You can buy Bitcoin in Austria at nearly every corner

[CrackedLogic]

We need idea and concepts like this brought into other smaller countries to boost the adoption of bitcoin. Smaller countries would adapt to it much faster than larger countries.

South Africa could do with something like this.

[Yeezus]

This sort of thing seems to be popping up in a few countries (UK with zip-zap) and some other countries in Europe (think Poland). Sadly, I don't think many people tend to use these sorts of services as there just doesn't seem to be enough demand for bitcoin at the moment. Maybe that will change in the future, though.

This is how the Bitcoinbon looks. More information soon!

https://i.imgur.com/gNDS5du.jpg?1

So you're not actually buying the coins directly? You just buy a pin to collect them? How do you get them into your wallet from there? I think printing a QR code or the private key would be a better idea.

[Lauda]

This sort of thing seems to be popping up in a few countries (UK with zip-zap) and some other countries in Europe (think Poland). Sadly, I don't think many people tend to use these sorts of services as there just doesn't seem to be enough demand for bitcoin at the moment. Maybe that will change in the future, though.

This is how the Bitcoinbon looks. More information soon!

https://i.imgur.com/gNDS5du.jpg?1

So you're not actually buying the coins directly? You just buy a pin to collect them? How do you get them into your wallet from there? I think printing a QR code or the private key would be a better idea.

Actually this is an excellent idea. You obviously don't know German as everything is written on the "bon" (paper) that you receive.
I'll write a in a more detailed manner on how I got it, how to use it and describe the experience.

You redeem here with the code: https://www.bitcoinbon.at/#redeem

[Orangina]

Nice news ! Hope this will spread quickly and be world wide!

We need idea and concepts like this brought into other smaller countries to boost the adoption of bitcoin. Smaller countries would adapt to it much faster than larger countries.

South Africa could do with something like this.

Yeah like you said in smaller countries it will adapt quickly than larger countries !

[Bitcoinexp]

Nice news ! Hope this will spread quickly and be world wide!

We need idea and concepts like this brought into other smaller countries to boost the adoption of bitcoin. Smaller countries would adapt to it much faster than larger countries.

South Africa could do with something like this.

Yeah like you said in smaller countries it will adapt quickly than larger countries !

In my 'small country', there are very few merchants who accept bitcoin. There are traders though of course but are still too little in numbers. To be honest, I think I'm pretty much one of the hundreds of people who use bitcoin or at least know about it here. Would sure wish this changes soon...

[CrackedLogic]

Nice news ! Hope this will spread quickly and be world wide!

We need idea and concepts like this brought into other smaller countries to boost the adoption of bitcoin. Smaller countries would adapt to it much faster than larger countries.

South Africa could do with something like this.

Yeah like you said in smaller countries it will adapt quickly than larger countries !

In my 'small country', there are very few merchants who accept bitcoin. There are traders though of course but are still too little in numbers. To be honest, I think I'm pretty much one of the hundreds of people who use bitcoin or at least know about it here. Would sure wish this changes soon...

We could propose Bitcoin ATMs to be included with Regular ATMs at large/major shopping malls as well. We could create a small ecosystem using Bitcoin. With local stores we can talk to the manager/proprietor to start thinking about introducing Bitcoin to it's customers.

[chmod755]

I live in a small town in Austria (~10,000 residents) - went to a tobacco store today.

They are advertising bitcoinbon on TV screens, just like in this picture someone posted to reddit.

[NUFCrichard]

I live in a small town in Austria (~10,000 residents) - went to a tobacco store today.

They are advertising bitcoinbon on TV screens, just like in this picture someone posted to reddit.

That is really cool.  Do you get the exchange rate at the time you buy the coupon, or when it is redeemed?
I don't really understand how it works, but it is a very nice and easy way to buy bitcoins.

Do you need to show any ID when buying the coupon? 

[Denker]

I live in a small town in Austria (~10,000 residents) - went to a tobacco store today.

They are advertising bitcoinbon on TV screens, just like in this picture someone posted to reddit.

That is so great man. In Germany we are way behind. Hope this will change in the future.

[chmod755]

That is really cool.  Do you get the exchange rate at the time you buy the coupon, or when it is redeemed?

I don't really understand how it works, but it is a very nice and easy way to buy bitcoins.

