Circle Announces Global Launch of Bitcoin Banking Platform

[Traffic4u]

It turns out you can do it. But Circle claims they are not an exchange! You don't "buy" coins on the site. You deposit either fiat or bitcoins and the money is held in your Circle account as bitcoins.

They aren't an exchange. Coinbase is also not an exchange. You trade bitcoins directly with Circle. Exchanges are where you trade with other people.

I know that people will treat it as an exchange and people will have their credit cards and bank accounts closed because they are trying to either trade or arbitrage with circle (just like they do with coinbase and always complain about their bank accounts getting closed)

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1715117974

[blumangroup]

Finally, the biggest downside with Circle is that you can't ever withdraw bitcoins from it (although you can deposit bitcoins into it). This essentially means that Circle is always going to "hold" your bitcoins which means you will have to trust them. Yes, I know I've heard they are insured but I do not see the FDIC logo anywhere on their site, and that is the only insurance that means anything. Plenty of other fraudulent companies have said "trust us" and then they either they ran away with the money or the bitcoins were mysteriously "stolen". Why should I trust Circle, then? With Coinbase I can buy coins and then immediately send them to my wallet, only sending them back to Coinbase when I want to sell. I prefer that much more.

?  You can send bitcoin to any bitcoin address..

That would be the biggest problem with Circle by far if that is the case.  Does anyone know?

I know some people have mentioned them perhaps using fractional reserve banking strategies.  If they indeed to not allow for the withdrawal of coins then that is further proof that they are perhaps doing that.  I would stay away from them if that is the case.

ok, I figured out how to withdraw. But it wasn't obvious. I'm not sure why the "withdraw" option doesn't let you do but you can send bitcoins to yourself. It is probably because Circle wants to be thought of as a bank account where your fiat is held as bitcoins, while Coinbase is an exchange that let's you have a bitcoin wallet.

Yes, it is exactly the same thing. It's just marketing.

Still, all the other problems with Circle still stand. Until they let you deal with reasonable amounts of money, I'll still prefer Coinbase.

They have weekly limits in the thousands of dollars. I would consider that to be reasonable llimits as to how much money most people would spend in a week.

[RappingSniper]

Just bought bitcoin from australia, it was instant. This is a game changer.

[darthcoin]

This is the first webpage that's ever given me motion sickness...

[bigdave]

I can confirm that I performed a withdrawal to my debit card and it took 2 days for the deposit to show up. See ya Coinbase...

[KJO]

Has anybody tried a prepaid debit card like "Greendot prepaid visa" at circle?

[UberNifty]

Exciting stuff, one step closer to mainstream!

[damiano]

I signed up and linked a cc within 5 minutes.  Very easy

[Midwestbitcoiner]

Tried using my debit card, denied.  Had the funds available.  Contacted support by phone, they said that it is a known issue, that their fraud algo is too strict at the moment,  I asked if I would be able to buy using bank account (still waiting on the small deposits to come in), and they said maybe, but were not sure.

I am not a fraudulent person, hopefully they fix this part soon, so I can use this service and leave CB forever.

[QuestionAuthority]

Tried using my debit card, denied.  Had the funds available.  Contacted support by phone, they said that it is a known issue, that their fraud algo is too strict at the moment,  I asked if I would be able to buy using bank account (still waiting on the small deposits to come in), and they said maybe, but were not sure.

I am not a fraudulent person, hopefully they fix this part soon, so I can use this service and leave CB forever.

Is Coinbase really that bad? I have seen a lot of people complaining about them but I've never used them personally. I don't trust businesses operating out of apartments unless they're running a garage sale. LOL

I did just use Circle and it was faster than using my Wells Fargo account online. I can't believe Bitcoin finally got a service that's operated by seasoned professionals. What a pleasure it was to use. Most of the online bitcoin business websites I've used so far left me feeling like I was dealing with the mafia in a dark room, like I was doing something illegal.

[FundsMoney]

What country are you from, @QuestionAuthority?

It worked for me first time, instantly, no problem, but now I only get a message on the top of the site, saying I should contact them, which I did.
They said they will try to 'offer support for NON-US countries in the future' , but at the moment, as an european, I can't use them for buying/selling purposes, only as a web wallet (well, insured one).

[QuestionAuthority]

What country are you from, @QuestionAuthority?

It worked for me first time, instantly, no problem, but now I only get a message on the top of the site, saying I should contact them, which I did.
They said they will try to 'offer support for NON-US countries in the future' , but at the moment, as an european, I can't use them for buying/selling purposes, only as a web wallet (well, insured one).

I'm in San Francisco. That's probably why I didn't have a problem. I don't think they are offering the full service outside the U.S. right now. Hopefully they will soon because it's stellar.

[Midwestbitcoiner]

Tried using my debit card, denied.  Had the funds available.  Contacted support by phone, they said that it is a known issue, that their fraud algo is too strict at the moment,  I asked if I would be able to buy using bank account (still waiting on the small deposits to come in), and they said maybe, but were not sure.

I am not a fraudulent person, hopefully they fix this part soon, so I can use this service and leave CB forever.

Got the confirmation deposits tonight.  Verified checking account, and bought 500.00 worth of bitcoin instantly, took 3 seconds.  Love Circle.

[xetsr]

For some reason my wellsfargo VISA debit and prepaid VISA vanilla wouldn't go through... bought a prepaid paypal mastercard from 7-eleven and it works fine.

[smoothie]

Just bought some BTC from circle...

Instant transfer...

Absolutely awesome!

Get your bitcoin while they are cheap!! 

[KJO]

Hey guys, check this article out regarding prepaid debit cards. Apparently  the use of "Visa" prepaid gift cards are actually encouraged by Circle.

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/circle-allows-prepaid-visa-cards-purchase-bitcoin/

Visa gift cards!!!

[xetsr]

Hey guys, check this article out regarding prepaid debit cards. Apparently  the use of "Visa" prepaid gift cards are actually encouraged by Circle.

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/circle-allows-prepaid-visa-cards-purchase-bitcoin/

Visa gift cards!!!

I tried these VISA prepaid cards: WU prepaid, Greendot and Vanilla. None of them worked. What visa cards are people using?

[Midwestbitcoiner]

Probably have to have the permanent prepaid netspend, green dot, vaniiola, etc, not just a temp one from store. They have to be registered to your name so they can verify that info. 

[xetsr]

Probably have to have the permanent prepaid netspend, green dot, vaniiola, etc, not just a temp one from store. They have to be registered to your name so they can verify that info. 

The ones I tried were permanent cards with real information.

Anyone else have success with any prepaid cards?

[STWizard]

Can anyone answer the simple question as to whether they have used a prepaid Green Dot Visa/Mastercard card and which type it was. Please specity if it was freshly purchased (temporary, no name embossed on card) or Verified with address and ID info (permanent, name embossed on the card).  Also please let us know if there were any negative reactions from Green Dot. Thanks very much for your help to this community of bitcoiners if you do this.