Bitcoin Wiki - User contributions [en]

Flexcoin

2011-08-10T15:35:39Z

The founder:

Flexcoin bills itself as the first bitcoin bank.

Run by Yooter InterActive Marketing in Pottsville, PA it allows for a central location for all bitcoin only transactions.

Flexcoin differentiates itself from [[EWallet]](s) by providing a paid discount to the account holders. It generates revenue by charging small transaction fees on outgoing bitcoins but no fees are charged from flexcoin to flexcoin accounts. These fees are for the most part forwarded back to the account holders via a discount payment. (currently 70% of all flexcoin collected fees are forwarded back to account holders).

The bitcoin bank has been running on an invite only process in June 2011, invites were filled within minutes of releasing them.
Flexcoin went live Aug 4th 2011 to the general public.

Significant attention is focused on "obtaining the best ID possible" similar to a one word domain name as the ID can be used to transfer bitcoins.

Example :
 
Before flexcoin: Pay for your coffee at bitcoin address 1555hjPG7pRwTHVMfukPvjXexQMHFE3qu6
 
After flexcoin: Pay for your coffee at flexcoin id coffeeshop
 

Another significant development is that transfers from ID to ID are instant, meaning no next block wait.

It is one of the first bitcoin eWallets based in the United States and is the first to label itself as a "bank".

==External links==
* [http://www.flexcoin.com flexcoin] website
* [http://www.yooter.com Yooter] (Parent Company)

[[Category:eWallets]]
[[Category:Financial]]

Flexcoin

2011-08-10T15:35:16Z

The founder:

Flexcoin bills itself as the first bitcoin bank.

Run by Yooter InterActive Marketing in Pottsville, PA it allows for a central location for all bitcoin only transactions.

Flexcoin differentiates itself from [[EWallet]](s) by providing a paid discount to the account holders. It generates revenue by charging small transaction fees on outgoing bitcoins but no fees are charged from flexcoin to flexcoin accounts. These fees are for the most part forwarded back to the account holders via a discount payment. (currently 70% of all flexcoin collected fees are forwarded back to account holders).

The bitcoin bank has been running on an invite only process in June 2011, invites were filled within minutes of releasing them.
Flexcoin went live Aug 4th 2011 to the general public.

Significant attention is focused on "obtaining the best ID possible" similar to a one word domain name as the ID can be used to transfer bitcoins.

Example :
Before flexcoin: Pay for your coffee at bitcoin address 1555hjPG7pRwTHVMfukPvjXexQMHFE3qu6
After flexcoin: Pay for your coffee at flexcoin id coffeeshop

Another significant development is that transfers from ID to ID are instant, meaning no next block wait.

It is one of the first bitcoin eWallets based in the United States and is the first to label itself as a "bank".

==External links==
* [http://www.flexcoin.com flexcoin] website
* [http://www.yooter.com Yooter] (Parent Company)

[[Category:eWallets]]
[[Category:Financial]]

Flexcoin

2011-08-05T03:54:47Z

The founder:

Flexcoin bills itself as the first bitcoin bank.

Run by Yooter InterActive Marketing in Pottsville, PA it allows for a central location for all bitcoin only transactions.

Flexcoin differentiates itself from [[EWallet]](s) by providing a paid discount to the account holders. It generates revenue by charging small transaction fees on outgoing bitcoins but no fees are charged from flexcoin to flexcoin accounts. These fees are for the most part forwarded back to the account holders via a discount payment. (currently 70% of all flexcoin collected fees are forwarded back to account holders).

The bitcoin bank has been running on an invite only process in June 2011, invites were filled within minutes of releasing them.
Flexcoin went live Aug 4th 2011 to the general public.

Significant attention is focused on "obtaining the best ID possible" similar to a one word domain name as the ID can be used to transfer bitcoins.

Example :
Before flexcoin: Pay for your coffee at bitcoin address 17KxFiNCwDXdxDxUMhWb7RLj7REnSJ1M8P
After flexcoin: Pay for your coffee at flexcoin id coffeeshop

Another significant development is that transfers from ID to ID are instant, meaning no next block wait.

It is one of the first bitcoin eWallets based in the United States and is the first to label itself as a "bank".

