Bitcoin Wiki - User contributions [en]

PayPal

2017-01-16T12:28:53Z

PlusBitcoin: /* External Links */

'''PayPal''' is an e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet.
A PayPal account can be funded with electronic debits from a bank account, from a [[MoneyPak]] card or by receiving a money transfer from another PayPal member. Funds in a PayPal account can be withdrawn to a bank account or by sending a money transfer to another PayPal member.

==Fees==
The fee for transferring money to another PayPal member can vary based on options. The typical transaction charge for PayPal is $0.30 per transaction plus 2.9% of the amount transferred. The transaction charge is deducted from the payment amount. A "personal, payments owed" transaction to another PayPal account where the recipient's account is not a business account will incur no transfer fee. International payments will incur an additional currency exchange fee of at least 1%, in many instances.

PayPal operates in 190 markets worldwide.

==Privacy==
===U.S. Accounts===
When a payment is funded from a linked bank account, an ACH transaction is made. There appears to be differences in the type of ACH transaction depending on where the PayPal payment was sent.

====Domestic====
For payment from a U.S. PayPal account to another U.S. PayPal account, the ACH transaction code used is WEB.

====International====
For payment from a U.S. PayPal account to a PayPal account that is outside the U.S., the ACH transaction code used is IAT. Accompanying the IAT transaction is the payment recipient's name.

In other words, more information is transmitted to the bank when the PayPal transaction is for a payment that crosses borders than might be sent for a payment that stays within the U.S.

==Criticism==

It is not recommended to use PayPal for bitcoin transfers. In many cases the buyer issued a charge-back-fraud. The case is automatically closed by PayPal if he states that his account was compromised. It is not uncommon for PayPal to ban your account and keep your funds if they find out that you are transferring bitcoin.

==See Also==

* [[Buying bitcoins]]
* [[Selling bitcoins]]
* [[Secure Trading]]
* [[Payment methods]]

==External Links==
* [http://www.PayPal.com PayPal.com]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paypal PayPal's Wikipedia page]
* [https://localbitcoins.com/buy-bitcoins-online/paypal/ Buy Bitcoins using PayPal on LocalBitcoins]
* [https://plusbitcoin.net/buy-bitcoins-with-paypal/ How to Buy Bitcoins With PayPal]

[[Category:Money transmitters]]

Privacy

2015-12-24T09:37:03Z

PlusBitcoin:

{{outdated}}While the Bitcoin technology [http://www.bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=241.0 can support] strong anonymity, the current implementation is usually not very anonymous.

__TOC__

The main problem is that every transaction is publicly logged. Anyone can see the flow of Bitcoins from address to address (see first image). Alone, this information can't identify anyone because the addresses are just random numbers. However, if ''any'' of the addresses in a transaction's past or future can be tied to an actual identity, it might be possible to work from that point and guess who may own all of the other addresses. This identity information might come from network analysis, surveillance, or just Googling the address. The officially encouraged practice of using a new address for every transaction is designed to make this attack more difficult.
[[File:Unknownaddress.png|thumb|The flow of Bitcoins is highly public.]]

The second image shows a simple example. Someone runs both a money exchanger and a site meant to trap people. When Mr. Doe buys from the exchanger and uses those same coins to buy something from the trap site, the attacker can '''prove''' that these two transactions were made by the same person. The block chain would show:
[[File:knownaddress.png|thumb|Finding an "identity anchor" allows you to ruin the anonymity of the system.]]
* Import coins from address A. Send 100 to B. Authorized by (signature).
* Import coins from address B. Send 100 to C. Authorized by (signature).
Bitcoin transactions do not have a [[From_address|"from" address]] but if the attacker believes that address B is controlled by Mr. Doe because the attacker received $5 from Mr. Doe's PayPal account and then sent 100 BTC to that address then they can infer the identity of the party sending to C. This assumption is not always correct because address B may have been an address held on behalf of Mr. Doe by a third party and the transaction to C may have been unrelated.

Another example: someone is scammed and posts the address they were using on the Bitcoin forum. It is possible to see which address they sent coins to. When coins are sent which were previously send to this (the scammer's) address, the addresses that receive them can also be easily found and posted on the forum. In this way, all of these coins are marked as "dirty", potentially over an infinite number of future transactions. When some smart and honest person notices that his address is now listed, he can reveal who he received those coins from. The Bitcoin community can now ask some pointed questions, "Who did you receive these coins from? What did you create this address for?" Eventually the original scammer will be found. Clearly, this becomes more difficult the more addresses that exist between the "target" and the "identity point".

