LebGeeks

A community for technology geeks in Lebanon.

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#51 May 8 2013

Shalashtein
Member

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

i didn't browse all the replies but you guys can always buy bitcoins for less over the deepweb using skidrow to ensure your money

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#52 May 9 2013

rolf
Member

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

I'm trying to create a payment portal for customer for small payment (under $500 - for bigger sums bank transfers or Western Union are OK).
I've had a hard time with credit card gateway providers, they somehow mostly expect a merchant website to be set up and sell well-defined products. I just want to get paid for various small services.
So I'm looking into having the customer somehow buy bitcoins (using a CC hopefully) and send them to me - if I can find a straightforward way to implement that since customers are mostly weak in computer stuff to start with (that's why they pay me!), but haven't had too much luck either so far... any ideas, since we're on that topic?

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#53 May 9 2013

arithma
Member

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

rolf wrote:

I'm trying to create a payment portal for customer for small payment (under $500 - for bigger sums bank transfers or Western Union are OK).
I've had a hard time with credit card gateway providers, they somehow mostly expect a merchant website to be set up and sell well-defined products. I just want to get paid for various small services.
So I'm looking into having the customer somehow buy bitcoins (using a CC hopefully) and send them to me - if I can find a straightforward way to implement that since customers are mostly weak in computer stuff to start with (that's why they pay me!), but haven't had too much luck either so far... any ideas, since we're on that topic?

Maybe https://bitpay.com/ can help?

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#54 November 9 2013

az09za90za
Member

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

i'd say it will go higher, like 500? USD on mtgox what do you think guys ?

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#55 November 9 2013

samer
Admin

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

While I don't necessarily disagree, I think it would be much more interesting for you to detail your thought process. Otherwise your statement would be treated as pure speculation.

az09za90za wrote:

i'd say it will go higher, like 500? USD on mtgox what do you think guys ?

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#56 November 9 2013

MrClass
Member

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

Samer, I'm trying to understand why did the price skyrocket in under a week. Did BTCChina have an increase in number of traders? Is there a relation between Silk Road 2.0 and the BTC price increase? Shall we expect a massive drop like last time (you know from 233$ to 55$)? Is it safe to keep the bitcoins or is it better to sell now (with this high price) and hope another price disaster strikes back?

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#57 November 9 2013

rtp
Member

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

there was recently a theft of bitcoins, or that is what i read anyways
story 1
story 2
enjoy

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#58 November 9 2013

samer
Admin

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

@MrClass: I'm in no position to give financial advice, I'll just share my interpretation of the events. I don't think Silk Road 2.0 has much to do with the recent spike, especially given the rumors of it being a honeypot for the feds. I suggest you read this article for an in-depth analysis. Selling now means you are betting on this being another bubble. While it certainly looks and feels like one, things have changed since April. Many new VC investments have been made in the bitcoin space, and the involvement of the Chinese further solidifies bitcoin's legitimacy. I still personally think there will be a correction and the price will drop for a while, but that's just my personal opinion.

@rtp: indeed, 4100 BTC were stolen from an online wallet service. This is not a vulnerability in bitcoin itself, but in the wallet service. That being said, you shouldn't store your private keys in an online service that you do not control.

As for the "bitcoin vulnerability" paper linked in the MIT Technology Review article you shared, the paper has not been peer reviewed. Gavin Andresen of the Bitcoin Foundation responded:

However, it is good to note that in my initial review, I believe the paper’s assertion of a fundamental flaw is based on some over-simplified assumptions about how the bitcoin mining market works.

More: Is Bitcoin Broken?

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#59 November 9 2013

az09za90za
Member

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

samer wrote:

While I don't necessarily disagree, I think it would be much more interesting for you to detail your thought process. Otherwise your statement would be treated as pure speculation.

im not economically experienced , but ill share how i see that thing :
now with the bitcoin is opened to one of the largest economy in the world (china ) which is rapidly growing , i think the containing of bitcoin wont be absurd for that "successful" economy , this has been planned , and opposite to usa who limited bitcoin  (the dropping economy) , china is doing great! , so i think there will be more and more happy traders everyday, and it will lead eventually for price rising . and for the price dropping , i think it will happen , but as lately , the bitcoin will rise again.

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#60 November 9 2013

samer
Admin

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

az09za90za, I appreciate the effort you put in expressing your view. If you are interested in better understanding the bitcoin economy, I encourage you to read this page.

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#61 November 10 2013

rtp
Member

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

what is the easiest route to buy bitcoin?

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#62 November 10 2013

samer
Admin

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

what is the easiest route to buy bitcoin?

