Buy BTC for security deposit

Support Starter package
#1

As I am new to bisq and crypto in general, I do not have the required security deposit of 0.0065 BTC.

Instead of lending me the amount so that I can purchase further cryptocurrencies with fiat, I am looking for someone who would simply sell the required amount to me.

I would like to wire the money through Western Union so the seller could simply and immediately pick up the cash. However I am unsure of how this would work, as the seller currently would have to wire the BTC first. I do not want to be scammed:)
In return, the seller will be afraid of the same thing.
It seems like I am in quite a pinch here.

To go to a centralized service such as coinbase would be ridiculous, as one would have nearly no privacy left at all (the blockchain is a public ledger anyway). Most mixers are pretty useless as well (companies like chainanalysis can easily dismantle most; see “An Inquiry into Money Laundering Tools in the Bitcoin Ecosystem”).

A “loan” would be as risky for the lender. If there was a bitcoin ATM nearby or stores that sold vouchers for cash, this would not be a problem at all.

#2

noone would do crypto first.

#3

Exactly. In return I wouldn’t do money first. This is the internet after all.
Even 50/50 would not work (I receive half the bitcoin, wire the seller all the money, receive the rest then). There is a potential for somebody to get scammed along the way.

If you buy centralized, you can forget crypto. Buying with cash would be the only safe option, which varies from country to country. So, after all, governments already have quite a big influence regarding bitcoin by simply limiting the possibility of conversion to fiat.

Also, even if I had acquaintances or friends who already had bitcoin, it would not solve my problem. People do not say money is where friendships end for nothing…

#4

Doing further research, I found out that you have to identify yourself even when purchasing bitcoin via ATM. Vouchers are only available online, so I would be easily identifiable through the payment methods.
That’s pretty much it then. Why pay the high exchange rate? It seems like it does not matter whether you buy “centralized” anymore.
When someone else bought “centralized” and trades it here, decentralized, the tokens are still traceable.
I guess I will look for one of the big players in bitcoin with the best conditions (exchange rates etc.), buy a security deposit and stay with the privacy cryptos from then on.
Help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated:)

#5

Hi checkout:

https://bisq.wiki/Keybase-Buy_Bitcoin

You can join the Bisq Keybase team here: Keybase

Then head over to the channel #buy-bitcoin and see if there are any Bisq users about that will sell you 0.007 BTC so you have enough to cover your first trade.

#6

Thank you very much. I will try that before buying from a big centralized service.

I have also noticed that the so called “altcoins” are barely traded on bisq. Would someone have a suggestion for another decentralized, open-source marketplace similar to bisq where “altcoins” are more popular?
I have to look into the technology of the coins first anyway, before I buy. I can imagine that some people are up to shenanigans in that sector:) Monero looks pretty solid so far though.

For bitcoin bisq is the best I have seen so far, so I hope it becomes more popular in the future and “altcoins” start to rise as well. I will also try to contribute to the code and add functionalities in the future (if possible), so you got me pretty hooked:)

#7

Is the use of keybase necessary? I knew I had heard of it somewhere in connection with zoom. After looking it up: it has been recently purchased by them.
Is there a similar forum in matrix?

#8

What worked for me to get my first BTC was looking up the next “relaxed” BTC merchant (a coffee) at https://coinmap.org/ and walked in with cash money and and installed BTC wallet on my smartphone and buy 0.007 BTC with cash from the merchant. localbitcoins.com cash payment to seller bank account had worked too.

#9

Thank you very much for your help.

coinmap looks great. I will try that locally. That is a really great idea.

I tried localbitcoins, however they want a real name, country and a phone number. Why do they advertise as decentralized (peer to peer) then? Your wallet should be all you need regarding crypto. After all, if it gets compromised you lose all tokens without any hope of recovery. That is the risk of decentralized trade.

At the end of the day, localbitcoins is the exact same as the ATM, a centralized service or an online voucher.
I do not see any point to pay them a deposit fee, a sending fee and, on top of that, a premium for the crypto.

However, the principle in itself is good. When the trade is confirmed, the bitcoin is reserved by a third party until completion of the payment. It is then released upon completion. If the trade fails, both parties get their assets back.
Could that not be implemented on bisq for new users (with restriction to the payment methods because of charge-back risks: moneygram and western union with cash pick-up)?
Users who transfer their assets to be held until completion could be rewarded with that bisq crypto (sorry I forgot the name). That would make fees cheaper for these users. Bisq itself could charge a fee for the new user without bitcoin. In the end, that would be a win for everyone involved.

1 Like
#10

I tried localbitcoins, however they want a real name, country and a phone number

It depends on the seller. I have done face2face and cash to bank deals without a phone number and under a pseudonym. Use https://www.spamgourmet.com/ for a temporary email addr. with full control.

#11

Localbitcoins is not KYC free anymore.

1 Like
#12

And if you find the https://coinmap.org/ service useful, please contribute i.e. in looking over the merchant records of your city and report spam.
The CoinMap people really care about the quality of the map.
Look:
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Re: Coinmap.org | Report Venue 14668 - ticket ID: 48420
Date: Sat, 13 Feb 2021 10:42:05 +0000 (UTC)
From: Trezor Support help@trezor.io
Reply-To: Trezor Support help@trezor.io
To: xxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.com

Dear A,

Thank you for reaching us! Thank you for being part of Coinmap. Please accept our apologies for the delay in our answer due to the increased number of support tickets.

Based on your request, I have deleted the venues 14668 and 17380.

Best regards,
Jirka
SatoshiLabs Group

On Sat, 6 Feb at 11:31 PM , A <xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.com> wrote:
No Address, Spam.