Bitcoin is simply too difficult to buy to gain acceptance

[kingplaya4]

Since I've been under the weather and didn't feel like an hours motorcycle ride back and forth to the bitcoin atm, I tried to buy some online. Big mistake! After a selfie with an explanation of the purchase while holding my ID which was difficult to hold up living alone- although I did manage a clear pictures, then two pictures of my id with my payment card, the purchase was rejected by the exchange and I was told to use another card.

I told them to forget it, and I would like a selfie from the exchange's CEO holding a signed note wherein he promised to destroy all pictures and information I had provide them with.

Who wants to put up with such nonsense? The only reason I deal with the ATM is for online gambling, which our countries cause us to lose more money on since we have to pay extra USD to buy the bitcoin, and then lose a couple of points when it is deposited.

If it was easily available within 1% of spot, it might find adoption- like if you could buy it the way you buy anything else online, simply type in your cc number and four digits on the back. Btc is supposed to be anonymous and easy but it is neither.

[perry8912]

Why do you need acceptance? Do you really believe in Bitcoin??
Don't be a fool. Most of us mine and trade bitcoin here is to make profit, not to use it as real currency. Right now in bear market, I do short selling, just like stocks. Either way, I make money from it, and that's enough.

[Red-Apple]

if you live in a country like lets say UK and want to buy US dollar you go on some Forex market, sign up, give your selfi with your passport or something like that, wait weeks for approval, then deposit some money on your Forex account and wait until the bank transfer completes and the broker funds your account and enables you to start buying US dollar.

do you also consider US dollar having a hard time gaining acceptance?

[Sithawaka]

if you live in a country like lets say UK and want to buy US dollar you go on some Forex market, sign up, give your selfi with your passport or something like that, wait weeks for approval, then deposit some money on your Forex account and wait until the bank transfer completes and the broker funds your account and enables you to start buying US dollar.

do you also consider US dollar having a hard time gaining acceptance?

great convincing and of course we cannot come to a conclusion that there is a  hard time gaining acceptance  for bitcoin just because usability of a one atm machine is no that well and also we have to agree that majority of major governments like Switzerland now days having an open mind towards bitcoin acceptance due to its increasing demand and the rest will definitely do the same because otherwise they might left behind in the future

[BitBustah]

Why do you need acceptance? Do you really believe in Bitcoin??
Don't be a fool. Most of us mine and trade bitcoin here is to make profit, not to use it as real currency. Right now in bear market, I do short selling, just like stocks. Either way, I make money from it, and that's enough.

This is ad but true, the majority of people just buy bitcoin to make a profit and not to conduct commerce.  How many stores in real life are accepting crypto payments? Not many and if they do its a middleman service like bitpay which converts the coins instantly to fiat money.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing though, bitcoin is better as a store of value anyways and can capture some of gold's seven trillion marketcap.

[Upgrade00]

KYC is a very delicate issue, a lot of bitcoin enthusiasts are against the idea of revealing their personal identity when this is a decentralized protocol, and also the threat of misuse and sale of data.

Btc is supposed to be anonymous and easy but it is neither.

It's supposed to be a lot of other things as well which it is; it is transparent and borderless. It's also irreversible, preventing double spending.
Global adoption would make it easier to own bitcoins without buying them, if it becomes accepted as a currency and means of exchange.

[mk4]

What exchange did you use that rejected your card?

KYC is mandatory on almost every bitcoin<->fiat exchange, and that's not even bitcoin's fault. That's just the companies/exchanges following the requirements of the government.

I suggest using LocalBitcoins[1] or Mycelium Local Trader[2] instead. You can do meetups with people instead this way, and you can pay with cash if you wanted to(which is better in terms of anonymity compared to using PayPal/debitcards/creditcards). Just make sure that you choose a well-lit and well-secured place.

[1] https://localbitcoins.com/
[2] https://mycelium.com/lt/help.html

[Coin-Desk]

No there is no difficuties to buy bitcoin. It is very easy to buy bitcoin. You just find a real buyer to buy some bitcoin. Or you can use trading platform for purchase or exchange bitcoin. It is very safe to use exchange platform. Or you can use online website for buy bitcoin it is very easy to use.