You might be thinking that this attack is not feasible. But consider this case:
* You live in China and want to buy a "real" newspaper for Bitcoins.
* You join the Bitcoin forum and use your address as a signature. Since you are very helpful, you manage to get 30 BTC after a few months.
* Unfortunately, you choose poorly in who you buy the newspaper from: you've chosen a government agent! Maybe you are under the mistaken impression that Bitcoin is perfectly anonymous.
* The government agent looks at the block chain and Googles (or Baidus) every address in it. He finds your address in your signature on the Bitcoin forum. You've left enough personal information in your posts to be identified, so you are now scheduled to be "reeducated".

You need to protect yourself from both forward attacks (getting something that identifies you using coins that you got with methods that must remain secret, like the scammer example) and reverse attacks (getting something that must remain secret using coins that identify you, like the newspaper example).

==Staying Anonymous==

By necessity the history of all the bitcoins must be highly public. However, if one has bitcoins on paid to address, one can theoretically choose the coins they spend in a way that will minimize the amount of information they leak. Choosing personally generated coins or an address that you know doesn't reveal information would protect you. Unfortunately, the default Bitcoin client doesn't support this currently, so you must assume that your entire balance can identify you if any of the addresses can.

You may consider a bitcoin to be "less-anonymous" when an attacker could feasibly find the true identity of a very recent owner of the bitcoin, perhaps because one of the bitcoin addresses was posted to a website, or because he knows some identifying information through other means.

If your balance has been contaminated by both anonymous and non-anonymous coins, you may take action to make it "clean".

Recommended way of anonymizing your balance:
* Send however many coins you want to anonymize to a new [[eWallet]] account as a lump sum. There are other eWallet services however the more widely used the greater the potential for anonymity. <font color="red">This is not an endorsement of trust in the use of eWallet services. There are no guarantees that any eWallet service won't one day take all your bitcoins and disappear. Use at your own risk.</font>

With this method an attacker will have to gain access to the eWallet service's transaction logs to continue to follow you in the transaction history.

The protection that this method offers is significantly reduced if you are trying to anonymize more than about 10% of the total number of Bitcoins that the eWallet service holds. You'll end up getting your own coins back instead of other users' coins. Withdrawing Bitcoins more slowly and in smaller increments will help reduce this problem. Sending coins to an eWallet service in the largest single transfer possible will also help.

To further enhance your anonymity, you can:
* Send Bitcoins from one eWallet sevice to another and ''then'' to yourself. Each transfer needs to be painstakingly investigated and many transfers will present insurmountable difficulty.

Once you have an anonymous balance set up, be sure to keep your anonymous and non-anonymous balances completely separate.

A future version of the client will have more control which will allow the sender to specify which coins to use in a transaction<ref>[http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=24784.msg307661#msg307661 Patching The Bitcoin Client To Make It More Anonymous]</ref>.

In the future, trusted relay servers operating on the [[friendly addresses with enhanced privacy]] protocol could provide bitcoin users strong anonymity with increased convenience, thereby eliminating the need to make a trade-off between privacy and ease of use.

===Helping other people stay anonymous===
* Set up a real [http://www.bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=241.0 external mixing service]. Make it like an eWallet service but make sure that a user never withdraws the same coins that are put in. Also delete empty addresses and transaction logs.
* Even if you're not a programmer, you can make a slightly less secure version of an external mixing service (as a Tor hidden service, preferably):
** Set up two Bitcoin installations.
** Put some amount of BTC in installation B. This is the maximum amount of BTC you can deal with at once (for all customers).
** Customers send BTC to installation A. You send them an equal number of coins (or minus a fee) from installation B. Send as 10 to 50 BTC increments.
** Send all coins from A to B when '''all''' orders are satisfied. You can't send coins from A to B if you have any orders that have not been satisfied from B.
** This can be automated, or you can do everything manually.
* Put lots of bitcoins in an eWallet service and keep it there. If anyone uses the anonymization method described in "staying anonymous" above, this will enhance it. Send in smaller increments if a large amount is transferred.

===CoinJoin===
While external mixers are useful and historically important, they have several problems. The mixer may also steal the customer's coins. Thus the mixer service will depend significantly on it's reputation to maintain customer's privacy and not steal their money, which allows them to charge a significant fee far above the marginal cost which takes advantage of this reputation.

[[CoinJoin]] is a special kind of bitcoin transaction that solves these problems. It is a kind of smart contract which does not allow any party to steal the coins of any other party.

==Legality==
Obviously, using Bitcoin anonymity techniques for the purposes of [[Wikipedia:money laundering|money laundering]] is illegal, but participating or running schemes which others use for money laundering may also be illegal or at least leave the participant vulnerable to accusations of aiding criminals and terrorists. Bitcoin anonymity techniques involving bitcoins worth large amounts of money (over some value between FJ$1,100 and US$58,000, depending on your jurisdiction) is illegal in most jurisdictions, being in violation of [[Wikipedia:Structuring|anti-structuring laws]].

