Returning to Bitcoin after time away

[Capitalmind]

Hi guys, I worked heavily with Bitcoin up until China abolished it as a form of payment, just before MtGox went down. I was very active and handled some serious coin, attending numerous meetups, conferences and financing expos, enjoying prices at their very highest. Since then I've drifted away and missed the giant thefts and news of 51% ownership unnerving some to name just two bumps in the road.

I still have need for crypto currency and am hopeful someone can kindly give me their low-down. Coinbase was new when I left and cashing in coins was still rather lumpy, exchanges slow or maximum withdrawals of sums less than school lunch money. So my question is who would you use to convert BTC to USD or EUR (or to another coin and then USD/EUR) safely and if possible anonymously? Bitstamp were highly priced and BTC-e took forever to exchange.

After a while people find tools that really do the job whether it be malware removal software or defragging software, the same must go for BTC. I would value input on tried and tested methods away from the quick win, high risk exchanges of the old days (well a couple of years). Your experienced suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[ChuckBuck]

Coinbase and LocalBitcoins for now, and Circle when it finally launches.

[Capitalmind]

Thanks ChuckBuck. I'll read up on your suggestions and see the limits, account info etc. Many thanks for the suggestions.

[ChuckBuck]

Thanks ChuckBuck. I'll read up on your suggestions and see the limits, account info etc. Many thanks for the suggestions.

No problem.  If you find the right reputable buyer, shouldn't be any limits on LocalBitcoins.

For Coinbase, the following limits apply:

http://blog.coinbase.com/post/74631122841/a-change-in-limits-and-denominations

Soon we will be changing some of the daily buy and sell limits on Coinbase, as well as changing the way they are counted.  Instead of setting limits in bitcoin, they will be set in dollars.

For example, a level 2 user will have a purchase limit of $50,000/day instead of 50 BTC.  Right now that’s equivalent to about 60 BTC, but as the price of bitcoin changes, the BTC equivalent will vary.

When we originally created the transfer limits on Coinbase, the price of bitcoin was much lower.  A limit of 50 BTC/day in August was only equivalent to $5,000.  Today, it’s equivalent to over $40,000.

We are also taking the time to reduce some limits that have become too high: Level 1 buy and sell.  These are both being reduced to $3,000/day (equivalent to the 10 BTC/day limit when bitcoin reached $300 in early November).

Remember: If you need to buy or sell more than $3,000 USD worth of bitcoin in a day, that is still possible by upgrading to level 2 which has a $50k/day limit.

We hope these changes will make buying and selling on Coinbase an easier process for those more familiar with USD denominations, and also be a more stable solution to purchase limits as bitcoin continues to grow into the future.

[Capitalmind]

Again I appreciate the reply. Have there been any major developments on wallets? Losing codes or having then hijacked was a concern. Only a couple seemed to support three way verification I'd really appreciate some 'best practice' suggestions and not for 1-2 BTC either..

Is this available in a wallet yet?

Multi-signature to protect against theft

Bitcoin includes a multi-signature feature that allows a transaction to require the signature of more than one private key to be spent. It is currently only usable for technical users but a greater availability for this feature can be expected in the future. Multi-signature can, for example, allow an organization to give access to its treasury to its members while only allowing a withdrawal if 3 of 5 members sign the transaction. It can also allow future online wallets to share a multi-signature address with their users, so that a thief would need to compromise both your computer and the online wallet servers in order to steal your funds.

[ChuckBuck]

So far only Bitgo supports multi-sig:

https://www.bitgo.com/

As far as I know it's legit, as it received alot of funding from investors already:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/perianneboring/2014/06/16/bitgo-raises-12mil-draws-attention-of-institutional-investors/

[Capitalmind]

Excellent thank you! If you're near London, beer on me!

[Velkro]

I think you are experienced more than most of us here.
Just wanted say this... Welcome back!