So there is no difficulties to buy bitcoin.

[NeuroticFish]

~
After a selfie with an explanation of the purchase while holding my ID which was difficult to hold up living alone
~

Believe me, I feel your pain. For accessing certain services I need, for example, to provide location proof. And because of some silly politicians in my area, the address from my ID is not the same as in the utility bills (the street name has change !!! some 15 years ago !!! and the utility companies still didn't update it), so I have to go to bank and get a paper from them since they're the only ones with my proper address in their system. So as long as possible I avoid the services asking for proof of residence.

There are services more picky with the things you need to provide for identifying yourself/KYC and there are sites more lax about that.
There are services or sellers you can even find on bitcointalk. The fees also vary.

Nobody is perfect and as in every business there probably are some you'd find just fine for your needs too.
Unfortunately it's not easy to find the perfect one. So it may take quite some time or luck to find it!


TL;DR; Not all services are perfect for everybody. Research more, and ask more.

[BrewMaster]

my friend you are not complaining about bitcoin, you think you are but you really aren't.

what you are complaining about is the banking system and regulation laws. and you are complaining about them in a wrong place. this is a bitcoin forum not a banking system or government related forum.

all the "headaches" you just described here are coming from the banking system that forces you to bend over backwards in order to use your own money. and the government that forces the exchanges to force you to send them your documents. so if you are unhappy about KYC and AML laws then you should complain in the correct place, which is with your government

[avikz]

Since I've been under the weather and didn't feel like an hours motorcycle ride back and forth to the bitcoin atm, I tried to buy some online. Big mistake! After a selfie with an explanation of the purchase while holding my ID which was difficult to hold up living alone- although I did manage a clear pictures, then two pictures of my id with my payment card, the purchase was rejected by the exchange and I was told to use another card.

I told them to forget it, and I would like a selfie from the exchange's CEO holding a signed note wherein he promised to destroy all pictures and information I had provide them with.

Who wants to put up with such nonsense? The only reason I deal with the ATM is for online gambling, which our countries cause us to lose more money on since we have to pay extra USD to buy the bitcoin, and then lose a couple of points when it is deposited.

If it was easily available within 1% of spot, it might find adoption- like if you could buy it the way you buy anything else online, simply type in your cc number and four digits on the back. Btc is supposed to be anonymous and easy but it is neither.

You are facing a hard time because you don't know the proper resource to buy bitcoin. I suggest you to use localbitcoins platform and if you are not buying anything very significant, they won't ask for any KYC. I have been using their service for a long time now and never faced any single issue till date.

However, I just want to add that be prepared for KYC going forward if you want to continue with cryptos. Because the world is slowly moving towards crypto regulation and KYC comes with it. So probably in future, you would require KYC if you need to use crypto for any reason. It's better to be prepared from now. A lot of people may argue about it, but I am just being practical.

[Destico]

It depends on individual point of view, here in my country, exchangers are here to help you buy bitcoin with your local currency,though it will cost you a token, but because of many are used to paper note,it become a little difficult to accepts bitcoin and also some local stores and mall are yet to accept it.

[kingplaya4]

The experience was irritating, but as I said I have an atm (Actually 2) within an hours ride of where I live which I usually don't mind, but being ill I preferred to buy at home. I was shocked at how difficult it was, and it occurred to me that this was likely a big part of the reason btcs price is languishing. I really didn't want to send the company all that info in the first place, but I took a number of photos to make sure they were all clear and then it was doubly irritating when they were rejected.

Sure it's not btcs fault, but it's the reality of the situation. I looked up paxful and localbitcoin and the sellers wanted way too much juice for themselves, which I don't fault them for, they probably get scammed sometimes, but since I'm a straight arrow, I'm not going to pay for other's mistakes or misdeeds and I'm sure Joe public feels the same way.