==See Also==

* [[Anonymity & Security]]
* [[CoinJoin]]
* [[:Category:Mixing Services|Mixing Services]] category
* [http://www.bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2893.0 RFC: Bitcoin Mixnet]
* [http://www.bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=241.0 anonymity]
* [http://www.bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=24784.0 Patching The Bitcoin Client To Make It More Anonymous]
* [http://arxiv.org/abs/1107.4524 An Analysis of Anonymity in the Bitcoin System] research by Fergal Reid, Martin Harrigan ([http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=31539.0 discussion])
* [http://bitcoinhelp.net/know/more/top-seven-ways-your-identity-can-be-linked-to-your-bitcoin-address Top Seven Ways Your Identity Can Be Linked to Your Bitcoin Address]
* [https://plusbitcoin.net/bitcoin-anonymity/ Tips to improve your bitcoin anonymity]
==References==
<references />

[[Category:Technical]]
[[Category:Anonymity]]

Skrill

2015-12-09T13:50:18Z

PlusBitcoin: /* External Links */

'''Skrill''', formerly MoneyBookers, is an e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet.

Moneybookers performs payment processing for websites, online auction sites, and other corporate users. Like many competing online fund transfer services (e.g., [[PayPal]]), Moneybookers requires identity verification before using their service to minimize fraud and prevent money laundering.

Additional verification steps raise the maximum amount transferable to €50,000 or equivalent within a 90-day period.

Moneybookers does not usually get involved in merchandise disputes and the availability of credit card chargebacks may be limited.

==Bitcoin Exchanges==

A few Bitcoin [[currency exchange]] accept Moneybookers as payment for the purchase of bitcoins and some of the same exchange and others provide a method to cash out bitcoins with payment through Moneybooks.

These exchanges include:

* [[VirWoX]]
* [[WM-Center]]
* [[Bitcoin-otc]] marketplace
* [https://localbitcoins.com/buy-bitcoins-online/moneybookers-skrill/ LocalBitcoins.com buy bitcoins using moneybookers] [https://localbitcoins.com/sell-bitcoins-online/moneybookers-skrill/ sell]

==Criticism==

Moneybookers Terms of Use agreements states "The Company at its sole discretion, reserves the right to close an account of any Customer at any time for any or no reason"<ref>[http://www.moneybookers.com/app/help.pl?s=terms MONEYBOOKERS ACCOUNT TERMS OF USE]</ref>. There have been reports of those trading bitcoins for Moneybookers finding their accounts terminated.

==See Also==

* [[Buying bitcoins]]
* [[Selling bitcoins]]
* [[Payment methods]]

==External Links==

* [http://www.moneybookers.com Moneybookers.com]
* [https://plusbitcoin.net/buy-bitcoins-with-skrill/ Buy Bitcoins With Skrill]

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Money transmitters]]

Skrill

2015-07-02T12:43:12Z

PlusBitcoin:

'''Skrill''', formerly MoneyBookers, is an e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet.

Moneybookers performs payment processing for websites, online auction sites, and other corporate users. Like many competing online fund transfer services (e.g., [[PayPal]]), Moneybookers requires identity verification before using their service to minimize fraud and prevent money laundering.

Additional verification steps raise the maximum amount transferable to €50,000 or equivalent within a 90-day period.

Moneybookers does not usually get involved in merchandise disputes and the availability of credit card chargebacks may be limited.

==Bitcoin Exchanges==

A few Bitcoin [[currency exchange]] accept Moneybookers as payment for the purchase of bitcoins and some of the same exchange and others provide a method to cash out bitcoins with payment through Moneybooks.

These exchanges include:

* [[VirWoX]]
* [[WM-Center]]
* [[Bitcoin-otc]] marketplace
* [https://localbitcoins.com/buy-bitcoins-online/moneybookers-skrill/ LocalBitcoins.com buy bitcoins using moneybookers] [https://localbitcoins.com/sell-bitcoins-online/moneybookers-skrill/ sell]

==Criticism==

Moneybookers Terms of Use agreements states "The Company at its sole discretion, reserves the right to close an account of any Customer at any time for any or no reason"<ref>[http://www.moneybookers.com/app/help.pl?s=terms MONEYBOOKERS ACCOUNT TERMS OF USE]</ref>. There have been reports of those trading bitcoins for Moneybookers finding their accounts terminated.