==External links==
* [http://www.flexcoin.com flexcoin] website
* [http://www.yooter.com Yooter] (Parent Company)

[[Category:eWallets]]
[[Category:Financial]]

Flexcoin

2011-07-20T18:09:04Z

The founder:

Browser-based wallet

2011-07-20T18:07:14Z

The founder:

A '''browser-based wallet''' or '''wallet service''' is an online account with an external provider where bitcoins can be stored. Examples include accounts on currency exchange [[:Category:Markets|Markets]], online [[:Category:Services|Services]] and with ecommerce transaction processors such as [[MyBitcoin]] or [[Flexcoin]].

==Benefits==
* Use of a browser-based wallet provider may help improve [[anonymity]] against third-parties who watch your IP address use.
* An account with a wallet service can generally be established in just minutes.
* Some bitcoin users store some or all of their bitcoins in a browser-based wallet to avoid having to worry about keeping a local wallet [[Securing_your_wallet|secure]].
* Some services that allow withdrawals to any Bitcoin address, such as [[MtGox]], can be used like browser-based wallets for making payments. Simply using the withdrawal feature to withdraw to an address that is not yours is functionally equivalent to sending a Bitcoin payment to that address.

==Things to be aware of==

When bitcoins are stored online, the provider retains full control of those amounts. You are trusting a third party to maintain your Bitcoin balance on your behalf. In comparison, if you run the Bitcoin software yourself, you are in full control of your coins so long as the wallet file stored on your computer is kept secret and secure.

Other relevant things:

* You typically have less anonymity with respect to those who run the online wallet site.
* If a payment is made from an online wallet, the transaction's "from" [[address]] is an address for the wallet provider and not an address reserved specifically for the sender. This is because the wallet service provider may service the payment from any coins in its possession - your balance is not associated with any particular coins, any more than your balance at your local bank is associated with any specific bills. Thus if the recipient were to "return" any bitcoins to the same address they were sent from, the sender would not receive those bitcoins.

* Not all wallet providers reserve a bitcoin address for the account holder indefinitely. Bitcoin addresses generally work best when one is assigned for each use. There is the risk of showing an address from a wallet provider in a directory or on a web page (for donations, as an example) as there is the possibility that at the future date when those bitcoins are sent that the intended recipient still has the wallet account. The same concern applies should the wallet provider cease operations.

* There is no trivial way to guarantee that the amount of bitcoins showing for the account holder's balance are truly being held in reserve by the wallet provider.
** Some providers describe their reserve policy in their terms of service (TOS). For example, [http://www.mybitcoin.com/legal/terms.php MyBitcoin's TOS] states:
:: <tt>6. OBLIGATIONS OF MYBITCOIN LLC 6.1 MYBITCOIN LLC will ensure that for all Bitcoins in circulation in the MyBitcoin System there is at all times an identical quantity of unencumbered Bitcoins held in MYBITCOIN LLC's master Bitcoin wallet.</tt>

* Transactions to a Bitcoin address from the same wallet provider are usually completed internally and, if so, will not be processed on the Bitcoin P2P network. Auditing tools such as the [[Block Explorer]] will not show any activity for this transaction.
** Some wallet providers allow amounts below 0.01 BTC to be sent if the transaction is to another account holder on the same service. This allows an inexpensive and immediate method to detect if the recipient is using the same wallet provider. For example, MyBitcoin will report an error when attempting to send an amount smaller than 0.01 BTC to a Bitcoin address that is not for another MyBitcoin account.

* The wallet service provider's wallet may be vulnerable to security breaches, loss, or theft. Because Bitcoin transactions are irreversible, there may be limited or no recovery if a provider's master wallet is compromised. Wallet providers who implement preventative controls - such as keeping their reserves in an [[offline wallet]] - are likely to be safer.

==See Also==

* [[Buying bitcoins]]
* [[Selling bitcoins]]
* [[Bitcoin faucet]]
* List of [[:Category:eWallets|eWallets]]

Browser-based wallet

2011-07-20T18:05:20Z

The founder:

A '''browser-based wallet''' or '''wallet service''' is an online account with an external provider where bitcoins can be stored. Examples include accounts on currency exchange [[:Category:Markets|Markets]], online [[:Category:Services|Services]] and with ecommerce transaction processors such as [[MyBitcoin]] or [[flexcoin]].

==Benefits==
* Use of a browser-based wallet provider may help improve [[anonymity]] against third-parties who watch your IP address use.
* An account with a wallet service can generally be established in just minutes.
* Some bitcoin users store some or all of their bitcoins in a browser-based wallet to avoid having to worry about keeping a local wallet [[Securing_your_wallet|secure]].
* Some services that allow withdrawals to any Bitcoin address, such as [[MtGox]], can be used like browser-based wallets for making payments. Simply using the withdrawal feature to withdraw to an address that is not yours is functionally equivalent to sending a Bitcoin payment to that address.

