Silk Road forums

Discussion => Newbie discussion => Topic started by: thejgte on January 26, 2013, 10:37 pm

Title: BTC transferral question
Post by: thejgte on January 26, 2013, 10:37 pm
I have bought BTC and used the address to send them to my "main" BTC wallet (in the BTC-QT client) where I am awaiting their arrival. As a next step, is the best way to transfer them directly to SR? Does this compromise my anonymity at all? The reason I ask is because I've been pouring over the extensive "Using Silk Road" guide and the section on this confused me slightly.
Title: Re: BTC transferral question
Post by: drjaycsmith on January 26, 2013, 10:53 pm
You can transfer your bitcoins directly to SR from where you purchased them (Mt. Gox, for example). Using another bitcoin wallet as a stepping stone to your SR account can't hurt, but I don't think that it's necessary.

I know that you didn't ask--and don't appear to need the following information--but I'm going to include it anyway. I've found that many new users have trouble with this topic and I want to help. Here is my wisdom from another thread that I replied to:

At first, getting bitcoins can seem like a daunting task--it isn't. Follow these instructions if you're in the USA:

-- To start, open a throwaway account with Mt. Gox at https://mtgox.com/. No need to verify this account unless you're gonna be trading big money.
-- Go to "funding options/add funds"
-- Use the drop-down menu to select "BitInstant," which will give you instructions and your account number.
-- Go to BitInstant at https://www.bitinstant.com/
-- The reason you need a Mt. Gox account is that BitInstant doesn't sell bitcoins; you must trade for them at Mt. Gox. BitInstant allows you to immediately fund your Mt. Gox account so you can start trading.
-- Use the drop-down menu to select "cash deposit" and choose a local retailer, such as Wal-Mart or CVS.
-- Fill in your info and you will download a .pdf file with information for filling out a blue MoneyGram slip at Wal-Mart. Basically, you're "paying a bill" to ZipZap, Inc. and you will be entering their four-digit receive code and account number on the form. Use your real name, address, etc. on the MoneyGram. It doesn't matter, since everything will be laundered and untraceable by the time it gets to Silk Road. Use fake info for your Mt. Gox account, although I don't think it matters. Some people use fake names on the MoneyGram. I guess it doesn't make any difference, since they don't require ID. I used my real info because I was afraid of the transaction being flagged or cancelled.
-- Go to your local retailer, fill out the MoneyGram with the info provided from BitInstant, and pay for it with cash. There is a $3.95 fee.
-- You money will appear in your Mt. Gox account within 4 minutes--1 hour at the most (never takes that long).
-- Use the "trade" button to buy bitcoins.
-- Go to "funding options/withdraw" and use the drop-down menu to select "bitcoins" as your currency. Enter the amount and bitcoin address from Silk Road (find that on your SR account page--looks like this: 1GDGgeTfNrxdhmJokSP7EqVRZGXSFuSnfp)
-- If you have 5.67 bitcoins with Mt. Gox, transfer 5.66 to cover the transaction fee. Select the option for faster transfer (0.005 BTC).
-- It may take several hours for your bitcoins to show up, but they will. Once they are in your SR wallet, you're ready to order.

I hope this helps. This is the fastest, most reliable way that I've found to get bitcoins. If you bank with a major financial institution, you also have the option of transfering funds directly to BitInstant. While this doesn't involve leaving the house and taking out cash, I'm not sure if it's any slower than using a MoneyGram. One drawback to this method is that you have to provide BitInstant with your banking username and password (scary!) BitInstant is reputable, but that is just information that I don't want to release.

Let me know if you have questions or problems. I discovered Silk Road less than two weeks ago and spent an evening teaching myself all about Tor browsers, bitcoins, PGP, and everything else. It takes some doing, but it is worth it. Read the feedback, forums, encrypt your address, and don't FE. (Download Portable PGP at http://ppgp.sourceforge.net/, which has a very user-friendly interface.) While address encryption is not strictly necessary, it adds an extra layer of security to your purchase. I've had three flawless transactions and I couldn't be happier.
Title: Re: BTC transferral question
Post by: thejgte on January 27, 2013, 01:38 am
I actually realised shortly after posting that I could have just paid the BTC straight into my SR wallet, and now I have to wait for the blocks in my Bitcoin-Qt wallet to fully update before I can transfer any BTC to SR >:(. I think the guide I was reading was a bit dated and gave me misconceptions.

