I am an American, living here in Cebu City for over 5 years now. Luckily, after verifying my identification, I was able to link my Bank of America account to Coinbase, and buy at market price +fees.
A lot of my money is here in the Philippines, and recently when I wanted to buy bitcoin, I was contemplating exchanging Pesos to USD, then wiring the USD to my US account... From there, to Coinbase to buy bitcoin. All said and done, with the exchange rates, wire transfer fees, and then paying Coinbase' fees; What a hassle.
So after some research, I decided to give Localbitcoins a shot. Did you know, that if you buy online through their site, they hold the sellers bitcoins in escrow, until both parties are satisfied with the transaction?
__Step 1.) Create an account on https://localbitcoins.com/
__Step 2.) Find an online seller in your country
__Step 3.) Choose the amount of bitcoin you want to buy
__Step 4.) Read sellers Terms of Trade
__Step 5.) Open trade request (For the entire trade, only communicate through here. Never, text the person offline even when they have their phone number listed). All communication done on this site is recorded and saved for your protection.
__Step 6.) Make sure you take a photo of the deposit slip and upload this, in your trade communication window.
__Step 7.) After you send the money according to the sellers directions, click on 'Payment Complete'.
__Step 8.) Wait for your bitcoins to show up in your localbitcoins wallet. From here, you can send the bitcoins anywhere.
If there is ever a discrepancy, and you followed through with your end of the bargain, localbitcoins will still send you the bitcoins, as they are held in escrow for you.
If you are satisfied with the service you received, please always leave a positive comment on the sellers account. This helps the seller maintain his integrity, and provides him more business in the future.!
I appreciate any comments or questions you may have about this process.
_Rob
coins.ph would be a more convinient alternative than localbitcoins.
you can fund you coinsph wallet via bank deposits or through 7eleven shops.
I don't think its more convenient.
Localbitcoins you can do bank transfers to the seller.
CoinsPH has a 2,000 peso limit until you are verified, and then it's still only 50,000
And with local bitcoin, you deal directly with the seller. No middle man, except to hold escrow.
i see, it wont be convinient if you have issues with verification
Very helpful post. Thank you for this!
I'll keep an eye for more interesting post.
That is nice for someone abroad. A few more steps, but if you can cut down on transaction fees, it's probably worth it.
If I can suggest something to you, check out Control-Finance. I've been with them a few days. They're a bitcoin investment program. Do some research and decide if it's the right thing for you. They payout a daily percentage of you deposit in bitcoin. The deposit is non-refundable but the payments are continuous. Sorry, about the shill, but I'm trying to spread the word. Again, be sure to look into it. Here's my referral link and to see what the website is all about: https://control-finance.com/?ref=LongStockSilver . Also, if you have any questions, let me know.
Have fun in the Philippines and investing in crypto!
Thanks, I already have a bit in CF :)
I appreciate your comment!
Nice article. Thanks for being an advocate of bitcoins here in the Philippines.
You can also visit my article regarding making money through bitcoins and Coins.ph
https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@rigormortiz/earn-money-through-bitcoins-philippines