www.BITSTAMP.net Bitcoin exchange site for USD/BTC

[pro-trader]

oda.krell,
sorry then we have a misunderstaning. I see it now - was not intended to offend! Also: My "f...k" in the end was, by all means, NOT adressed to any user here, it was an expression on my personal feelings on this whole subject or adressed to the way Bitstamp treats it. Sorry to anybody who felt touched by that! But in deed I do not ask for help here (would not know how somebody could help), my sole intention is letting others read about my experience. Also I am aware that Bitstamp has good reputations on many boards - which is the reason why I tried them. Having good reputations does, however, not help me here. Still Bitstamp blocks the re-call of my money, just asked my banker.

On a sidenote: The reason I did not use SEPA (despite I was using a EU based bank) was simply to avoid the FX spread that Bitstamp uses: SEPA is free of charge (unlike USD) - but then Bitstamp converts the Euro to USD. As I have direct access to the FX spot market I can always get the better FX rate (at a given time) - so I sent USD instead of Euro in order to be in control of the FX rate used.

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[San1ty]

Hi pro-trader,

you seem to be ignoring the great post of Loozik.
This might very well be EU regulation that is screwing you over.

[F-bernanke]

On a sidenote: The reason I did not use SEPA (despite I was using a EU based bank) was simply to avoid the FX spread that Bitstamp uses: SEPA is free of charge (unlike USD) - but then Bitstamp converts the Euro to USD. As I have direct access to the FX spot market I can always get the better FX rate (at a given time) - so I sent USD instead of Euro in order to be in control of the FX rate used.

It sounds like you have experiance with this, question:
I also opened a USD account, but it has the same account number as my EUR account. Do I have to add any instructions for depositing USD to my account? I'm a bit afraid my bank wil convert it to my EUR account (with the extreme spread).

[hazek]

On a sidenote: The reason I did not use SEPA (despite I was using a EU based bank) was simply to avoid the FX spread that Bitstamp uses: SEPA is free of charge (unlike USD) - but then Bitstamp converts the Euro to USD. As I have direct access to the FX spot market I can always get the better FX rate (at a given time) - so I sent USD instead of Euro in order to be in control of the FX rate used.

I sound like you have experiance with this, question:
I also opened a USD account, but it has the same account number as my EUR account. Do I have to add any instructions for depositing USD to my account? I'm a bit afraid my bank wil convert it to my EUR account (with the extreme spread).

Yes, you must be careful to choose an International bank withdrawal and not a SEPA withdrawal, and then choose USD as the currency which you would like to receive.

[analytics]

I finally received a reply, 4 business days (5 days) later after my deposit was fully posted from my own bank.
They are asking me for more details like all my bank accounts, why am I doing this, where did my money come from.    I am happy to answer the questions and I'm doing that, but they should make it clear to customers about these delays before customers send money.  This should be in their FAQ, about delays beyond the verification step if you use funds larger than 15K.   I'm fine with it, but they should be explicit so people can plan properly, with some guidelines on how long it takes for a response.   Time is money. 

 Likely this process is faster when in your own country.

[pro-trader]

Hi pro-trader,

you seem to be ignoring the great post of Loozik.
This might very well be EU regulation that is screwing you over.

Well, I do not think I am not ignoring it. Its is not the fault of some EU. I do for example trade a lot in Balkan stock markets. I send & receive money to / from my Balkan brokers (and one of them is also in Slovenia and has a bank account in Slovenia) back and forth, since years and in much larger numbers, and in EURO and USD .
Never had a problem that somebody from outside would have found it suspicious and would have instructed a broker or a bank to withhold my money. Of course, the receiving bank from time to time asks about details esp. when I sold something and send money back – normal in a case like mine who does a lot of trading. But they always use common sense when checking the docs I present.

Anyway, I have a very good reading update:

I got a PM from User hazek who informed me that he looked into my subject and now the release of my money should be underway. Will post an update once I received my USD back on my account as promised.

