Silk Road forums
Discussion => Newbie discussion => Topic started by: lemonsherbit on May 05, 2013, 11:27 am
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So guys, I'm a complete noob when it comes to bitcoins, I have ordered MoM a few years ago but this involved putting money into a bank account and buying gold. The whole PGP system you guys use seems to be fine and pretty easy to understand, but I am stuck at the final hurdle and really want to make some orders.
I'm looking for a safe way to buy bitcoins in the UK, so far I have found the usual sites, Mt Gox and Blockchain, but AFAIK they do not accept British transfers anymore and surely a bank transfer would make it easy to track me.
MY question is, how do you seasoned pros go about buying your bitcoins?
I would like it to be as anonymous as possible. I have spent the last few weeks searching the web to find out how but cant seem to come up with a solution and it is really starting to annoy me.
Many thanks,
Lem0n
:o
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If you buy bitcoins for cash from https://localbitcoins.com/ then no one will have your identity on record linked to the coins you buy. If you live in a larger city then this is a pretty good option.
Otherwise you can buy them from localbitcoins or bitcoin-otc via uk bank transfer and then only one random stranger has your bank details (the buyer doesn't submit details to localbitcoins). It would be quite a hassle for anyone to follow that trail (especially when you remember SR tumbles the btc anyway).
You will be paying a little over mt gox for this service and there will be a significant delay. https://bitbargain.co.uk/ will be quicker than localbitcoins for UK bank transfer but is usually a little more expensive again.
If you don't have the option of paying cash and REALLY don't want to pay by bank transfer then you could look into ucash and other voucher systems that you can buy anonymously from stores. You will end up paying significant premiums (10% and up) if you choose this route.
At the end of the day remember, buying bitcoins is legal and the amounts you are likley considering buying are probably small fry anyway. If you start small then I wouldn't worry too much about 100% anonymity.
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I went down the bitbargain.co.uk route and have to say it was nice n easy and i had my coins in about an hour, i think if you go on at the busiest time then you get the better deals :)
Hope this helps.
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Yep, i second all of the above.
with blockchain.info cutting us off in the UK, bitbargain or localbitcoins are the best UK choices for now. I havent usent the latter but i've heard good things.
I can vouch for bitbargain - its easy, seems pretty safe, and the online sellers are always quick to make the transaction, although you'll pay a little over the odds. Just a few quid though, worth it really.
I do plan to try localbitcoins next time though - seems legit.
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I have personally used bitbargain.co.uk, great fast service. #bitcoin-otc is good but not the busiest OTC marketplace. You definitely want to get authenticated with gribble so you can build a reputation. Paypal is much hated by OTC folks, but many will sell small amounts of bitcoins to help users gain a reputation score. I have not yet used localbitcoins, but there is now a decent number of traders on there for my local area, which is in Bulgaria.
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If you want to keep up-to-date with the favoured methods of buying BTC in the UK I'd check the /r/BitcoinUK sub-Reddit. After blockchain.info stopped accepting UK Bank Transfers the guys worked out the method of using TransferWise to convert to EUR then doing a SEPA transfer to BitStamp; it worked phenomenally well (0.91% fee or something) but then unfortunately TransferWise last month stopped allowing deposits into BTC exchange accounts. It was too perfect to last.
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Bitinstant with Moneygram or BTC exchange with Moneypak through SR. (I'm not sure if those are available options in the UK though)