You get the exchange rate at the time you redeem it (you could just buy one and redeem it when the rate is lower), I already have my bitcoins so I didn't buy one, but I'll give it a try if I need more.

Do you need to show any ID when buying the coupon?

If you buy a significant amount the store owner may ask for ID - just like when you buy prepaid credit cards, paysafecards, etc.

They are only required to check your identity if you buy more than €15000, however they may ask you to provide ID for lower amounts if you're acting suspicious.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, I'm just referencing the money laundering rules of Austria

That is so great man. In Germany we are way behind. Hope this will change in the future.

That's just a single company - it should be possible to do that in Germany.

[Lauda]

Note: A picture of the Bon can be found on the first page. It is very large so I've decided not to post it again.
Here's my story. Firstly I went to https://www.bitcoinbon.at/#buy and looked at places where I could buy the bon. There were quite some places in Wien and it looked like this:



I've picked out a location and went out to find it using Google Maps. The search was relatively easy, the locations are 1-3 meters off (pretty accurate). So when I finally found the "Tabak Trafik", unfortunately there was no indication like a sticker or something that one could buy Bitcoinbons there. That's a small minus I guess since there are a lot of these 'Trafiks'.
I proceeded to enter it and ask if I could buy a Bitcoinbon. They are available at 25€, 50€, 100€. I took one and paid 25€. Note: I was not asked for my ID.

Redeeming
To redeem the code one has to visit: https://www.bitcoinbon.at/#redeem. There you will be asked if you have a Bitcoin wallet (in my case I obviously do). To proceed you have to click on the 'Ja' button and enter the code.


When redeeming, you will be shown how much Bitcoins you will get (rate updates every 90 seconds), and asked to input: Name, Email Address and Bitcoin Address.


For 25€, at the current rate of 1BTC = 263,87€, I've received 0,0947 Bitcoins.
https://blockchain.info/tx/995e682c80bb231880beecba9e2c5f094ac8a5d0749d67aa270400ec39b6927d

Update:
It looks like there is an error on the website. While it displays the price in Euros it actually is in dollars. I was supposed to get 0.10368663594 (actual market rate where 25€ = 27$), and I got 0,0947. That's 9.4% off, but! If you personally ask me this is a great rate for something that's so new. They have to pay a lot of fees, pay for all the paper and such. I'm sure that over time this will reduce. The amount of received Bitcoins is calculated at the time of redemption not at the time of purchase.

The Bon is valid for 12 months, meaning that the risk is on the company. They stated on the voucher 'Gultigkeit: 12', which obviously was not very clear to me (hours, days, weeks, months etc.?).

[wadili89]

this is a great news for the people of Austria i will love to see some day these progres in my country yeah hope so only maybe after i am dead 

[Denker]

Here's my story. Firstly I went to https://www.bitcoinbon.at/#buy and looked at places where I could buy the bon. There were quite some places in Wien and it looked like this:



I've picked out a location and went out to find it using Google Maps. The search was relatively easy, the locations are 1-3 meters off (pretty accurate). So when I finally found the "Tabak Trafik", unfortunately there was no indication like a sticker or something that one could buy Bitcoinbons there. That's a small minus I guess since there are a lot of these 'Trafiks'.
I proceeded to enter it and ask if I could buy a Bitcoinbon. They are available at 25€, 50€, 100€. I took one and paid 25€. Note: I was not asked for my ID.

Redeeming
To redeem the code one has to visit: https://www.bitcoinbon.at/#redeem. There you will be asked if you have a Bitcoin wallet (in my case I obviously do). To proceed you have to click on the 'Ja' button and enter the code.


When redeeming, you will be shown how much Bitcoins you will get (rate updates every 90 seconds), and asked to input: Name, Email Address and Bitcoin Address.


For 25€, at the current rate of 1BTC = 263,87€, I've received 0,0947 Bitcoins.
https://blockchain.info/tx/995e682c80bb231880beecba9e2c5f094ac8a5d0749d67aa270400ec39b6927d

So this is really a simple and easy way to use and to buy some quick Bitcoin. Awesome!

