VirWoX

In business since end of 2007, VirWoX is today the the leading independent exchange for trading virtual currencies, both in terms number if users (about 74,000), and trading volume (2010: 10 million Euro / 14 million US$).

Currencies traded are Linden Dollars (the virtual currency used in Second Life), Avination's C$, and the Open Metaverse Currency (OMC). In April 2011, VirWoX started accepting Bitcoin and enabled to trade bitcoins for Linden Dollars (both ways), which are in turn convertible to EUR, USD, GBP, CHF, and the other virtual currencies traded on VirWoX.

Other payment methods (deposit and withdrawal) include PayPal, Credit/Debit Cards via Skrill/Moneybookers, NETELLER, paysafecard, DIRECTebanking.com, and bank transfers.

VirWoX is run by the company Virtual World Services GmbH, which is located in Austria. The service is available in five languages (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian).

Instructions

How to buy bitcoins

With Linden Dollars

After you have opened an account, deposit the Linden Dollars (SLL) at one of the in-world terminals in Second Life.

Then log in on the VirWoX website and enter an order to buy BTC on the "Exchange BTC/SLL" page. Depending on the type of order (Market or Limit), this will convert the Linden Dollars to BTC immediately or at some later time.

Finally use the "Withdraw" page to send the BTC to a Bitcoin address. You can also use VirWoX as a eWallet and keep your BTC there for later use.

Note that due to the restrictions currently imposed via Linden Labs' RISK API, your Second Life avatar must be at least 30 days old to deposit Linden Dollars into an VirWoX in-world terminal.

With other currencies (USD, EUR, etc.)

Technically, VirWoX only supports to buy BTC for Linden Dollars. However, you can first buy Linden Dollars for real-world currency, and then buy BTC for your Linden Dollars. It is not necessary to open a Second Life account to do this.

The following payment methods are available:

Payment Processor	USD	EUR	GBP	CHF	Delay	Limit	Fees
Bank Wire	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	2-3 days	unlimited	free (if from EU in EUR)
PayPal	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	instant	variable (see "Limits")	EUR 0.35 + 3.4%
Credit/Debit Cards (Moneybookers)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	instant	variable (see "Limits")	EUR 0.39 + 3.5%
NETELLER	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	instant	unlimited	3.5%
DIRECTebanking / Sofortüberweisung	No	Yes	No	No	instant	variable (see "Limits")	2.5% (min. EUR 0.25)
UKash	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	instant	unlimited	20%
paysafecard	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	instant	n/a	fees

How to sell bitcoins

After your have opened an account, go to the "Deposit" page, scroll down to the "Bitcoin" section and click on the "Create my Bitcoin address" button. This will create a unique bitcoin address associated with your account. You then send the bitcoins you wish to sell to this address. As soon as the bitcoin network has confirmed the payment (5 blocks), the bitcoins are booked to your account, and an email is sent to you.

For Linden Dollars

To exchange bitcoins to Linden Dollars, go to the page "Exchange BTC/SLL", and enter an order to sell your bitcoins. Depending on your order (Market or Limit), this will be executed instantly or at some later time. You may then withdraw the Linden Dollars to your Second Life avatar or continue as described below.

For other currencies (USD, EUR, etc.)

Technically, VirWoX only supports to sell BTC for Linden Dollars. However, you can first do that (as described above) and then buy some real-world cash for your Linden Dollars. It is not necessary to open a Second Life account to do this. Just go to the corresponding exchange page (e.g. USD/SLL for USD, EUR/SLL for EUR), and buy the real-world currency for the Linden Dollars. Then proceed to the "withdraw" page and send the money using one of the supported withdrawal methods:

Withdrawal Method	USD	EUR	GBP	CHF	Delay	Limit	Fees
Bank Wire	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	2-3 days	unlimited	1 EUR (if from EU in EUR)
PayPal	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	instant	2500 EUR/day	1 EUR/USD/GBP/CHF
Skrill/Moneybookers	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	instant	2500 EUR/day	1 EUR/USD/GBP/CHF
NETELLER	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	instant	2500 EUR/day	1 EUR/USD/GBP/CHF

Fees

VirWoX charges 50 SLL (currently about 0.02 BTC) plus 2.9% for BTC/SLL market orders. The fee for limit orders depends on the previous trading volume of the account, and varies between 0.78% and 3.9%.

VirWoX charges 0.02 BTC for BTC withdrawals. Deposits in BTC are free.

Limits and Restrictions

Because of the risks involved, VirWoX restricts deposits via PayPal and Moneybookers (i.e. Credit/Debit Cards) depending on the age of the account. These limits have become increasingly strict. As of February 26, 2012, there are 5 different limit tiers as opposed to the original 3.

PayPal/Moneybookers Limit Tier	Per 24 hours	Per 30 days
0 - Upon Registration	40 EUR	120 EUR
1 - After 10 Days	60 EUR	300 EUR
2 - After 60 Days	100 EUR	1,000 EUR
3 - After 90 Days	200 EUR	2,000 EUR
4 - By Request Only	8,000 EUR	80,000 EUR

Another quite serious restriction is that trades are limited to whole units. E.g. you can only trade whole EUR to Linden Dollars (SLL). Even bigger is the problem that you can only buy whole bitcoins. Since one bitcoin is now worth a 4-digit amount of SLL this is a really big restriction - you'll quite probably end up with a bigger rest of SLL and have to spend additional money to use this rest.

Certain restrictions on Linden Dollar deposits are imposed via Linden Labs' RISK API. For example, your Second Life avatar must be at least 30 days old to deposit Linden Dollars into a VirWoX terminal. There are also various restrictions on the quantity of Linden Dollars that can be deposited at a time.

See Also

• Buying bitcoins
• Selling bitcoins

External Links

• VirWoX web site
• current BTC/SLL market depth
• Second Life