==Things to be aware of==

When bitcoins are stored online, the provider retains full control of those amounts. You are trusting a third party to maintain your Bitcoin balance on your behalf. In comparison, if you run the Bitcoin software yourself, you are in full control of your coins so long as the wallet file stored on your computer is kept secret and secure.

Other relevant things:

* You typically have less anonymity with respect to those who run the online wallet site.
* If a payment is made from an online wallet, the transaction's "from" [[address]] is an address for the wallet provider and not an address reserved specifically for the sender. This is because the wallet service provider may service the payment from any coins in its possession - your balance is not associated with any particular coins, any more than your balance at your local bank is associated with any specific bills. Thus if the recipient were to "return" any bitcoins to the same address they were sent from, the sender would not receive those bitcoins.

* Not all wallet providers reserve a bitcoin address for the account holder indefinitely. Bitcoin addresses generally work best when one is assigned for each use. There is the risk of showing an address from a wallet provider in a directory or on a web page (for donations, as an example) as there is the possibility that at the future date when those bitcoins are sent that the intended recipient still has the wallet account. The same concern applies should the wallet provider cease operations.

* There is no trivial way to guarantee that the amount of bitcoins showing for the account holder's balance are truly being held in reserve by the wallet provider.
** Some providers describe their reserve policy in their terms of service (TOS). For example, [http://www.mybitcoin.com/legal/terms.php MyBitcoin's TOS] states:
:: <tt>6. OBLIGATIONS OF MYBITCOIN LLC 6.1 MYBITCOIN LLC will ensure that for all Bitcoins in circulation in the MyBitcoin System there is at all times an identical quantity of unencumbered Bitcoins held in MYBITCOIN LLC's master Bitcoin wallet.</tt>

* Transactions to a Bitcoin address from the same wallet provider are usually completed internally and, if so, will not be processed on the Bitcoin P2P network. Auditing tools such as the [[Block Explorer]] will not show any activity for this transaction.
** Some wallet providers allow amounts below 0.01 BTC to be sent if the transaction is to another account holder on the same service. This allows an inexpensive and immediate method to detect if the recipient is using the same wallet provider. For example, MyBitcoin will report an error when attempting to send an amount smaller than 0.01 BTC to a Bitcoin address that is not for another MyBitcoin account.

* The wallet service provider's wallet may be vulnerable to security breaches, loss, or theft. Because Bitcoin transactions are irreversible, there may be limited or no recovery if a provider's master wallet is compromised. Wallet providers who implement preventative controls - such as keeping their reserves in an [[offline wallet]] - are likely to be safer.

==See Also==

* [[Buying bitcoins]]
* [[Selling bitcoins]]
* [[Bitcoin faucet]]
* List of [[:Category:eWallets|eWallets]]

Flexcoin

2011-07-20T17:46:38Z

The founder:

Flexcoin

2011-07-20T17:46:17Z

The founder:

Flexcoin

2011-07-20T17:44:42Z

The founder:

Flexcoin

2011-07-20T17:44:00Z

The founder:

Flexcoin

2011-07-20T17:42:45Z

The founder:

Flexcoin

2011-07-20T17:41:32Z

The founder:

Flexcoin bills itself as the first bitcoin bank. Run by Yooter InterActive Marketing in Pottsville, PA it allows for central a central location for all bitcoin only transactions. Flexcoin diffrencates inself from [[EWallet]](s) by providing interest to the account holders. Though it is an active miner it also generates revenue by charging small transaction fees on outgoing bitcoins but no fees are charge from flexcoin to flexcoin accounts. These fees and mining proceeds are for the most part forwarded back to the account holders via an interest payment.

The bitcoin bank has been running on an invite only process since June 2011 and current has several hundred users.

It is the first bitcoin eWallet based in the United States and is the first bitcoin bank ever. It is also the first bitcoin EWallet that is corporate backed by an existing US based company.

[[Category:Services]]
[[Category:eWallets]]

==External links==
* [https://www.flexcoin.com flexcoin] website

Flexcoin

2011-07-20T17:41:12Z

The founder:

Flexcoin

2011-07-20T17:39:48Z

The founder:

Flexcoin

2011-07-20T17:38:48Z

The founder:

Flexcoin

2011-07-20T17:38:03Z

The founder: Flexcoin - the first bitcoin bank