I finally received a reply, 4 business days (5 days) later after my deposit was fully posted from my own bank.
They are asking me for more details like all my bank accounts, why am I doing this, where did my money come from.    I am happy to answer the questions and I'm doing that, but they should make it clear to customers about these delays before customers send money to foreign risky banks.  This should be in their FAQ.  I would have just gone with CampBx than risk them delaying my money like this (time is money). 
Word to wise, only use exchanges in your own country if you can.  Likely this process is faster when in your own country.

Great, so there are now 2x 60k USD to get unfrozen -  press the thumbs!
I fully agree with you, what I would add is that when asking & checking docs, they should also use common sense and do what all other banks do in such cases – and not (like in my case) ask for a complete financial striptease.

[analytics]

To be honest, I am actually fine with their validation process.  I understand they need to be careful around money laundering or other illegal activities.

I suggest that they wrap some clearer process around this and post it in the FAQ so people know what kind of timelines to expect on their money, when they deal with funds larger than 15K that trigger deeper inspection.
This second phase of validation requires deeper personal information that needs to kept secure, and they should also be clear on their security/privacy policy on this additional personal information too.  So a FAQ detailing what triggers the second phase, expected timelines on response and what is required.  Customers can be prepared up front this way.   It's all logical and makes sense, customers just need to know about it up front.

They are a work in progress/startup, understood; these are just suggested/needed process improvements requirements on their side so there is transparency with the customer and their assets.   Time is money and customers should expect to be able to have some timeline expectation boundaries around their transactions.      Right now, there is no clear documentation for this second phase validation.  That way US banks won't start to block wire transfers because customers complain of issues with the Bitstamp bank holding funds.  The process will be clear.

[oda.krell]

Two things:

a) the two cases mentioned above aren't the first >15k USD deposits. I can say that much with certainty. And not all of them triggered additional check ups. Again, I'm wondering if the common factor is that both of them weren't SEPA that triggered extra measures.

b) don't want to white knight Bitstamp, since I'm also not always 100% happy with how they run their business (my main gripe is their lack of public announcements when things go wrong, like DDOS -- though I have to say I'm glad to see hazek made an appearance in this thread this time ), but I also don't really support coming here accusing them, if things go wrong, immediately of "fraud" or being "run by teenagers".

[PrintMule]

Just a little update. Withdrew a good amount of fiat recently via SEPA. Everything went smooth as always.

Money comes in as EUR which is even nicer now, as my country joined euro zone this year. Less converting for me.

[analytics]

Update for me.   My money is now in my account.  It took  only next day (1 day) to review my second verification data to post the money into the account.  The questions feel a little invasive, but I understand the need for making sure its from "viable" sources.   Examples are:
what are my banks?
documented example of where money came from?
how I plan to use bitcoin?

The process overall for the deposit was reasonable given their need to comply with laws.  Only suggestion again is adding to the FAQ some info around verification and timelines for funds that exceed some thresholds.

Here is a timeline in my case if it helps others plan.   I am a US citizen.
1. I opened my Bitstamp account three weeks ago approx.
2. Verification took around 1 week (passport + utility photo).
3.  I sent a $2k deposit test from my US Bank to Bitstamp's bank in Slovenia.  It took around 24hrs, slightly more, for my bank to complete sending it and for Bitstamp to post it.
4.  I have also moved around 18K USD worth of bitcoins in and back out in some tests (coins came from coinbase trades), both were essentially instant, as well as trading with it while it was in Bitstamp (with a bot as well).  
5.  I then transferred ~60K USD from my bank to Bitstamp.  My bank completed the wire within around 14hrs (sent Thursday at 3pm, bank completed it around 14 hrs later my side in the early 'am' according to timestamps).
6.  On Monday I contacted Bitstamp to check the status of the transfer as I was past the declared 24hrs of time they said it takes to deposit.  Bitstamp has responded to every query within 24hrs.  In this case, the agent said the money was already there, but she was mistaken and looking at the first 2k deposit.   I sent another email explaining that.  I got a support email the next day saying they needed more info due to the size/volume thresholds I had exceeded with this deposit.  Some very personal finance questions, but I understand why so I answered them.  Within the next 24hrs they released my funds.   Being in different timezones probably added an extra 48hrs for me in getting this finalized but that isn't their fault.   The whole process and responsiveness has been good when you understand why its happening, so not upset.  Just wanted to relay my experience so it can help others plan when dealing with sums that exceed the reporting limit.

