Since Bitcoin is not backed by a mint, its transactions are not subject to the same regulations surr

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VANCOUVER Bernd Petak recalls holland america cruise line itinerary a time when, curious about how exchanging cash for the digital currency Bitcoin worked, he stood at Union Square in New York City and wandered among the sellers to try and get the most bang out of his buck.
You meet at a certain time outside and there are people standing around with their hand up, and they ll sell you Bitcoin, and you can shop with various people and you can see who has the best price, he said.
Such transactions involve buyer and seller scanning each others smartphones to transfer the Bitcoins — a virtual currency that isn t controlled by a central bank — to the buyer s so-called digital wallet.
On Tuesday, however, the world saw the first Bitcoin automatic teller machine holland america cruise line itinerary go live in a downtown Vancouver coffee shop, allowing people to exchange Canadian cash for the digital currency at a current rate of $211.79 per Bitcoin.
New users set up a digital wallet by scanning their palm on the machine, holland america cruise line itinerary while others who already have a Bitcoin wallet select how much money they want to spend, insert holland america cruise line itinerary the cash, and scan a complex square bar code on their phone to have the Bitcoins transferred to their wallet.
If you ve ever dealt with your bank in an international context, you re never quite sure whether your Visa card s going to be taken, you re never quite sure whether your ATM card is going to work where you are, said Petak, who came to check out the machine on behalf of his technology investment firm.
Bitcoins are transferred through a peer-to-peer network and transactions appear on a public ledger holland america cruise line itinerary that is accessible to all who use the currency. Users must first set up a digital wallet, which gets managed through an app.
Bitcoins holland america cruise line itinerary are typically bought through an exchange. The process involves setting up an account, holland america cruise line itinerary waiting about a week for it to be verified, and then transferring funds to the account so that one can start buying Bitcoins.
Mitchell Demeter of Bitcoiniacs, a Bitcoin broker and the firm that installed the ATM in Vancouver, said Bitcoin transactions are much more convenient than other forms of payments because transactions holland america cruise line itinerary are instant and there are no processing fees.
Right now, if I wanted to send you $5,000, holland america cruise line itinerary and say you re in Toronto, it would take three to five days for a wire transfer to come through and it would cost me $35, and it would cost you a fee, he said.
About 16 Vancouver-area merchants accept Bitcoin. Despite its rise in popularity, industry experts say consumers should still be aware of the risks associated with the digital dollars that some argue isn t a currency at all.
Since Bitcoin is not backed by a mint, its transactions are not subject to the same regulations surrounding money laundering as other currencies, said Peter Lamey with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, or FINTRAC.
If someone were to walk into a bank or a credit union with a duffle bag full of twenties, their deposit would require a paper trail for them to deposit it and they would have a report filed with FINTRAC and we would know about it, he said. (Bitcoin) is not subject to those requirements.
Demeter argues Bitcoin transactions are safer than, say, online credit card payments because users are not required to attach any personal information to their digital wallets. Since the public ledger is accessible to anybody and everybody, network users can audit it any time, he said.
One of the ways you deal with money laundering is to know who s doing it, she said. If you provide complete anonymity in currency and something goes wrong, how do you track it back to the perpetrator?
A U.S. judge has ruled that Bitcoin is a real currency, but earlier this month, authorities shut down the anonymous online marketplace Silk Road, whose users allegedly used Bitcoins to buy and sell drugs illegally.
Winnipeg native Katrina Caudle, who exchanged $60 for 0.27 Bitcoins at the ATM on Tuesday, said she understands holland america cruise line itinerary skepticism surrounding the digital holland america cruise line itinerary dollars, but she expects it will subside as more and more people use it.
That s how most currency works, but because with our current currency, we have our banking system, we have our government system, that gives us a sense of security with it. (Bitcoin) is essentially as safe as any currency, but it doesn t have that social history yet.
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