[PaperclipTaken]

I just yesterday wired Bitfloor over $1000, and they have yet to acknowledge my transaction. The money is gone from my bank and is currently in limbo.

I'm frustrated that they have given so little information out, my recent transaction represents 100% of my disposable income. Perhaps part of the fault is mine, but I thought they were reputable and no warning was given. They are also no longer accepting deposits or acknowledging any in progress deposits.

[tptacek]

Can I ask why you moved 100% of your disposable income to an account at any Bitcoin exchange?

[PaperclipTaken]

Read all the responses. I spent the money because I've been tracking bitcoin for a long time, and I felt confident that I understood the markets. Even if I completely failed as a trader, I should expect to get a fair chunk back. I put in $1200 because as a student it was everything that didn't need to go towards housing.

I expected it to grow very fast. Bitfloor seemed reliable, and many people seemed to be trading on it. I thought it was sound. Even if I lost 100%, I expected the loss to come from my failure as a trader, not from my exchange's failure as a business.

If I do get my money back, I will probably try to join a different bitcoin exchange, though more carefully. I've been trying for almost a month(since btc was about $90 before the crash) and it's incredible how difficult it is to trade bitcoins.

Maybe I'll open my own exchange.

[waterlesscloud]

Can I ask why you'd ask?

[tptacek]

Because that's a surprising decision to make, whether or not it's a good one, and I'm interested in why someone would decide that.

[mcantelon]

It's probably not the first time someone has put all their disposable income into what they think is a time-sensitive investment opportunity.

[mritun]

Yes its not the first time someone had last money on "time sensitive investment opportunities" aka gambling. And yes there are lots of people who do that with 100% of their disposable income. They also usually lose it all.

[mcantelon]

>gambling

What makes it gambling rather than an investment?

[prophetjohn]

It's also possible that the intent was to make a purchase with those bitcoins.

[tptacek]

I totally don't care what he wanted to buy, or to chastise him for his investment decisions; I'm just curious if people are generally moving their money into Bitcoin in an attempt to move "off the grid" financially, or if this was an investment.

[krschultz]

100% fault is your own. Regular online businesses have a hard time operating merchant accounts, much less these kind of sites. Bitcoin is no safer than online poker was in the US (I had a little of my money in Full Tilt, and a lot of 'winnings', and got $0 out of it).

BTC operates in a pretty gray market. The companies involved are not regulated and perhaps violating existing regulations. Mt Gox et al are not ETrade. Any money in BTC should be money you are totally OK with losing.

[foobarqux]

Fulltilt players actually lost their balances?

[krschultz]

I think it depends on what amount of your balance was your own money vs other people's money. My balance on the day the feds shutdown FT was around $500, but I had started out with money my roommate transfered to my account so $0 of it was deposited by me. He had put in $100 originally and his balance on the day FT shutdown as over $1000, and he got nothing back either.

(Edit, after a quick google search, it appears that FT is just now starting the refund process. http://www.pocketfives.com/articles/full-tilt-claims-adminis...)

[waterlesscloud]

Apparently as a Full Tilt user I'm a "fraud" "victim".

Excellent work by my government to protect me on this one.

[mikeyouse]

  Apparently as a Full Tilt user I'm a "fraud" "victim".
  Excellent work by my government to protect me on this one.

You do realize full tilt was a giant ponzi scheme and that the owners looted hundreds of millions of dollars from players' accounts right?[1][2]

But don't let that get in the way of your snarky libertarianism.

[1] http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2011/09/20/full-tilt-p... [2] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732405030457841...

[krschultz]

This is the part a lot of people just don't understand. There are lots of people complaining "When am I going to get my money back!". But they're missing the truth. There is no money. Full Tilt spent it, faked it, never had much of it. It's like the settlement for the Bernie Madoff scheme. You can't claim the peak balance on the fraudulent statement because that money never existed.

[waterlesscloud]

"But don't let that get in the way of your snarky libertarianism." --Snark pot, meet snark kettle.

The most amusing thing in the fraud complaint is what the US Govt alleges as the cause: The US Govt's regulations regarding money transfer into gambling sites.

So yes, job well done, US Govt. Job well done.

"The Amended Complaint further alleges that, in or about the summer of 2010, Full Tilt Poker’s payment processing channels were so disrupted that the company faced increasing difficulty attempting to collect funds from players in the United States. Rather than disclose this fact, Full Tilt Poker simply credited players’ online gambling accounts with money that had never actually been collected from the players’ bank accounts."

[consz]

>Apparently as a Full Tilt user I'm a "fraud" "victim".

Are you saying you knew about the fraud at FT (disqualifying the 'victim' part), or you don't believe they committed fraud?

[jschneier00]

Fulltilt was operating against its license/charter agreement so they had to shutdown once it came to light (they were mixing deposits with operating expenses). Once shut down they couldn't afford to pay everyone back so they were subsequently sold to PokerStars once the DOJ gave their approval of the deal with the condition that Stars pays everyone back. So while the money should be returning to US players soon (FTP is actually open for business again not in the US) it has yet to happen.

[abbott]

Call your bank. There is a small chance you can still cancel the transaction even if the funds have cleared your account.

[rmc]

Talk to your bank? I'm sure they'll know how to get your money back?