==See Also==

* [[Buying bitcoins]]
* [[Selling bitcoins]]
* [[Payment methods]]

==External Links==

* [http://www.moneybookers.com Moneybookers.com]
* [http://www.plusbitcoin.net/buy-bitcoins-with-skrill/ Buy Bitcoins With Skrill]

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Money transmitters]]

User talk:Taras

2015-06-09T09:24:35Z

PlusBitcoin: /* Buying Bitcoins (the newbie version) */ new section

{{archive}}__TOC__
== Bitcoin Fog ==
Could you remove bitcoin fog advertisment from bitcoin wiki, because it scammed a lot of people? {{unsigned|Pampa|20:20, 5 March 2015 (UTC)‎}}
:See [[Talk:Bitcoin Fog]] --[[User:Taras|Taras]] ([[User talk:Taras|talk]]) 21:36, 5 March 2015 (UTC)
== Can you at least consult with me ==

...before editing "every" thing I write. Isn't that the point of this being a community wiki and not a centralized wiki?

Why did you rename the PS Coin page (see how I'm consulting first before just undo-ing)?

Additionally, I changed the "planned" template you edited back to "soon" which I originally had made - there is a very literal distinction between those words. Planned would imply uncertainty. We've already tackled the sufficient regulatory hurdles necessary, minus one additional step which we're in the process of completing now.

{{unsigned|Bliljerk101|23:41, 8 February 2015 (UTC)}}

:Is [[PS Coin]] really called "PS Coin - incentivized exchange"? They write that down as their name all the time? If it is, go ahead and put it back.

:: I just feel the distinction would help in this case, since it's radically different than other exchanges (no other exchanges have an incentivized algorithm like PS Coin - it really should be in a category of its own) [[User:Bliljerk101|Bliljerk101]] ([[User talk:Bliljerk101|talk]]) 18:29, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

:Also, "Planned" does not imply uncertainty. It is only used when implementation is imminent. [[User:Taras|Taras]] ([[User talk:Taras|talk]]) 14:37, 9 February 2015 (UTC)

:: "Planned" implies the inherent uncertainty of any future event. Until it happens, it is always uncertain. --[[User:Luke-jr|Luke-jr]] ([[User talk:Luke-jr|talk]]) 06:09, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

::: Do you think we should keep the "soon" template or otherwise distinguish scheduled implementations from dry internal speculation? [[User:Taras|Taras]] ([[User talk:Taras|talk]]) 14:26, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

:::: [[User:Luke-jr|Luke-jr]], Thanks for your input here. [[User:Taras|Taras]], I think there is no reason to not keep both templates. However, in the case of [[PS Coin]] the "Soon" template should be used. Other exchanges may appropriately need to use a "planned" template instead. [[User:Bliljerk101|Bliljerk101]] ([[User talk:Bliljerk101|talk]]) 18:29, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

== Dokuwiki revisions ==

One thing that might cause trouble: Mark started bitcoin.it and tried to get everyone to move to it, but there was a period of time when it was uncertain whether the community would want to switch from the old wiki to this one, so the two wikis competed for a time (perhaps as long as a month or two). Therefore, there might be some edit conflicts that can't be easily resolved. Then again, both wikis had very low activity at the time, so maybe there won't be any conflicts. [[User:Theymos|theymos]] ([[User talk:Theymos|talk]]) 06:41, 8 March 2015 (UTC)
:I've trimmed any revisions that occurred after Mark started bitcoin.it, leaving the ones that were present in the text that you imported in 2010. I'm pretty sure everything will be alright. [[User:Taras|Taras]] ([[User talk:Taras|talk]]) 15:52, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

== Comparison of VPS providers list ==

I see the list of hosting providers providing VPS is disappeared because there is no body to take care. If it is possible, Can I take the charge of that page ?<br>
I promise that I will not be biassed and I will be neutral to the list. {{unsigned|RockHoster|15:34, 1 May 2015 (UTC)}}

If it is possible, Can I also get the last list prepared to make a new list ? {{unsigned|RockHoster|15:36, 1 May 2015 (UTC)}}
:It disappeared because it was a useless soapbox, not because nobody took care of it. [[User:Taras|Taras]] ([[User talk:Taras|talk]]) 13:29, 1 June 2015 (UTC)

== Adding new exchanges ==

Could you please add our exchange service 247exchange.com to the list? We're fixed-rate exchange. We accept credit & debit cards (prepaid ones are also supported), bank wire transfer, SEPA, express cash transfers (through MoneyPolo system and its partners), etc. Our service is easy-to-use, even for newbies, having 24/7 support and detailed knowledgebase. No need to create additional payment accounts or wallets with our service. Verification is required. The service isn't available in USA yet. {{unsigned|RockHoster|06:49, 30 May 2015 (UTC)}}
:Which list are you referring to? [[User:Taras|Taras]] ([[User talk:Taras|talk]]) 13:29, 1 June 2015 (UTC)
This one: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Buying_Bitcoins_(the_newbie_version) - we accept Credit Card, Bank Transfer, Cash. Thanks.

== Buying Bitcoins (the newbie version) ==

This page is outdated, buggy and needs improvement.
I can help you with that if you like.