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The Bitcoin Thread
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blaaislaai
Executive Member
I'm mining ethereum. hashrate of 76mh/s
I exchange my ETH for BTC after a while to do some online purchases
or withdraw physical cash from my local ATM via my xapo btc wallet's debit card.
Mr Scratch
Expert Member
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Are you affiliated with BitX beyond being a customer?
No affiliation.
I have used it a fair bit without any problems.
Jet-Fighter7700
Honorary Master
I'm mining ethereum. hashrate of 76mh/s
I exchange my ETH for BTC after a while to do some online purchases
is thaty even possible? especially the withdrawing part?
how does one setup a system like that? use FNB ATM's or another bank?
blaaislaai
Executive Member
Using XAPO as your BTC wallet, yes.
I already withdrawn thousands of Rands locally here. Transaction fees are quite high, i think it's about R50 per ATM withdrawal and the max withdrawal is about R2k per day i think, their site should answer the questions you might have
Have a look
https://xapo.com/
I withdraw from the closest ATM, no setup necessary
Last edited:
Looks like a nice backup card for travelling. How long did it take to get your card?
blaaislaai
Executive Member
I chose the expensive method of shipping, it arrived within 2 days from the UK. but was R1200 for the card and shipping though.. my bitcoin paid for it so technically did not cost anything.
If you decide on doing this, do not choose their cheap delivery method, i know guys that are still waiting since last year for their cards to arrive.. all thanks to our lovely SAPO
C4Cat
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I don't understand what you mean by this?I chose the expensive method of shipping, it arrived within 2 days from the UK. but was R1200 for the card and shipping though.. my bitcoin paid for it so technically did not cost anything.
If you decide on doing this, do not choose their cheap delivery method, i know guys that are still waiting since last year for their cards to arrive.. all thanks to our lovely SAPO
Are bitcoins not worth anything, do they have no value?
How does "paid with bitcoin" = "did not cost anything"
Jet-Fighter7700
Honorary Master
Using XAPO as your BTC wallet, yes.
I already withdrawn thousands of Rands locally here. Transaction fees are quite high, i think it's about R50 per ATM withdrawal and the max withdrawal is about R2k per day i think, their site should answer the questions you might have
Have a look
https://xapo.com/
awesome stuff, works in SA? everything is listed in USD though?
and transaction fees are quite steep, especially as you selling and buying USD amounts every time,
so there isnt a local alternative? something with one of our banks, Id have thought FNB would have jumped on selling BTC by now,
blaaislaai
Executive Member
My mined bitcoins paid for the debit card+shipping, nothing came out of my own pockets basically
blaaislaai
Executive Member
Works in SA, yes.
You have the option in which currency the card should operate in, between US Dollars, Pounds or Euros. I chose dollars. So your BTC value will also be displayed in USD on xapo.
Transaction fees are indeed steep hence the exchange rates and such, that's why i would rather withdraw the max at the ATM to make it worthwhile. The nice thing is, buying items online, listed in Dollars.. will yield little to no transaction fees because of the debit card being in USD as well.
Sadly no local alternative yet, if there was... then the government would probably find a way to tax it.
C4Cat
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My mined bitcoins paid for the debit card+shipping, nothing came out of my own pockets basically
The mined bitcoins are money you earned though, so it did come out of your own pocket
People seem to forget that bitcoin is actually money you can spend. By spending it on a debit card and shipping you now have less money than you had before to spend on other things. Or am I wrong?
stoffelsdutoit
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I'm curious though why you use the card to buy things in SA? I have a virtual card that I use online, but locally I just convert it to ZAR though Bitx. Much cheaper than all the USD exchange rates
The_Mowgs
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Ag jesus man stop showing everyone how big of a moron you are for ****sakes. You know what he meant.The mined bitcoins are money you earned though, so it did come out of your own pocket
People seem to forget that bitcoin is actually money you can spend. By spending it on a debit card and shipping you now have less money than you had before to spend on other things. Or am I wrong?
blaaislaai
Executive Member
Only use it to withdraw cash and deposit it to my FNB bank account, if needed. Won't use it to buy things in SA really
Hey Corelli, Werner, Head of Growth at BitX here. Just checking in on some of the comments below, in case there's somewhere we can improve?
Few notes:
1. Coindesk
Coindesk is a Bitcoin news site, so a bit different from us; we allow you to use/buy/sell Bitcoin (unless you meant Coinbase?). If you meant Coinbase; they don't allow you to buy and sell using South African rand. But of course, once you have Bitcoin (which you bought through BitX or anyone else), you can and should move it wherever you're most comfortable.
2. Security
Not sure what you're basing your security statements on, but we spend the most time, money and energy on keeping customer funds safe. Here and here is some info if you care to look. We've had many independent security audits and all audits failed to compromise customer information or money.