As long as governments can force the exchanges to collect this info, the btc concept is pretty dead. How is it more appealing than cash, except in a scenario like mine where you are forced (Again by government regulation) to get around the regular banking system? But with normal transactions on amazon or ebay or whatever, people will just use their credit cards, there's no real appeal. If it was easy to buy and you could buy within a percent or two of spot I think you'd get more Joe publics collecting.

[mk4]

As long as governments can force the exchanges to collect this info, the btc concept is pretty dead. How is it more appealing than cash, except in a scenario like mine where you are forced (Again by government regulation) to get around the regular banking system?

KYC/AML is definitely a huge hindrance, but I wouldn't automatically call bitcoin's concept "dead". It might be a bit difficult depending on what country and city you're in, but the best method in terms of anonymity is still to meet up with buyers/sellers personally, as transacting in person via cash is a lot more untraceable than using banks/PayPal. Hence I sound like a broken record as I always recommend LocalBitcoins and Mycelium Local Trader.

But with normal transactions on amazon or ebay or whatever, people will just use their credit cards, there's no real appeal. If it was easy to buy and you could buy within a percent or two of spot I think you'd get more Joe publics collecting.

I really won't disagree with this, as paying with credit/debit cards and or PayPal is simply a lot faster and easier. Well, let's see how LN will do when it becomes "ready" enough.

[muratsink]

sometimes we get difficult exchanges and make us dissatisfied. Bitcoin ATM machines are also not perfect, and are still limited.

I think, this is a weakness of BTC, BTC will find it difficult to follow the stability of the global market, making it difficult to become a means of payment.

so, we have to wait until BTC is perfect.

[TopT3ns]

Actually i disagree with some KYC when we want to buy something,but there are already on rules and we can't do anything to resist it. Maybe if you want, try to buy in forum and someone in your area.

[Stockr.co]

Going on coinbase and pressing 2 buttons is not hard to buy.

[pooya87]

As long as governments can force the exchanges to collect this info, the btc concept is pretty dead.

do you even know what the "bitcoin concept" is that you are saying it is "dead"?

it is not about you being able to have centralized exchanges that are fiat oriented being soft on you when you want to transfer money from your bank. all of these things (which you are complaining about) are introduced afterwards into the ecosystem and they are mostly for traders and none of it has anything to do with bitcoin and its "concept"!

bitcoin is supposed to be a decentralized currency, and if you treat it as a currency (not an investment which you trade on exchanges) then you wouldn't face any of the problems you just said here. for example if you have a shop then start accepting bitcoin as payment like you do with any other currency, or if you have a paycheck then ask your boss to pay a portion of it in bitcoin like you would with any other currency.

[kingplaya4]

Lol my job would just fire me if I insisted I be paid in bitcoin. Even if I had a more cooperative boss, I'm sure after finding out the exchange wanted baby pictures, a signed affidavit from his mother that he came out of her womb etc, he would say "sorry old boy, I'm afraid we'll have to stick with a bank transfer or possibly cash if you insist." A shop that accepts bitcoin? Sure, but who wants to spend so much juice (except for early adopters) to buy from me in btc when paypal is much easier.

[squatter]

Since I've been under the weather and didn't feel like an hours motorcycle ride back and forth to the bitcoin atm, I tried to buy some online. Big mistake! After a selfie with an explanation of the purchase while holding my ID which was difficult to hold up living alone- although I did manage a clear pictures, then two pictures of my id with my payment card, the purchase was rejected by the exchange and I was told to use another card.

I told them to forget it, and I would like a selfie from the exchange's CEO holding a signed note wherein he promised to destroy all pictures and information I had provide them with.

Who wants to put up with such nonsense? The only reason I deal with the ATM is for online gambling, which our countries cause us to lose more money on since we have to pay extra USD to buy the bitcoin, and then lose a couple of points when it is deposited.

It's because of money transmitter laws. I'm not sure about other countries, but in the US people have been getting arrested for trading large volumes without asking for ID. Professional traders and exchanges have been tightening up a lot.

It should be possible to trade small amounts P2P without ID -- right on this forum or on Paxful, if not Localbitcoins. If you only need to move a few hundred dollars, I would find a trusted trader on this forum.