[UPDATE] Bypass the exchanges w/ BitInstant Pay-to-Email feature

[FreeMoney]

This is actually awesome news since it removes the need to ID yourself in order to convert your fiat to BTC.

Two thumbs up from me! 

Yes, but don't forget we monitor fraud and AML 24/7

We have per-day and per-transaction limits in place for that reason, and any attempt to defraud our system will be taken seriously.

Thanks 

What does this mean?

I sell bad powders, get cash, take cash to bank, put in your account, get coins.

Isn't that money laundering? How can you possibly do anything about that?

We are required by US law and FinCEN regulations to not allow 1 person to transfer more then $1,000 per day

Where and when do you ID? Do you just make the assumption that 1 email = 1 user?

We are required by law to make a reasonable effort to be compliant.

For cash deposits, the burden falls on TrustCash, but we monitor IP address, Bank Deposit Branch, Account Deposited, MtGox (or other exchange account), and email address

Thanks that helps.

I guess if my friends and I go together to the same branch and then go back to my place and get online you'll just want to ID us all and we'll still get our money?

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

This is actually awesome news since it removes the need to ID yourself in order to convert your fiat to BTC.

Two thumbs up from me! 

Yes, but don't forget we monitor fraud and AML 24/7

We have per-day and per-transaction limits in place for that reason, and any attempt to defraud our system will be taken seriously.

Thanks 

What does this mean?

I sell bad powders, get cash, take cash to bank, put in your account, get coins.

Isn't that money laundering? How can you possibly do anything about that?

We are required by US law and FinCEN regulations to not allow 1 person to transfer more then $1,000 per day

Where and when do you ID? Do you just make the assumption that 1 email = 1 user?

We are required by law to make a reasonable effort to be compliant.

For cash deposits, the burden falls on TrustCash, but we monitor IP address, Bank Deposit Branch, Account Deposited, MtGox (or other exchange account), and email address

Thanks that helps.

I guess if my friends and I go together to the same branch and then go back to my place and get online you'll just want to ID us all and we'll still get our money?

I don't understand the question, can you elaborate?

Right now, unless you email us and tell us that you want to transfer over $1000 in cash deposits, we are not ID'ing you.
The system won't let you proceed either, but of course its not fullproof

[FreeMoney]

This is actually awesome news since it removes the need to ID yourself in order to convert your fiat to BTC.

Two thumbs up from me! 

Yes, but don't forget we monitor fraud and AML 24/7

We have per-day and per-transaction limits in place for that reason, and any attempt to defraud our system will be taken seriously.

Thanks 

What does this mean?

I sell bad powders, get cash, take cash to bank, put in your account, get coins.

Isn't that money laundering? How can you possibly do anything about that?

We are required by US law and FinCEN regulations to not allow 1 person to transfer more then $1,000 per day

Where and when do you ID? Do you just make the assumption that 1 email = 1 user?

We are required by law to make a reasonable effort to be compliant.

For cash deposits, the burden falls on TrustCash, but we monitor IP address, Bank Deposit Branch, Account Deposited, MtGox (or other exchange account), and email address

Thanks that helps.

I guess if my friends and I go together to the same branch and then go back to my place and get online you'll just want to ID us all and we'll still get our money?

I don't understand the question, can you elaborate?

Right now, unless you email us and tell us that you want to transfer over $1000 in cash deposits, we are not ID'ing you.
The system won't let you proceed either, but of course its not fullproof

You say you'll try to figure out if someone is getting by the $1000 limit by looking at bank branches an IPs. If I go to one branch, do 5 transactions of $1000 and go home and access the 5 different emails from the same IP that looks a lot me and my 5 friends buying $1000 each and going to my house and using the same IP.

Essentially all I'm saying is that some people who are doing less than the limit will get bothered (ID'd?) by chance or accident when you have false positives.

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

This is actually awesome news since it removes the need to ID yourself in order to convert your fiat to BTC.

Two thumbs up from me! 

Yes, but don't forget we monitor fraud and AML 24/7

We have per-day and per-transaction limits in place for that reason, and any attempt to defraud our system will be taken seriously.

Thanks 

What does this mean?

I sell bad powders, get cash, take cash to bank, put in your account, get coins.

Isn't that money laundering? How can you possibly do anything about that?

We are required by US law and FinCEN regulations to not allow 1 person to transfer more then $1,000 per day

Where and when do you ID? Do you just make the assumption that 1 email = 1 user?

We are required by law to make a reasonable effort to be compliant.

For cash deposits, the burden falls on TrustCash, but we monitor IP address, Bank Deposit Branch, Account Deposited, MtGox (or other exchange account), and email address

Thanks that helps.

I guess if my friends and I go together to the same branch and then go back to my place and get online you'll just want to ID us all and we'll still get our money?

I don't understand the question, can you elaborate?

Right now, unless you email us and tell us that you want to transfer over $1000 in cash deposits, we are not ID'ing you.
The system won't let you proceed either, but of course its not fullproof

You say you'll try to figure out if someone is getting by the $1000 limit by looking at bank branches an IPs. If I go to one branch, do 5 transactions of $1000 and go home and access the 5 different emails from the same IP that looks a lot me and my 5 friends buying $1000 each and going to my house and using the same IP.

Essentially all I'm saying is that some people who are doing less than the limit will get bothered (ID'd?) by chance or accident when you have false positives.

