BitPiggy.com - new Australian Dollar <-> BitCoin exchange

[BitPiggy]

Hi all,

I've setup a basic website - http://bitpiggy.com - to start trading BitCoins for Australian Dollars.  At the moment it is a very very basic website, essentially telling you to contact me if you want to do a trade.

That said, I'm a professional web developer (I'm currently working on http://theconversation.edu.au) and native Australian citizen, and so with that in mind to I plan to rapidly start adding automated trading features, e.g. similar to CoinPal/CoinCard but for AUD (and it looks like I'll need avoid using PayPal.  BPay is one option I am considering).  

Anyways, I'm just posting this to judge the interest out there.  Hopefully many of you are interested in trading BitCoins for AUD or vice versa.  If you have any feedback, would love to here it.

Cheers,
~Mat

[1715306675]

1715306675

[Anonymous]

http://bitcoin.com.au

I set that up as a portal for aussie bitcoiners and we have an irc channel at #bitcoin-aus if you feel like joining.

Vic seems like the central hub of bitcoin in Aus at the moment.

[BitPiggy]

Ah yes, I think I sent a message on your contact page a couple of weeks ago. Can't remember what happened with that.

Anyways, I'll have to check out the irc channel. Not on irc much these days. Thanks for the tip!

[Anonymous]

Ah yes, I think I sent a message on your contact page a couple of weeks ago. Can't remember what happened with that.

Anyways, I'll have to check out the irc channel. Not on irc much these days. Thanks for the tip!

yw. I really need to fix the contact page. What do you suggest as a portal site for aussie users?

Wordpress is the limit of my ability to code 

[commlinx]

I'll definitely be interested in this when up and running . One thing worth doing when you're going to be trading is registering at http://bitcoin-otc.com/trust.php.

[duman]

Hi guys,
I am looking at getting involved in the Australian Bitcoin market too. Ill keep an eye on both the sites and update all if i get onto anything myself

[BitPiggy]

Hi all,

Apologies that I disappeared for a week or two there. I will need to keep on top of this forum better.

BitPiggy has been updated, so that customers can sell BitCoins (to BitPiggy) via a semi automated service.  On top of this I enabled SSL version of the website, which you can reach by https://bitpiggy.heroku.com.

Currently the site only sends money via direct bank deposits.  

Buying BitCoins and more features to come soon.  I need to explain my fees as well.  For the meantime, it is working nicely.  Currently users can sell up to $500 worth of BitCoins.

Cheers,
~Mat

  

[commlinx]

Just wanted to post here that last week I used the site twice to sell 50 and 80 BTC and it all worked flawlessly

[BitPiggy]

Another update:

Users can now buy and sell on BitPiggy.  There are some simple daily limits, and some per-sale limits.  The site tells you if the amount is to big or too small.  Just go to http://bitpiggy.com

Please let me know if you have any suggestions, or experience any problems.

Otherwise, enjoy!
~Mat

PS. And thanks to commlinx for that recommendation.

[Strik3r]

I will be putting through a sale of 10 BTC (just to see how it all goes) this afternoon.

If all goes well, I will look to do some larger amounts with you. Its great that your in Australia and do bank deposits. Removes all the currency conversion / transaction fees.

[Rodyland]

Great idea.  Would be nice not to be screwed on international transfers and conversions on mtgox.

[Cluster2k]

Great idea.  Would be nice not to be screwed on international transfers and conversions on mtgox.

MtGox allows easy transferring of Australian dollars to the exchange, but how do you withdraw them back to an Australian bank account?  As far as I can see only US/Euro accounts are supported.

It would be nice to have an alternative to BitPiggy.  While that site has been reliable and honest, it's just one place to trade bitcoins/cash.  More options are needed should BitPiggy experience problems.

[dbit2011]

I will be putting through a sale of 10 BTC (just to see how it all goes) this afternoon.

If all goes well, I will look to do some larger amounts with you. Its great that your in Australia and do bank deposits. Removes all the currency conversion / transaction fees.

I am also considering trading with bitpiggy.

How did that 10BTC transaction go?

[Strik3r]

they were out of funds yesterday when i went to do it, but this morning they were back up and running, so i put the request through. Apparently takes 1-24 hours to process, so i'll update this thread with the results.

[dbit2011]

I've put in a small 0.5BTC transaction to test things out, I will report on progress within 24-48 hours.

[Dracs]

Just got my first lot of money from Bitcoin

Tested the service selling 1 Bitcoin, received my money ~2 days later. Will definitely be using again.

[Cluster2k]

BitPiggy is once again out of funds this morning.  Is there another way to get BTC to AUD$?

[BitPiggy]

Hi,

Apologies once again, I have been away from this forum for a while.

As mentioned in the post above, the website is still experiencing hiccups such as  running out of funds and/or BitCoins.  In addition to that, parts of the process are still manual, such as sending/receiving money.

In short the user-experience is not as good as say CoinPal, which I think had a fantastic experience.

Hence, my roadmap for the next week or so is to:

• Take down the site temporarily
• Add BPay as payment option
• Setup own internal BitCoin server

The benefits of these things will be:

• Allow me to focus on fixing the site ASAP
• Make automatic notification when someone pays a reality
• Allow automatic notification of when BitCoins are sent/received

The only major part that will still be missing is automatic payment of AUD to someone who has sold BitCoins to BitPiggy.  As far as I am aware, there is simply no automatic way to do this in Australia.

Please let me know if you have questions/comments.
~Mat

[Strik3r]

Yea, I think you're right. I can't see any automated way of doing it without going through an intemediary service of some sort (which just adds fee's etc.). Unless your bank offers some sort of merchant package that allows you to send payments through an API of some sort I don't know of any that do, but it might exist ?

I'm fairly happy with a 96 hour turn around time anyway. I sent my BTC through this morning, and would be happy to see the money in my account before next Tuesday. As long as people dont have unrealistic expectations and you are upfront with the transaction time, i dont see any problems.

As a bit of a suggestion, i'd perhaps flesh the site out with a little bit more information. It doesn't really say too much at the moment, and might put some people off.

Cheers,

Gervase

[Cluster2k]

ABC Radio National had a story about Bitcoins on tonight's PM program.

New online currency offers a 'better way'
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2011/s3240179.htm

A whole lot more Australians may soon be interested in trading BTC.