transactions.  The time in between orderbook updates (1 hour?) would give people the chance to complete their transaction.

My feeble mind tells me this would be a great way to enable people to get fiat into BTC no matter what the governments do, but I'm pretty sure you guys are going to poke about a thousand holes in it.

[krach]

set up base in dennmark.

[other_side]

What would an exchange look like that is able to get around this?

Start with smaller project. Like P2P exchange for alt currencies.

[justusranvier]

can imagine a website in a BTC-friendly country (Denmark?) that displays an orderbook that is only updated every hour (for example).  At the top of the hour, you can see the latest status of the orderbook.  Then you click the order you want to transact with and you are given P2P payment instructions for a buy (PayPal, Dwolla, etc) or a deposit address for a sell.  The website could maintain a reputation tracking system for each member.  New members would need to built up their rep with small transactions before they are given permission for larger transactions.  The time in between orderbook updates (1 hour?) would give people the chance to complete their transaction.

I take it you've never heard of LocalBitcoins?

[bitcoinrocks]

I take it you've never heard of LocalBitcoins?

I have, but doesn't it require that you meet up in person?  If so, it's like comparing eBay to Craigs List.

[coins101]

What's your home address?  

person-2-person is close to unstoppable, otherwise regulators will always be able to get in the way because of the need (for some) to inject fiat currency into and out of the system.

Their main target is banks, which is why banks shy away from doing business with digital coins.

[giantdragon]

I have, but doesn't it require that you meet up in person?

Different sellers offer different payment methods. Cash is only one of the possible options.

[justusranvier]

I take it you've never heard of LocalBitcoins?

I have, but doesn't it require that you meet up in person?  If so, it's like comparing eBay to Craigs List.

Not necessarily.

All of those ads work by having the buyer go to a branch of the seller's bank and deposit cash. The seller then releases the escrow when they verify the deposit.

Buyer and seller never meet in person.

[other_side]

Localbitcoins is not a solution.
Last 24 hours BTC/USD volume:
Btc-e 144000
Bitstamp 131000
MtGox 107000
Localbitcoins 588

[Stephen Gornick]

What would an exchange look like that is able to get around this?

Any decentralized approach taking advantage of a payment network with A2A (Account-To-Account) transfers will work.  

 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/A2A_Transfer_Methods

It's easy for China to crack down on one or two large exchanges which integrate with the banking system.

It's a lot harder for them to crack down on individuals using Alipay or similar.  

That's why many, many individuals today still trade bitcoins for Dwolla -- even with Dwolla saying they don't allow any Bitcoin trading.  You won't find the advertisements from those who do it, but the trades happen.  Daily.   Same for PayPal, etc.

[R2Pleasent]

China will move towards a decentralized exchange system.  The government "banned" trading currencies for MMORPG's, but I can tell you that hasn't stopped the Chinese.  Thing is though, even in the best case, these decentralized transactions will be a huge step down from BTC China.  You're going to get higher risk (scams), bigger spreads, and much lower volume. 

[coins101]

What would an exchange look like that is able to get around this?

Any decentralized approach taking advantage of a payment network with A2A (Account-To-Account) transfers will work.  

 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/A2A_Transfer_Methods

It's easy for China to crack down on one or two large exchanges which integrate with the banking system.

It's a lot harder for them to crack down on individuals using Alipay or similar.  

That's why many, many individuals today still trade bitcoins for Dwolla -- even with Dwolla saying they don't allow any Bitcoin trading.  You won't find the advertisements from those who do it, but the trades happen.  Daily.   Same for PayPal, etc.

Did I miss something? What is the point of introducing an extra step - bitcoin - into the process? Or do you mean one part of the transaction is through online payment processors and the confirmation back is in bitcoin?

[Peter Lambert]

What would an exchange look like that is able to get around this?

Any decentralized approach taking advantage of a payment network with A2A (Account-To-Account) transfers will work.  

 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/A2A_Transfer_Methods

It's easy for China to crack down on one or two large exchanges which integrate with the banking system.

It's a lot harder for them to crack down on individuals using Alipay or similar.  

That's why many, many individuals today still trade bitcoins for Dwolla -- even with Dwolla saying they don't allow any Bitcoin trading.  You won't find the advertisements from those who do it, but the trades happen.  Daily.   Same for PayPal, etc.

Did I miss something? What is the point of introducing an extra step - bitcoin - into the process? Or do you mean one part of the transaction is through online payment processors and the confirmation back is in bitcoin?

If you want to send money to somebody outside the US, Dwolla will not help you (they are only for US based people), so you transfer money to dwolla, trade that for bitcoins, then send the bitcoins wherever you want to send them. The person who sold you the bitcoins can then transfer the money from Dwolla to their bank account, Dwolla does not know you traded bitcoins.

[tropicalmonsoon]

I take it you've never heard of LocalBitcoins?

I have, but doesn't it require that you meet up in person?  If so, it's like comparing eBay to Craigs List.

You *can* meet up in person, but most people do wire transfers, cash deposits, PayPal, Western Union etc...

[QuestionAuthority]

I didn't get any further than your first FUD "Thailand has already banned BTC". Thailand did NOT ban BTC. Change that and I'll come back and read the rest.

[RodeoX]

Has the government ban prevented you from getting weed?

P.S. There is not the slightest indication that the U.S. is going to ban bitcoin.

[Peter Lambert]

Has the government ban prevented you from getting weed?

P.S. There is not the slightest indication that the U.S. is going to ban bitcoin.

And you can trade weed for bitcoins. Voila, bitcoin ban is circumvented.

[RodeoX]

Has the government ban prevented you from getting weed?

P.S. There is not the slightest indication that the U.S. is going to ban bitcoin.

And you can trade weed for bitcoins. Voila, bitcoin ban is circumvented.

LOL, I hadn't thought that far. But yes, even if you dislike weed it could be the alt-coin you need to purchase bitcoin.

[AnonyMint]

Spend your fiat on mining hardware. When you want to sell, sell for gold or silver.

A CPU-only altcoin will rage ahead of Bitcoin in China.

Especially one with stronger anonymity than Bitcoin.

[smoothrunnings]

Thailand has already banned BTC and China seems to be coming down hard on it.  The possibility of more countries banning it (including the US and China) seems very real.  What would an exchange look like that is able to get around this?

I can imagine a website in a BTC-friendly country (Denmark?) that displays an orderbook that is only updated every hour (for example).  At the top of the hour, you can see the latest status of the orderbook.  Then you click the order you want to transact with and you are given P2P payment instructions for a buy (PayPal, Dwolla, etc) or a deposit address for a sell.  The website could maintain a reputation tracking system for each member.  New members would need to built up their rep with small transactions before they are given permission for larger transactions.  The time in between orderbook updates (1 hour?) would give people the chance to complete their transaction.

My feeble mind tells me this would be a great way to enable people to get fiat into BTC no matter what the governments do, but I'm pretty sure you guys are going to poke about a thousand holes in it.

Sorry if China has banned bitcoin why is there still a lot of trading in China? (check fiatleak.org)