Silk Road forums

Discussion => Newbie discussion => Topic started by: HighNiggaPie on June 11, 2013, 08:45 pm

Title: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: HighNiggaPie on June 11, 2013, 08:45 pm
I am a new to the whole BitCoin and Silk Road scene and at the moment I have been looking into ways to set- up my BitCoin wallet, starting with purchasing coins. A lot of places have only good things to say about CoinBase, I just wanted to know your personal experiences with it and its reliability. I just gave them my bank account info for verification, once that is cleared, how long does it usually take to process the purchase of coins?

Another question I have is about my BitCoin Wallet. I have read in multiple places that the safest place to stare them is offline, how would one do that?
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: peaceloveweed9 on June 11, 2013, 09:30 pm
I have used Coinbase, very legit.  After verification, took 4-5 business days for coins to arrive (read their FAQ).  Low fees...

I use Bitcoin-Qt as a wallet.  I will leave the offline question for others.

Peace
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: dirkpitt on June 11, 2013, 11:25 pm
I am also new to this.  I bought my first 3 BTC from CoinBase
I ordered on thursday and they are due tommorrow.
I will post when they are in hand ;D
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: HighNiggaPie on June 12, 2013, 01:04 am
Thanks for the replies guys!

Can anybody help with the offline BTC wallet? I also downloaded a bitcon-qt wallet, have no coins to input yet, but that's a different story.
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: rkk1993 on June 12, 2013, 01:10 am
I have used it twice for around 400 dollars total and everything worked fine and dandy!!!
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: 1conoclast on June 12, 2013, 01:18 am
I personally would advise against using Coinbase.  They were the first place I ever purchased B.C.'s from.  They are not a BC exchange but rather a company that buy's BC's and then sells them to make a profit. 

I don't know if they have changed but when I purchased they would only sell you BC's if the price was high enough for them to make a profit.  If the sell price was too low then you would get a message saying that they have reached their daily limit or some bullshit.  You will never get a good deal on BC's this way.

If you are in the U.S. I recommend Campbx (which is an actual exchange) and fund them using Dwolla.  You have to get verified at Dwolla just as you do almost anywhere but that only takes a few days.  You can set up buy orders to automatically buy at a specific price so if you invest say $500 dollars you can almost always make some money if you are patient.  This has been working great for me and is my favorite option.  Fuck Coinbase.

Also, you will get your BC immediately, no waiting.
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: Charlesnoir on June 12, 2013, 01:20 am
Coinbase is great if you don't mind waiting up to a week for your coins. 
The convenience they offer is worth planning ahead.  You can buy your coins online from home with a transfer directly from your bank account.  Once your coins arrive in your Coinbase account,  you can transfer them directly to your SR account. 
The purchase limit is low at first. It was 10 when I started, but was just increased to 50 (Btc). 

For more urgent coin purchases, go with BlueSkyTraders.
They have their own website on Tor and a review thread in the Rumor Mill forum.
I can only say great things about them!
Once they were out for a few days, but graciously e-mailed me when they were ready to trade again.
Their fees are maybe a bit higher (?) than Coinbase, BUT as soon as you deposit cash to their account, your coins are sent within the hour to your wallet. 
You must be close to a Bank of America, but if not,  I believe they take cash in the mail.  I would trust them completely with this.  They are extremely professional. 

I just have my coins sent directly to my SR account, but I'm sure other people would have reasons why they do not do this. 
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: Charlesnoir on June 12, 2013, 01:23 am
Hey Iconoclast 1,

Thanks for the Campbx tip!  I had been wondering about exchange purchases.
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: HighNiggaPie on June 12, 2013, 01:40 am
Thanks 1conoclast! I saw on their website however that they won't let you withdrawl until your account has aged 30 days. I assume this includes making SR purchases as well, no?
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: jedilight on June 12, 2013, 01:42 am
Hi. I'm new as well.
Newbie questions. So before you start purchasing you have to buy coins either through bitcoin or whatever. You then send those coins to a wallet ( another website like paypal?) then when you buy something you transfer your coins from your wallet to the seller. How would you use an escrow throughout this transaction. Thanks
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: jedilight on June 12, 2013, 01:45 am
@ Charlesnoir
Why would someone choose not to have their Coins sent to their SR account. I'm new so I don't know.
Thanks
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: Hodoresque on June 12, 2013, 01:49 am
I have read several scattered posts on here about how using your bank account to buy coins is bad for your security.

Apparently it can all be traced still. Or something... I'm still researching my self. I also want to use coinbase to make my first purchase. Trying to be as safe as possible though.

Hopefully someone knowledgeable can chime in here.

 ::) ::) ::)
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: 1conoclast on June 12, 2013, 01:53 am
Thanks 1conoclast! I saw on their website however that they won't let you withdrawl until your account has aged 30 days. I assume this includes making SR purchases as well, no?


No, you can transfer your BC's to SR immediately, you just can't cash them in for money for 30 days.  No big deal.
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: HighNiggaPie on June 12, 2013, 01:57 am
I see, so basically they're trying to prevent people from cashing in and quickly cashing out of the market right?
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: jedilight on June 12, 2013, 02:14 am
What would the alternative be if you dont want to use your personal bank account to buy coins?


I have read several scattered posts on here about how using your bank account to buy coins is bad for your security.

