At first, I used Circle, until they decided to cease this service.
After several attempts to verify my identity with Coinbase, I was finally able to perform bank drafts, but these take an unacceptable SIX DAYS to complete. Truly, the money actually arrives AFTER the 6th day; therefore, don't expect your money for a WEEK. If you start the transaction on a Tuesday, you can finally use your funds the next Tuesday.
I've tried to attach my debit/credit cards to Coinbase, but for some reason, Coinbase cannot verify the address to the debit/credit cards – which happen to be the same address on file with Coinbase. I have contacted the issuers of the cards, who all assure me, they are not denying any address requests.
CEX.IO is 'not available in your area,' although I see local bitcoin offers very near me.
NEXT...
OK, I see a company called Changelly. I have seen “changelly” in several Steemit wallets. Ok, others have used it, I'll give it a try.
Just as a test, I want to send $10. Changelly informs me the minimum to send is $15. Ok, fifteen it is. I send $15 to my Steemit account. Steemit is currently exchanging around $0.155, therefore I should receive around 96.77 Steem – well a bit less after transaction fees. So, I'm expecting around 85-90 Steem.
I begin my transaction on January 23, 2017 at 17:51:13 (5:51 p.m.). After entering the minimum info (email, amount, credit card info) and go through the verification hoops (code via phone, code via credit card transaction – which means my card has already been debited), I am informed the transaction should take between five and 30 minutes. BUT, if I want a faster transaction, I can make a recording showing my face and me holding my passport and credit card. UH, no thanks. I can wait the 30 minutes, thank you.
In the meantime, I cook dinner, get my granddaughter to bed (her mom is working this evening), wash the sheets and get them back on the bed, and take a shower. Several hours have passed, so the transaction should have gone through. HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!
At approximately 12:45 a.m. January 24, almost SEVEN HOURS later, the transaction is still processing. Resolutely, I compose a letter to Changelly.
Five hours after I send the letter, a Changelly rep responds telling me the blockchain is overloaded and 70 thousand transactions are waiting to process. Mine is done by the time he has responded, however. My transaction occurred at 04:14:39 a.m. Alright, the blockchain was overloaded. Hmmm.
I see the response at approximately 10:30 a.m. (Jan 24). I check my Steemit account. WHAT!?! I received only 48 Steem ?!? This is HALF of what I expected.
I start crunching numbers. CoinGecko shows bitcoin to trade at ~$920 at 10:19 am ($913 at 4:04 am). BitcoinWisdom shows ~$908 at the 4:14 minute, whereas Crypto-Currency Market Capitalizations has bitcoin listed at ~$924. Even at the highest rate, I should have received about 90 Steem!
AHA! When I check my transaction receipt, the bitcoin exchange rate shows to be 0.00056776! This is $1761.31 USD!!! This is absurd! WTF?!?
I look at the blockchain transaction. For some reason 0.28576789 BTC ($216.2 USD) went into the blockchain transaction, but only 0.00847385 ($7.75 USD) came to me. Again, WTF?!?
Has anyone else had this problem with Changelly? Does anyone else receive only 51% of what they send to Changelly? Does Changelly regularly exchange at inflated rates? Is this their normal practice?