Thanks for your info. I've only got my head around the BTC basics at the moment and haven't really looked at the intricacies of the market yet. I used bitbargain.co.uk to buy a small sample of BTC to hopefully make my first purchase on SR and paid a bit over the market rate in exchange for convenience/speed; I understand there's more indirect but much cheaper ways to get BTC. Need to get my head around PGP next.
Title: Re: BTC transferral question
Post by: drjaycsmith on January 27, 2013, 02:14 am
I actually realised shortly after posting that I could have just paid the BTC straight into my SR wallet, and now I have to wait for the blocks in my Bitcoin-Qt wallet to fully update before I can transfer any BTC to SR >:(. I think the guide I was reading was a bit dated and gave me misconceptions.

Thanks for your info. I've only got my head around the BTC basics at the moment and haven't really looked at the intricacies of the market yet. I used bitbargain.co.uk to buy a small sample of BTC to hopefully make my first purchase on SR and paid a bit over the market rate in exchange for convenience/speed; I understand there's more indirect but much cheaper ways to get BTC. Need to get my head around PGP next.

No problem. The bitcoin conversion ratio fluctuates quite a bit, but it really doesn't affect the prices on Silk Road. If you go to your account settings page, there is an option that allows you to view SR prices in your native currency--and while bitcoins' value is going up and down, you'll notice that prices remain more-or-less constant.

As for PGP--and other topics--I started a general thread at http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=112029.0 that you might want to check out. Here's what I said about PGP:

USING PGP TO ENCRYPT MESSAGES AND YOUR ADDRESS:

Using PGP to encrypt your mailing address is not strictly necessary, but it adds an extra layer of security to your transaction and many vendors request/require it. I've found that Portable PGP (download available at http://ppgp.sourceforge.net/) has a very nice interface and is easy to use. I ordered from one vendor who said not to use this version (I don't know why), but I did anyway and my order came as expected. I've placed three orders now with three separate vendors, all of which were executed flawlessly.

Other PGP downloads:
-- http://www.pgpi.org/download/
-- http://www.gnupg.org/download/index.en.html

A few good places to learn about how to use PGP are:
-- http://www.gnupg.org/documentation/manuals.en.html
-- http://www.gnupg.org/gph/en/manual.html
-- https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GnuPrivacyGuardHowto

To download and install Portable PGP, visit http://ppgp.sourceforge.net/. Once you've installed the program, to use Portable PGP, copy the vendor's public key into a .txt file and save it. When you open the program, you can import contacts from .txt files on your computer. Once a vendor's address has been added to your keyring, you can direct a specific message (such as your mailing address) to him/her. There is an "encrypt" tab, which provides you with a blank text box. Write your address or message, select your recipient(s), click "encrypt," and it will open a separate window with your PGP message. Copy this string of gibberish into the SR mailing form.

As I said, I've tried several versions of PGP and this one is the easiest to use. No problems so far.
Title: Re: BTC transferral question
Post by: thejgte on January 27, 2013, 05:47 pm
Thanks drjaycsmith, I'm now running Portable PGP on OS X and have successfully encrypted/decrypted messages with fellow noobs in the "Newbie PGP Club" sticky. I agree about the interface, wasn't hard to learn the basics despite knowing little about PGP. I also finally managed to get my BTC into my SR wallet so it's time to start shopping :D.
Title: Re: BTC transferral question
Post by: drjaycsmith on January 27, 2013, 11:28 pm
Thanks drjaycsmith, I'm now running Portable PGP on OS X and have successfully encrypted/decrypted messages with fellow noobs in the "Newbie PGP Club" sticky. I agree about the interface, wasn't hard to learn the basics despite knowing little about PGP. I also finally managed to get my BTC into my SR wallet so it's time to start shopping :D.

No problem. Glad to hear that you're up and running.  :)