Ah, I understand!

The system is not fool proof, so of course people slip thru the cracks and we may annoy some people. We always give people benefit of the doubt and never assume people are guilty until we contact them or hear their side of the story. Of course, we will never lock your funds or hold you hostage.

[teste]

Hi Charlies,

1- So I'll be able to buy bitcoins on Bitinstant using Real currency?
2- With the price of 1 bitcoin in 5 dollars, what will be the price of 1 bitcoin in Real currency? (1 dollar = 1.83 Real)

[FreeMoney]

This is actually awesome news since it removes the need to ID yourself in order to convert your fiat to BTC.

Two thumbs up from me! 

Yes, but don't forget we monitor fraud and AML 24/7

We have per-day and per-transaction limits in place for that reason, and any attempt to defraud our system will be taken seriously.

Thanks 

What does this mean?

I sell bad powders, get cash, take cash to bank, put in your account, get coins.

Isn't that money laundering? How can you possibly do anything about that?

We are required by US law and FinCEN regulations to not allow 1 person to transfer more then $1,000 per day

Where and when do you ID? Do you just make the assumption that 1 email = 1 user?

We are required by law to make a reasonable effort to be compliant.

For cash deposits, the burden falls on TrustCash, but we monitor IP address, Bank Deposit Branch, Account Deposited, MtGox (or other exchange account), and email address

Thanks that helps.

I guess if my friends and I go together to the same branch and then go back to my place and get online you'll just want to ID us all and we'll still get our money?

I don't understand the question, can you elaborate?

Right now, unless you email us and tell us that you want to transfer over $1000 in cash deposits, we are not ID'ing you.
The system won't let you proceed either, but of course its not fullproof

You say you'll try to figure out if someone is getting by the $1000 limit by looking at bank branches an IPs. If I go to one branch, do 5 transactions of $1000 and go home and access the 5 different emails from the same IP that looks a lot me and my 5 friends buying $1000 each and going to my house and using the same IP.

Essentially all I'm saying is that some people who are doing less than the limit will get bothered (ID'd?) by chance or accident when you have false positives.

Ah, I understand!

The system is not fool proof, so of course people slip thru the cracks and we may annoy some people. We always give people benefit of the doubt and never assume people are guilty until we contact them or hear their side of the story. Of course, we will never lock your funds or hold you hostage.

A+

BitInstant has my confidence.  I especially like that you can bypass the exchanges. Any chance of sending coins straight to an address instead of via email? That would be like the ultimate in safety and convenience.

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

Hi Charlies,

1- So I'll be able to buy bitcoins on Bitinstant using Real currency?
2- With the price of 1 bitcoin in 5 dollars, what will be the price of 1 bitcoin in Real currency? (1 dollar = 1.83 Real)

Hey!

GREAT question!

So we are working with the Boleto system, these locations range from banks, post offices, and convenience stores in Brazil)

When you go to Bitinstant.com you'll choose your location (Brazil) and it will show USD / BRL / BTC. You will be able to enter in the amount in either of 3 fields and the other two will automatically update.

When your checking out, we will give you a pre-printed slip in BRL so you know how much to deposit.

It's that simple!

-Charlie

[reg]

The way it will work on our website, is it will show a USD/Local Currency form that dynamically updates.

So, if you want to deposit $33.90 it would tell you 1000 RUB in Russia, so on and so forth. The funds will be converted by the bank, so we will be getting competitive rates.

Should clear up a few things!

ok- so if I send you 1000 RUB from my credit card by internet banking you will send me a BTC address of that amount (less fees) in BTC. I would need an a/c number and reference number from you to do that? Also if I used enigmail my details would be encypted but what about your server- is it secure as when opened my details can be read if your site has insufficient internal security? Also how do you protect the returned BTC address by e-mail if you do not use enigmail?

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

-------
UPDATE:

We've now added the PIN security verification system. This had been recommended to help offset the risks of using email to send Bitcoin, and it's now ready to go.

During your checkout, you'll select a PIN if Bitcoins are being sent to your email. In order to get those coins, you'll need this PIN, so write it down.

Once the Bitcoins are received to your email, you'll need to enter your PIN to redeem them. The PIN is passed securely from our servers to the redemption.

BTW - the Bitcoin-to-Email feature has been a huge success. In the past week alone, over 2,000 BTC has been sent from BitInstant's cash deposits to customers' email accounts.

----------

[casascius]

Nice work.

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

Nice work.

Was partly your idea!

Thank you very much, your a gentleman and a scholar

Charlie

[bearbones]

Here is an awesome How To on using BitInstant Pay-to-Email to buy Bitcoin anonymously:

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2012/04/how-to-buy-bitcoins-anonymously-in-the-us-instantly/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-buy-bitcoins-anonymously-in-the-us-instantly

[randomproof]

You talked about fees in the OP but does that include the MtGox fees or just the 3.99% + $1.00 listed on the site?
Also what is the "Destination account"? is that the destination email address?

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

You talked about fees in the OP but does that include the MtGox fees or just the 3.99% + $1.00 listed on the site?
Also what is the "Destination account"? is that the destination email address?

The only fee's there are the ones listed, you don't need to pay MtGox Trading Fee, we do that.

'Destination Account' can be an email address or mobile number- we will be editing the field on our next update

Thanks