Why I love Cryptopay - Review

in #bitcoin8 years ago (edited)

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CRYPTOPAY-REVIEW

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A couple of months back I found out about Cryptopay, a UK bitcoin payment service. I was immediately interested, not least because I live in the UK and have pressing need of a crypto gateway that doesn’t let the bankers gleefully take their pound of flesh from me every time I use it.

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This 454-gram burger contains the same quantity of flesh the bankers extract on each exchange withdrawal, but leaves you feeling less nauseous.

Living half in the real world and half in Cryptoland is fun, but there is the requirement to pay bills and for that I need to convert my bitcoin income into Sterling. Thus far, I’ve done it this way:

  • Complete work for client
  • Request pay (generally in USD equivalent), stating bitcoin address
  • Recieve pay, typically between 5 minutes and 3 days later
    Send bitcoins from receipt address to Bitstamp
    Wait for several confirmations, usually around 30 minutes but up to 12 hours if CoinWallet are playing silly games again
    Sell bitcoins at market rate, for USD
    At the end of the month, withdraw USD funds to GBP account
    Get hit with a flat fee because Bitstamp is based in Slovenia and uses SEPA bank transfers to the UK.
    Get hit with an extortionately poor exchange rate because the bank can set it at whatever it wants
    Receive sad, tired and diminished funds into my UK bank account.

Banker’s bonus

Basically, the delays involved - compounded by my desire to sleep from time to time - give bitcoin’s signature volatility a chance to take a bite out of my hard-earned cash. Then the banks come along and start lunching on what’s left.

That’s why I was interested to hear about Cryptopay. There have been a dozen or so UK exchanges, that I know about, and the majority have been closed down when their banking facilities were pulled with next to no notice. The exchanges that still exist work on a peer-to-peer basis to fly under the radar, and make it easier to buy than sell crypto. There are one or two 'true' exchanges that have managed to hang on, but liquidity is so poor it would cost me more than a round trip to Bitstamp.

Cryptopay, who operate a broker model, don’t seem to have had this problem. When I asked why, here’s what they said: 'We have healthy relationships with an international payment institution from the EU with banking partners in the UK. The process of partnering was extremely difficult and delicate as we had to follow business standards of a regulated financial institution.' I don’t know what that means, save that some deal was struck with a key bank - possibly involving blood sacrifice, I’m not sure - but the result is there are no exchange fees and no withdrawal fees to my bank account. The only fees, in fact, are built into the exchange itself.

Instant conversion

That’s the first big plus. The second, which would have sold me had I not already been an instant convert, was their instant conversion function (see what I did there?).

Basically, the bitcoin-to-fiat conversion can all be done automatically. There are three types of account within Cryptopay: bitcoin, EUR and GBP. You simply send your funds to the account you want, and it appears in that currency. Conversion happens behind the scenes.

So all I have to do is give my GBP address to a client and have them send funds to it, and they turn up as Sterling. I don’t have to sell it myself, I don’t have to stay awake waiting for a transaction to confirm - it’s all done for me. And although there are costs on the exchange, the efficiencies of doing it this way mean I save money.

So it’s faster, better value and less stressful. What’s not to like?

Lastly, when I look at how I’ve been doing business over the last 18 months, I know it wouldn’t be for everyone. I can’t see many people going to the trouble of setting up bitcoin accounts, maintaining security, and going to the hassle of converting it to fiat and withdrawing it when required (though truth be told, I find it kind of fun).

Cryptopay takes the bitcoin out of bitcoin. I do work, I state my address, and funds turn up in the currency of my choice. At no point do I actually need to see or handle the bitcoins themselves. I don’t need to worry about security, or volatility, or the complexity of account creation. I’m pretty sure this is how bitcoin is going to work if it hits the mainstream - through services that use it in the background but don’t force customers to deal with it directly.

Good job, guys.

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Great post about your experience with Cryptopay... here's a few things to note about Cryptopay (from my experience):

  1. They don't work with US citizens (not a prob for you, but a serious prob for Americans).
  2. They may be registered in the UK, but if you get a card through them, the card issuer is located in Gibraltar.
  3. #2 means that they're on the Gibraltar Pound (GIP) which means all transactions will also include double exchange rate fees (into and out of GIP).
  4. Their virtual card doesn't work beyond the first purchase: unverified accounts are supposed to have $2500 limits which the website professes, but after the first purchase the card is locked by the issuer (in Gibraltar). When talking to customer support, they advise verifying the account. If you don't want to verify the account you'll take a couple more fee hits as you unload the card and then buy back your bitcoin to transfer elsewhere. This is because if the card is locked and you don't verify, the card issuer will not unblock the card.
  5. You will lose any bitcoin you deposit that is after the 4th decimal place. And, though the blockchain for your deposit address will show your entire deposit, Cryptopay keeps the change.
    0.0015 = You get all your deposit
    0.00152500 = You lose 0.00002500 satoshi
  6. If they find out that you are American they will close your account. You'll have 2-3 business days to unload your virtual cards and transfer your bitcoin out. This is not negotiable. Probably why they push verification, though they advertise no verification needed.
  7. Their customer service is relatively quick and helpful, though they are quite likely to point at the card issuer as the center of problems for unverified users.
  8. #7 means that their website makes promises that they can't keep because they are subject to the whims of a card issuer in Gibraltar.
  9. While there's usually a buy/sell difference, Cryptopay's valuations are noticeably lower.

Interesting, thanks for sharing your experiences!

#5 is probably the most important thing to know . Satoshis add up to bitcoins, you know?

Wow... I live in the US and Cryptopay doesn't work for me either, but this is a great deal of information, specially #5. Now that I know, it is something to pay attention to when dealing in satoshis in the future.
Thanks for all the info

It'd be super awesome if some enterprising soul hooked us up with a STEEM-to-Cash debit card. Perhaps, one day....

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interesting, thanks for sharing this article

You're welcome!