[oda.krell]

Update for me.   My money is now in my account.  It took  only next day (1 day) to review my second verification data to post the money into the account.  The questions feel a little invasive, but I understand the need for making sure its from "viable" sources.   Examples are:
what are my banks?
documented example of where money came from?
how I plan to use bitcoin?

The process overall for the deposit was reasonable given their need to comply with laws.  Only suggestion again is adding to the FAQ some info around verification and timelines for funds that exceed some thresholds.

Here is a timeline in my case if it helps others plan.   I am a US citizen.
1. I opened my Bitstamp account three weeks ago approx.
2. Verification took around 1 week (passport + utility photo).
3.  I sent a $2k deposit test from my US Bank to Bitstamp's bank in Slovenia.  It took around 24hrs, slightly more, for my bank to complete sending it and for Bitstamp to post it.
4.  I have also moved around 18K USD worth of bitcoins in and back out in some tests (coins came from coinbase trades), both were essentially instant, as well as trading with it while it was in Bitstamp (with a bot as well).  
5.  I then transferred ~60K USD from my bank to Bitstamp.  My bank completed the wire within around 14hrs (sent Thursday at 3pm, bank completed it around 14 hrs later my side in the early 'am' according to timestamps).
6.  On Monday I contacted Bitstamp to check the status of the transfer as I was past the declared 24hrs of time they said it takes to deposit.  Bitstamp has responded to every query within 24hrs.  In this case, the agent said the money was already there, but she was mistaken and looking at the first 2k deposit.   I sent another email explaining that.  I got a support email the next day saying they needed more info due to the size/volume thresholds I had exceeded with this deposit.  Some very personal finance questions, but I understand why so I answered them.  Within the next 24hrs they released my funds.   Being in different timezones probably added an extra 48hrs for me in getting this finalized but that isn't their fault.   The whole process and responsiveness has been good when you understand why its happening, so not upset.  Just wanted to relay my experience so it can help others plan when dealing with sums that exceed the reporting limit.

Sounds good. Thanks a lot for keeping us updated, and giving us a detailed insight into how larger deposits are processed at the moment.

All in all, I think that, right now, Bitstamp is probably the safest exchange if your plan is to buy and sell in relatively large volume.

IMO they'd be well advised to hire someone who handles PR for them, updating their twitter/facebook/this forum more frequently, but in principle, I trust them more than I trust, for example, mtgox.

[Kaja7509]

All in all, I think that, right now, Bitstamp is probably the safest exchange if your plan is to buy and sell in relatively large volume.

Not sure, I have a similar problem. A week ago, some functions including withdrawal function stopped working.
I have a week talking to support, forward different documents (often the same documents for different guys from support) - results = zero.

[pro-trader]

Update: Money released from Bitstamp!

It is not yet on my account as of today, but I have access to the SWIFT system and can already see it, its at the intermediary bank now and should arrive during the next overnight batch at the very latest.

All in the fees to send & recall my 60.000 USD has been 127,83 USD + 69,02 Euro (Those fees are charged by the involved banks & intermediary banks to handle a non-SEPA payment recall, not by Bitstamp, just to make it clear).

A cheap price for education, I do really not complain as I learned a hell of a lot: I hold Bitcoins since about 3years, and so far had very rarely touched my wallet. Now due to this experience and insight-look on who and how is handling exchanges etc., I have received an interesting look to review my opinion on the short- and medium-term outlook of BTC.

Just a bit of a funky sidenote here:
Yesterday I sent about double the amount to Unicredit Ljubljana (same bank Bitstamp uses) to a new Slovenian broker which I will use to buy some shares on the stock market there and in Macedonia. Went very smoothly but we finished KYC before, and the required docs where all reasonable, do-able and according to the usual industry-standard. So 2 payments actually crossed between the same 2 banks – no problem with any EU authority or bank. Just a sidenote.

Good luck to everybody here, a great forum and thanks to hazek for looking into the subject!