3. Expensive
Last I checked, we had the lowest fees of all exchanges in South Africa: no deposit fees, no storage fees, no BTC sending fees, 0% maker fees and 1% taker fees. Now, I can't speak for other companies/each Bitcoin exchange out there, but the price of bitcoin is determined by traders who buy and sell on an exchange (like ours) and set the price through supply and demand. So if Bitcoin is over/underpriced one day (compared to other places), it's merely a factor of the market; we don't buy or sell (or set the price) of Bitcoin.
4. Fly by night
Lastly, we're still a pretty lean company, but we've got over 30 staff members at locations throughout the world (albeit primarily in South Africa), our investors (Naspers, the DCG and Venturra) are some of the most respected in the world and trust me, they don't allow "fly by night" to steal their (or customer) funds. You should see the due diligence/research these guys do on who they invest in...
5. FSB
You're right: we're not FSB approved, but no Bitcoin operator (anywhere in the world) is. We do however communicate frequently with the regulators, host workshops for various regulatory bodies to explain bitcoin and so on (a long list of regulators in lots of countries, but includes the FSB).
Note that some other things (like e-commerce or barber shops) aren't regulated, but that doesn't mean they're illegal, neither does it mean that there is no protection to you as consumer. The protection simply falls in the scope of existing regulation. What the Sarb white paper said is that people should be careful with investing in virtual currencies (which they should be, but you shouldn't put all your investments in one single stock either) and that they should be careful of ponzi schemes or high yield investment programs (again, which they should, no matter if you pay with rand or bitcoin).
If you had a bad experience with BitX or we otherwise failed you, please accept my apologies (and please reach out, we'd be happy to fix things or answer questions that may be unclear).
Of course, you're entitled to your opinion (or where you buy or store your Bitcoin), but I really feel I had to give our side of things and clear up some misconceptions. Feel free to DM me if you'd like to take this private.
Few notes:
1. Coindesk
Coindesk is a Bitcoin news site, so a bit different from us; we allow you to use/buy/sell Bitcoin (unless you meant Coinbase?). If you meant Coinbase; they don't allow you to buy and sell using South African rand. But of course, once you have Bitcoin (which you bought through BitX or anyone else), you can and should move it wherever you're most comfortable.
2. Security
Not sure what you're basing your security statements on, but we spend the most time, money and energy on keeping customer funds safe. Here and here is some info if you care to look. We've had many independent security audits and all audits failed to compromise customer information or money.
3. Expensive
Last I checked, we had the lowest fees of all exchanges in South Africa: no deposit fees, no storage fees, no BTC sending fees, 0% maker fees and 1% taker fees. Now, I can't speak for other companies/each Bitcoin exchange out there, but the price of bitcoin is determined by traders who buy and sell on an exchange (like ours) and set the price through supply and demand. So if Bitcoin is over/underpriced one day (compared to other places), it's merely a factor of the market; we don't buy or sell (or set the price) of Bitcoin.
4. Fly by night
Lastly, we're still a pretty lean company, but we've got over 30 staff members at locations throughout the world (albeit primarily in South Africa), our investors (Naspers, the DCG and Venturra) are some of the most respected in the world and trust me, they don't allow "fly by night" to steal their (or customer) funds. You should see the due diligence/research these guys do on who they invest in...
5. FSB
You're right: we're not FSB approved, but no Bitcoin operator (anywhere in the world) is. We do however communicate frequently with the regulators, host workshops for various regulatory bodies to explain bitcoin and so on (a long list of regulators in lots of countries, but includes the FSB).
Note that some other things (like e-commerce or barber shops) aren't regulated, but that doesn't mean they're illegal, neither does it mean that there is no protection to you as consumer. The protection simply falls in the scope of existing regulation. What the Sarb white paper said is that people should be careful with investing in virtual currencies (which they should be, but you shouldn't put all your investments in one single stock either) and that they should be careful of ponzi schemes or high yield investment programs (again, which they should, no matter if you pay with rand or bitcoin).
If you had a bad experience with BitX or we otherwise failed you, please accept my apologies (and please reach out, we'd be happy to fix things or answer questions that may be unclear).
Of course, you're entitled to your opinion (or where you buy or store your Bitcoin), but I really feel I had to give our side of things and clear up some misconceptions. Feel free to DM me if you'd like to take this private.
Hey Corelli, Werner, Head of Growth at BitX here. Just checking in on some of the comments below, in case there's somewhere we can improve?
Few notes:
1. Coindesk
Coindesk is a Bitcoin news site, so a bit different from us; we allow you to use/buy/sell Bitcoin (unless you meant Coinbase?). If you meant Coinbase; they don't allow you to buy and sell using South African rand. But of course, once you have Bitcoin (which you bought through BitX or anyone else, you can and should move it wherever you're most comfortable).