[Lauda]

I've updated the post and added more information. The overall experience from 1-5 would be around 4.6.
The thing is that this could be pretty much easily implemented in other countries. Buying and redeeming can be done in less than a minute (if you have internet on your smartphone). This is much better than ATMs (that require a lot of verification). They should only add a Bitcoin sticker of sorts to the places that hold these.

If anyone has any questions in regards to Bitcoinbons please ask. I'm hoping that I've explained everything clearly.


Note: I've received the coins already (in less than 30 minutes).

[odedrozan]

Wow thats nice wow great for Austrian guys who mess with bitcoins , wish to live there

[valkir]

That is awesome! Wow so much place that accept bitcoin! Which canada will do the same!

[Mr.K]

Nice!Hope BTC can be accepted in more countries.

[Lauda]

Wow thats nice wow great for Austrian guys who mess with bitcoins , wish to live there

Well I for one think that this thread needs much much more attention. As I've previously stated multiple times around the forum, people focus too much on the bad news that the media is spreading and just acknowledge the good ones. There are many factors that should be accounted for. Even though people often think Austria is small and thus not that much important as Germany or the UK. Austria is a very good country.
Wien has been chosen 6 times in a row as the most livable city:
http://www.wien.info/en/lifestyle-scene/most-livable-city

I've been there, and that's where the Bitcoins came from. Moving there would actually make sense. Although I'm not completely certain of the governments stance towards Bitcoin.
Bitlegal.net doesn't seem to be working and I couldn't find much information aside from it being legal as stated here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_bitcoin_by_country

[coinfinity]

LaudaM, thanks a lot for posting your detailed review – very much appreciated! We are running the Bitcoinbon service, here's our verification: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=999273.msg10848743#msg10848743

So when I finally found the "Tabak Trafik", unfortunately there was no indication like a sticker or something that one could buy Bitcoinbons there.

We already sent out stickers to our partner outlets but not all have them in place yet. Here's how this looks like in an outlet near our office: https://i.imgur.com/JlFqZHN.jpg
We hope that all outlets will eventually use the sticker.

Update:
It looks like there is an error on the website. While it displays the price in Euros it actually is in dollars. I was supposed to get 0.10368663594 (actual market rate where 25€ = 27$), and I got 0,0947. That's 9.4% off, but!

Actually, that's not an error. Our bitcoin price is denominated in Euro and it's higher than marktet prices at the various exchanges. This is because we have to pay the outlet owner and the company running the POS terminals (in addition to our own fee). Since we don't like hidden fees, we included the overall fee (currently ~8%) in the bitcoin price itself. We think that's the most transparent way as it makes it very easy to compare our price with other prices.

The Bon is valid for 12 months, meaning that the risk is on the company. They stated on the voucher 'Gultigkeit: 12', which obviously was not very clear to me (hours, days, weeks, months etc.?).

You're right, that's not clear enough. We'll change this accordingly.

Note: I've received the coins already (in less than 30 minutes).

Usually, we send bitcoins within only a couple of seconds.

If there are any more questions, feel free to ask them here, we'll be happy to give answers.

[Lauda]

LaudaM, thanks a lot for posting your detailed review – very much appreciated! We are running the Bitcoinbon service, here's our verification: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=999273.msg10848743#msg10848743
We already sent out stickers to our partner outlets but not all have them in place yet. Here's how this looks like in an outlet near our office: https://i.imgur.com/JlFqZHN.jpg
We hope that all outlets will eventually use the sticker.

Actually, that's not an error. Our bitcoin price is denominated in Euro and it's higher than marktet prices at the various exchanges. This is because we have to pay the outlet owner and the company running the POS terminals (in addition to our own fee). Since we don't like hidden fees, we included the overall fee (currently ~8%) in the bitcoin price itself. We think that's the most transparent way as it makes it very easy to compare our price with other prices.

The Bon is valid for 12 months, meaning that the risk is on the company. They stated on the voucher 'Gultigkeit: 12', which obviously was not very clear to me (hours, days, weeks, months etc.?).

You're right, that's not clear enough. We'll change this accordingly.

Usually, we send bitcoins within only a couple of seconds.
If there are any more questions, feel free to ask them here, we'll be happy to give answers.

It's nice to see that you're participating on the forum. I'm glad that you're addressing everything. Aside from what I've written here, the service is flawless. However I do have a question: why do you require a name and email address when one submits the bon?