[schnib12]

Is it better to send USD or EUR ( SEPA) to Bitstamp?
Where do i have to pay less fee's?

[leoragraves666]

Is it better to send USD or EUR ( SEPA) to Bitstamp?
Where do i have to pay less fee's?

I am not entirely sure if you can SEPA dollars?

[coiniemonster2014]

A question to Bitstamp support: if I declare a transfer of EUR 3000 but instead send ye EUR 3010 would the discrepancy slow the process in any way? Currently waiting days on this SEPA Deposit. I have opened a Support Ticket but to no avail  
I would appreciate any words of wisdom from whoever is nice enough to answer?!
Cheers

BTCBTCBTC

[F-bernanke]

Is it better to send USD or EUR ( SEPA) to Bitstamp?
Where do i have to pay less fee's?

I am not entirely sure if you can SEPA dollars?

SEPA is EUR only.

IBAN can be both.

[Sonny91BE]

Update for me.   My money is now in my account.  It took  only next day (1 day) to review my second verification data to post the money into the account.  The questions feel a little invasive, but I understand the need for making sure its from "viable" sources.   Examples are:
what are my banks?
documented example of where money came from?
how I plan to use bitcoin?

The process overall for the deposit was reasonable given their need to comply with laws.  Only suggestion again is adding to the FAQ some info around verification and timelines for funds that exceed some thresholds.

Here is a timeline in my case if it helps others plan.   I am a US citizen.
1. I opened my Bitstamp account three weeks ago approx.
2. Verification took around 1 week (passport + utility photo).
3.  I sent a $2k deposit test from my US Bank to Bitstamp's bank in Slovenia.  It took around 24hrs, slightly more, for my bank to complete sending it and for Bitstamp to post it.
4.  I have also moved around 18K USD worth of bitcoins in and back out in some tests (coins came from coinbase trades), both were essentially instant, as well as trading with it while it was in Bitstamp (with a bot as well).  
5.  I then transferred ~60K USD from my bank to Bitstamp.  My bank completed the wire within around 14hrs (sent Thursday at 3pm, bank completed it around 14 hrs later my side in the early 'am' according to timestamps).
6.  On Monday I contacted Bitstamp to check the status of the transfer as I was past the declared 24hrs of time they said it takes to deposit.  Bitstamp has responded to every query within 24hrs.  In this case, the agent said the money was already there, but she was mistaken and looking at the first 2k deposit.   I sent another email explaining that.  I got a support email the next day saying they needed more info due to the size/volume thresholds I had exceeded with this deposit.  Some very personal finance questions, but I understand why so I answered them.  Within the next 24hrs they released my funds.   Being in different timezones probably added an extra 48hrs for me in getting this finalized but that isn't their fault.   The whole process and responsiveness has been good when you understand why its happening, so not upset.  Just wanted to relay my experience so it can help others plan when dealing with sums that exceed the reporting limit.

Sounds good. Thanks a lot for keeping us updated, and giving us a detailed insight into how larger deposits are processed at the moment.

All in all, I think that, right now, Bitstamp is probably the safest exchange if your plan is to buy and sell in relatively large volume.

IMO they'd be well advised to hire someone who handles PR for them, updating their twitter/facebook/this forum more frequently, but in principle, I trust them more than I trust, for example, mtgox.

I'm agreeing to this. For me personally it really helps as a fellow Bitstamp customer to get insight with big fundings ! +1

[buciake]

Hi,

I want to use the api from Bitstamp to sell bitcoins but I have a problem;

Lets say I place a buy limit order with the API.
How could I confirm that an order has been completed.

I don't think I can use the "open orders" api call.
Because maybe my order hasn't been processed yet.

And I can't find the api call for complete orders.
There is only an overview of user transactions.

But how can i be sure that doesn't include open transactions.

How will I ever be able to check the status of the transaction, there is no transaction ID returned.

Thanks for in advance!

[richardweiming]

I made a 30 BTC withdraw today, it always processed within 1 miniute.
But this time 5 hours passed and still "waiting to be processed".
I'm a little worried about it. Any one experienced such delay? for so long?