2. Security
Not sure what you're basing your security statements on, but we spend the most time, money and energy on keeping customer funds safe. Here and here is some info if you care to look. We've had many independent security audits and all audits failed to compromise customer information or money.
3. Expensive
Last I checked, we had the lowest fees of all exchanges in South Africa: no deposit fees, no storage fees, no BTC sending fees, 0% maker fees and 1% taker fees. Now, I can't speak for other companies/each Bitcoin exchange out there, but the price of bitcoin is determined by traders who buy and sell on an exchange (like ours) and set the price through supply and demand. So if Bitcoin is over/underpriced one day (compared to other places), it's merely a factor of the market; we don't buy or sell (or set the price) of Bitcoin.
4. Fly by night
Lastly, we're still a pretty lean company, but we've got over 30 staff members at locations throughout the world (albeit primarily in South Africa), our investors (Naspers, the DCG and Venturra) are some of the most respected in the world and trust me, they don't allow "fly by night" to steal their (or customer) funds. You should see the due diligence/research these guys do on who they invest in...
5. FSB
You're right: we're not FSB approved, but no Bitcoin operator (anywhere in the world) is. We do however communicate frequently with the regulators, host workshops for various regulatory bodies to explain bitcoin and so on (a long list of regulators in lots of countries, but includes the FSB).
Note that some other things (like e-commerce or barber shops) aren't regulated, but that doesn't mean they're illegal, neither does it mean that there is no protection to you as consumer. The protection simply falls in the scope of existing regulation. What the Sarb white paper said is that people should be careful with investing in virtual currencies (which they should be, but you shouldn't put all your investments in one single stock either) and that they should be careful of ponzi schemes or high yield investment programs (again, which they should, no matter if you pay with rand or bitcoin).
If you had a bad experience with BitX or we otherwise failed you, please accept my apologies (and please reach out, we'd be happy to fix things or answer questions that may be unclear).
Of course, you're entitled to your opinion (or where you buy or store your Bitcoin), but I really feel I had to give our side of things and clear up some misconceptions. Feel free to DM me if you'd like to take this private.
Few notes:
1. Coindesk
Coindesk is a Bitcoin news site, so a bit different from us; we allow you to use/buy/sell Bitcoin (unless you meant Coinbase?). If you meant Coinbase; they don't allow you to buy and sell using South African rand. But of course, once you have Bitcoin (which you bought through BitX or anyone else, you can and should move it wherever you're most comfortable).
2. Security
Not sure what you're basing your security statements on, but we spend the most time, money and energy on keeping customer funds safe. Here and here is some info if you care to look. We've had many independent security audits and all audits failed to compromise customer information or money.
3. Expensive
Last I checked, we had the lowest fees of all exchanges in South Africa: no deposit fees, no storage fees, no BTC sending fees, 0% maker fees and 1% taker fees. Now, I can't speak for other companies/each Bitcoin exchange out there, but the price of bitcoin is determined by traders who buy and sell on an exchange (like ours) and set the price through supply and demand. So if Bitcoin is over/underpriced one day (compared to other places), it's merely a factor of the market; we don't buy or sell (or set the price) of Bitcoin.
4. Fly by night
Lastly, we're still a pretty lean company, but we've got over 30 staff members at locations throughout the world (albeit primarily in South Africa), our investors (Naspers, the DCG and Venturra) are some of the most respected in the world and trust me, they don't allow "fly by night" to steal their (or customer) funds. You should see the due diligence/research these guys do on who they invest in...
5. FSB
You're right: we're not FSB approved, but no Bitcoin operator (anywhere in the world) is. We do however communicate frequently with the regulators, host workshops for various regulatory bodies to explain bitcoin and so on (a long list of regulators in lots of countries, but includes the FSB).
Note that some other things (like e-commerce or barber shops) aren't regulated, but that doesn't mean they're illegal, neither does it mean that there is no protection to you as consumer. The protection simply falls in the scope of existing regulation. What the Sarb white paper said is that people should be careful with investing in virtual currencies (which they should be, but you shouldn't put all your investments in one single stock either) and that they should be careful of ponzi schemes or high yield investment programs (again, which they should, no matter if you pay with rand or bitcoin).
If you had a bad experience with BitX or we otherwise failed you, please accept my apologies (and please reach out, we'd be happy to fix things or answer questions that may be unclear).
Of course, you're entitled to your opinion (or where you buy or store your Bitcoin), but I really feel I had to give our side of things and clear up some misconceptions. Feel free to DM me if you'd like to take this private.
koeksGHT
Dealer
How does the tax issue work? Say I have coins that have multiplied in value and I want to convert to Randelas, would it be income/capital gains/free game? Also what are the banks like with regards to purchasing property using bitcoin sourced money etc?
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