Montreal Bitcoin - what you should know about the digital currency?

Online payment methods have long been established as an alternative to transfer, direct debit and credit card billing in online retail. PayPal, Amazon Payments, Skrill and Co. stand out from the classic payment methods - especially with regard to the speed of transaction processing and the simplicity of transnational payments. In addition, online payment services charge much lower fees than banks, especially for smaller transactions. There are also advantages such as buyer and seller protection or the protection of account and credit card data. However, the different payment methods have one thing in common: Every transaction is processed via a central point, be it the bank or the provider of the online payment service.

The Montreal Bitcoin network introduced in 2009 breaks with this basic concept of conventional payment methods and distributes its currency of the same name and the transaction database to all users who are participating and connected to the whole system via a client. Thanks to this decentralized structure, Bitcoin is a currency system without absolute authority, which reserves the right to collect detailed user information and to save and manage it, including all payment transactions, on its own. What - and who - is behind the digital currency, which is becoming increasingly popular as a means of payment? And how and where can you actually pay with bitcoins?

Trade bitcoins: how to get the digital currency

Mining is the source of new bitcoins and a possible way to get bitcoins to buy and sell. You can also get to the digital currency by allowing bitcoins as a means of payment when you offer goods or services for sale. All you need to do is provide the buyer with a Bitcoin address. You can either use the address that is automatically generated when the wallet is installed, or alternatively (any number of) new address codes, which are short forms of the public key. You send the respective address either in the standard form or packed in a QR code. If the buyer has sent the agreed amount of Bitcoin, it usually takes a maximum of ten minutes until you have the digital coins in your account.

Approaches to Buy:

You can also buy bitcoins, whereby there are two possible approaches: You can get bitcoins conveniently and without registration via Bitcoin-Treff. Using the search engine, you can find sellers of the digital coins, arrange a meeting and pay directly on site in the agreed manner. Alternatively, you can also place an ad and tell the web service community that you are looking for coins. The makers of Bitcoin-Treff do not charge a placement fee.

Buying on special Bitcoin marketplaces like Bitcoin.de is much more common. Based on a regularly updated starting value, you can sell or buy bitcoins as a registered user. According to the operator, the marketplace is used by over 260,000 customers across Europe. Payment is made via SEPA transfer; Acquired bitcoins are usually credited to the wallet within one to two days - once the payment is confirmed in the seller's bank account. Users with an account at FIDOR Bank benefit from the advantages of express trading and receive purchased coins immediately. However, the marketplaces charge (different levels) fees for buying or selling. On Bitcoin.de the fee - which sellers and buyers have to pay together - is based, for example, on the number of bitcoins that are traded.