In Lebanon, the cheapest and most effective option is to send money to the exchange via bank wire transfer.
You can also buy them locally, but price will be inflated because of low supply.

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#63 November 10 2013

rtp
Member

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

samer wrote:

what is the easiest route to buy bitcoin?

In Lebanon, the cheapest and most effective option is to send money to the exchange via bank wire transfer.

Any exchange recommendation ?

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#64 November 10 2013

samer
Admin

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

mtgox previously, but I highly discourage it now as they are making it extremely hard for you to get your USD out of there. I am not actively involved in this, but your best bet seems to be btc-e and btcchina.
btc-e is run by anonymous russians, so there are risks associated with that. However, they have had a trustworthy track record and seem to be generally trusted (given the volume traded there). btcchina has higher prices but has no trading fees, so it is a good option if you want to be active in trading. Either way, once you get your bitcoins, you can easily move them around.

Let me know if you need more help!

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#65 November 10 2013

rtp
Member

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

btcchina registration is in chinese, seriously!
btc-e is as you described.

from bad to worst.

after I exchange the BIT to dollar, how do I receive my money?

by the way thanks a lot samer!

Last edited by rtp (November 10 2013)

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#66 November 10 2013

samer
Admin

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

btcchina registration is in chinese, seriously!

There's a language selector on the top right. Use ctrl+F "language" to detect it.

after I exchange the BIT to dollar, how do I receive my money?

Via wire transfer as well.

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#67 November 10 2013

MrClass
Member

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

From 395$ down to 300$ then back to 350$ in 12 hours; crazy.

I'm thinking of selling out and getting a 600GH/s miner. The machine will pay itself in under a month. What do you think?

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#68 November 10 2013

samer
Admin

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

I'm thinking of selling out and getting a 600GH/s miner. The machine will pay itself in under a month. What do you think?

Which one, the BFL monarch? They haven't shipped it yet, and given their track record I wouldn't trust them.
I haven't fully investigated mining, so I'd be interested in seeing how you calculated the break-even period to be one month.

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#69 November 10 2013

MrClass
Member

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

Well I'm still looking for the best BTC miner out there. The BFL 600GH/s miner sounded good because I can just place it into my already cooled case. Though I'm very tempted in getting a ready made miner case. Hash Fast has a 1.2GH/s miner, CoinTerra has a 2GH/s miner but can't be shipped anywhere (just local pickup or hosted service).

I know BFL products have heat issues; their previous generation of miners have somehow flawed case designs. Many actually run their setup with the covering case; others actually drilled holes for the miner to breath. Do you think BFL products are prone to early failure?

I have used this site to speculate BTC mining profitability: http://www.bitcoinx.com/profit/

Last edited by MrClass (November 10 2013)

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#70 November 10 2013

MrClass
Member

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

After some thinking, the HashFast Sierra 1200GH/s sounds much better. Also took into consideration worst case scenarios like bitcoin difficulty reaching 1,000,000,000 and bitcoin price going down; this unit which lets say will cost 10000$ can pay itself in under 2 months.

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#71 November 18 2013

samer
Admin

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

The global average price is now at USD 606 (this factors in all the other currencies, including Chinese Yuan). The USD average is at 562.
https://bitcoinaverage.com/

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#72 November 18 2013

rtp
Member

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

in a week it jumped $300 that is crazy!

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#73 November 18 2013

MrClass
Member

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

I did something stupid today. Bitcoin crashed from 608$ to 535$. I noticed the crash when it was 535$ and freaked out and sold my bitcoins. In few minutes, bitcoin price went up to 580-590$, then to 600$. Apparently the bubble pop lasted 10 minutes only. I bought at 590$ fearing that the price wouldn't go down; well it didn't, but I lost half a bitcoin darn it.

I think lesson learned: never sell your bitcoins till you reach your target. Lost about 13 bitcoins since the last crash in April 2013 :S

Last edited by MrClass (November 18 2013)

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#74 November 18 2013

samer
Admin

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

I'm sorry to hear about that MrClass.
Current bitcoin global average: USD 687.35
This thing is exploding.

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#75 November 18 2013

MrClass
Member

Re: Bitcoin in Lebanon

It's ok Samer. Bitcoin now at 730$. Sorry but I got to say WTF!

So yeah minor set back today but I am still happy.

Regarding mining bitcoin, it turned out that getting miners was a hard deal. The good ASIC miners can be ready by January at the soonest. So the difficulty would be impossible by the time I get my hands on a unit. Let's keep our bitcoins as is till the price reach the moon; and by moon I mean 100K ;)

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