Quote from: Blackout on August 10, 2011, 05:28:19 AM

I am having a hard time figuring out which is the best course of action for US based bitcoin users who want to partake in buying and selling them. I have done some small trading on https://bitmarket.eu which has been fairly successful and it seems they always carry a higher value due to the fact that they in certain instances allow for paypal which is the fastest method, and since you are using paypal privately with other users for any service you are not technically violating paypal terms. This is I suppose what fuels the higher prices.

I have wanted to get on one of the more major trading sites or several of them but Tradehill forces U.S. users to only use paxum which I didn't like the looks of at all nor the ridiculous fees. I am not fond of going to MtGox either as I'm not sure how I feel about the whole hack/rollback scenario. Some say it increased their security but who knows... and how can they just 'rollback' prices I though once bitcoin blocks go they go? But anyway, I'm sure there are a billion other threads on that.

Currently what are U.S. users doing to get money in and out of USD? It seems like an incredible pain in the boot with excessive fees and middlemen no matter how you go.

Dwolla looks like the only other option but I am hearing a lot of bashing on it as well.

Would just like to hear what some of your opinions are and your "workflow" for converting bitcoins to USD and USD to bitcoins.

For instance, I had some extra funds laying around and I wanted to buy a bunch of coins when it hit the recent low, but there was no way for me to do it because of all the delays.. middle men.. and only dwolla or paxum. Or does Mt Gox take direct bank wires in and out? Is that safe? How do American banks respond? How do they respond to dwolla? Paxum looks a bit too creepy for me.

Experiences and workflow, and some sample amounts of trades and fees would be greatly appreciated.

I'm in the same boat - dwolla is filled now got to find the right exchange will be watching this thread!