Apparently it can all be traced still. Or something... I'm still researching my self. I also want to use coinbase to make my first purchase. Trying to be as safe as possible though.

Hopefully someone knowledgeable can chime in here.

 ::) ::) ::)
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: uhohoreo369 on June 12, 2013, 02:31 am
Over the last 5 months I have purchased over thousands of dollars on bitcoins through Coinbase. They are legit, and have fixed all the issues that plagued them a few months ago.

Buy away, my friend. And good luck.
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: Hodoresque on June 12, 2013, 02:43 am
uhohoreo- are there any safety/security concerns to be aware of if using coinbase? Lots of people seem to be wary of it. Linking your name/bank information straight to the coin purchase. Theoretically still traceable even after the silk road tumble or any tumble(s). Just takes a large amount of resources. Improbable that they will act on anything or try to catch small time buyers though. Still trying to get lots of opinions and such before doing anything.




Also you can use bitinstant to buy the bitcoins in lots of stores near you with cash. Problem is its like 5$ per transaction + 5% on top of that. But you dont have to give them a name, or just give them a fake one.
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: dispatcher on June 12, 2013, 03:02 am
localbitcoin.com has been excellent for me. If you can't find someone local try and find a large reputable seller that takes cash deposit at banks or cash in mail.
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: 1conoclast on June 12, 2013, 10:49 am
uhohoreo- are there any safety/security concerns to be aware of if using coinbase? Lots of people seem to be wary of it. Linking your name/bank information straight to the coin purchase. Theoretically still traceable even after the silk road tumble or any tumble(s). Just takes a large amount of resources. Improbable that they will act on anything or try to catch small time buyers though. Still trying to get lots of opinions and such before doing anything.

Also you can use bitinstant to buy the bitcoins in lots of stores near you with cash. Problem is its like 5$ per transaction + 5% on top of that. But you dont have to give them a name, or just give them a fake one.

I would be more concerned with purchasing BC's from a place like Coinbase who only sells BC's because they pretty much know you are going to spend them on something.  When you buy from an exchange you can say that you are just investing in BC's and want to sell them when the price gets high enough.  BTW, there are a lot of people who only buy BC's for the purpose of trading them so I don't see why it's such a big deal if someone knows you are buying.
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: Friendlyface on June 12, 2013, 12:20 pm
As far as your wallet is concerned I would suggest that you get yourself a trusted web based wallet like the offered wallet at www.Blockchain.info. This saves you having to wait 24 hours for the Bitcoin QT to sync up with the rest of the network.

As far as Coinbase is concerned, this is a very reputable company, but it should be avoided for anything SR transactions for the simple fact that you want to remain anonymous. There is nothing illegal about buying Bitcoins...but that doesn't mean that shouldn't be trying to be anonymous.

I suggest you take a look at www.Bitcoin-Brokers.org because you can purchase your Bitcoins here anonymously from any country via MoneyGram.

Additionally, the costs for a funding via Bitcoin-Brokers.org is 2% below MtGox. Compare that to most exchanges who charge you points above the market value.
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: Hodoresque on June 13, 2013, 01:51 am
Great replies here...

Is coinbase truly something one does not want to use for silkroad?  Even though silkroad it self has an automatic bitcoin tumbler?  And you could possibly manually tumble them more using online wallet services?


Perhaps even this thing called "bitcoin fog"?

Coinbase just seems so convenient, would love to use it if its safe enough.

I have heard several people on here saying they use it a lot. Would love to hear more input on this if anyone has any.
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: nero1044 on June 13, 2013, 03:57 am
Yep, CoinBase is legit. I used them when I first started on SR until I met my personal seller.
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: nero1044 on June 13, 2013, 04:02 am
I don't think using your bank account on CoinBase is risky. Bitcoins are becoming more and more common and are used for a variety of things. Buying them isn't illegal, just be safe with your wallet and money.
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: dirkpitt on June 13, 2013, 05:22 am
got my BTC today as promised
Sent them to SR, they arrived in my account in about an hour
I got money in my account, let the good times roll ;D
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: DMtryptamine285 on June 13, 2013, 05:29 am
New to silk road but not bitcoin. Coinbase takes forever compared to other methods of purchasing bitcoins. You can buy from walmart or CVS using bitinstant, easily the best way to go.
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: Hodoresque on June 13, 2013, 06:35 am
New to silk road but not bitcoin. Coinbase takes forever compared to other methods of purchasing bitcoins. You can buy from walmart or CVS using bitinstant, easily the best way to go.
Bitinstant seems great except for the price (~$5 + 4.5% each transaction).  Going to purchase my coins tomorrow, do some more research tonight and decide which to use.

Anymore information/personal stories/experiences/etc about coinbase are much appreciated! Anyone else used coinbase and successfully purchased silkroad items? Post it up!  ;D ;D ;D 8)

The tumbler that silk road uses, can anyone go into more detail about how that works? How foolproof is it in terms of remaining anonymous if one uses such a public site like Coinbase?
Title: Re: How safe and reliable is CoinBase?
Post by: rkk1993 on June 26, 2013, 05:11 am
People taking about hideing your btc. It is not illegal to buy btc........ coinbase is a great way to buy them with no hassle. Yes you have a 5 day wait but who doesnt like to window shop for their item.  Its worth the wait to me and I do not think id go anywhere else unless a personal friend showed me a better way.