Voat PayPal account has been permanently limited (announcements)

submitted ago by Atko

The reason given was "Under the Acceptable Use Policy, PayPal may not be used to send or receive payments for certain sexually oriented materials or services or for items that could be considered obscene". This is wrong/false on so many levels. We used PayPal only as a means to receive voluntary donations from people who wanted to support further development of Voat and to help pay for our hosting fees. This is beyond crazy.

According to PayPal User Agreement, our funds can be kept by PayPal for 180 days. I requested further clarification from PayPal, but I would like to advise everyone who planned to donate to Voat - to NOT do so via PayPal.

Honestly, I don't know what I expected when I trusted PayPal with our donation money. I apologize to everyone who donated to us through PayPal and I will badge everyone who did so even if the funds are never released by PayPal.

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Spank_My_Bottom ago

What donation platform do you prefer now? Bitcoin? Patreon? Wireless transfer?

~~~~~~~~~~

Edit: I had researched and set up Bitcoin Wallet and sent some funds to it, they will be all donated to Voat. I encourage the rest of the users to do the same.

Nevertheless, many people will not be willing to go through that hassle, voat should consider setting up their own credit card gate or allow people to send money via SOPA transaction.

Frakir ago

There are several other options, some more stupid then others:

-Western Union (really...)

-Direct deposit to voat bank account

-Kickstarter

Can someone more versed in banking elaborate on ups/downs of these?

Tallest9 ago

Patreon already denied 8chan several times on technicality. I wouldn't trust it.

derram ago

A Patreon account will fall in the same way, we're literally watching what happened to 8chan all over again.

This has become a battle for the internet and not just a squabble over a single site.

Free speech is dying on the internet.

Skanda ago

Bitcoin is the answer.

Nobody can arbitrarily decide to "limit your Bitcoin wallet".

It's technically impossible.

SilverBanana ago

On the other hand, the bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fluctuate even more than rest of FX market and there is certain hustle and expenses in transfering the funds to state currency.

KoKansei ago

Bitcoin has actually been very stable for the last 6 weeks or so. Volatility will work itself out as the network grows.

tesselate ago

Even longer than that. Since mid-March, we've only had a 10% fluctuation, which in bitcoinland is considered stable.

rocket-surgeon ago

Yeah, it is still not as mainstreamed as Stripe or PayPal but it is progressing. Most of the hustle related to accepting bitcoin payments and receiving fiat in your bank account has been automated some time ago (Bitpay, Coinbase). Certain online wallets also provide a fiat-value lock so that your balance in € does not fluctuate, for example Bitreserve.

While certain 'enthusiastic proponents' may claim using Bitcoin is almost completely free, there are definitely costs associated before you get the fiat in your bank account, although these seem competitive with PayPal or other services.

All in all, voat.co's use case is argueably a pretty good fit for BTC as primary channel for payments.

Reddit_Exodus ago

Fluctuation doesn't matter if you just buy it and immediately transfer. As long as you can immediately go Paper->Bitcoin->Paper only a few cents will be lost in transfer fees.

Wmb102er ago

Certainly less than credit card fees.

SilverBanana ago

No buying or selling is really immediate, I wonder just how volatile can the whole ordeal be. Maybe I am overstating the effect since we are not talking millions here, more like ten of thousands dollars if all goes well.

Reddit_Exodus ago

I have used crypto currencies before. They do not change within half an hour.

SilverBanana ago

True, and there are even bitcoin derivatives now!

Reddit_Exodus ago

I was in the dogecoin hype train. Sold out before it crashed. Bought a few games. Won out in the end.

SilverBanana ago

Voat should still accept dogecoin. It is valid cryptocurrency.

Reddit_Exodus ago

I also think it is much more stable now. Only fluctuates a few BTC per day and usually the average stays the same.

Skanda ago

They can sell them for USD immediately if they don't like BTC's volatility. Yes, it's a little bit more complicated for those who aren't used to it, but we have to overcome that laziness or we will have to submit to PayPal's whims forever.

nikopol ago

*Euros

Rummel ago

BTC has been the least volatile it's been for months now. That can change of course, but I trade bitcoin and the volatility is at a low.

BashCo ago

There's a good chance they can be spent directly towards server costs too.

HappyCoffee ago

I would think Bitcoin is probably the surest way to make sure it actually arrives...

arijitdas ago

how to convert bitcoins to currency notes... is there any bank available?

Caprinicus ago

You are looking for an exchange, and there are a ton of them.

SpaceMonkey ago

I don't think most people know or are willing to know how to use bitcoin. Maybe there should be a brief simple explanation on the site on how to donate via bitcoin.

Vinegar ago

Bitcoin can be pretty intimidating at first, but it's actually fairly simple once you've gotten your feet wet.

The first step to using Bitcoin is to set up a wallet on your PC or smartphone. This link contains a small compilation of several excellent wallets, although my personal recommendation for a beginner would be either electrum or multi-bit. Another viable option is to store your Bitcoin in an online wallet such as Coinbase or Circle.

The second step of the process is actually obtaining the Bitcoins to fill your wallet. This link provides a variety of ways to buy Bitcoins, but since you're starting from scratch you are, in my opinion, best off getting your feet wet by using either Coinbase or Circle. You will need to register for these services using your real information and link a US checking account in order to conduct money transfers. It's important to remember at this step that you're not buying a product or service, you're exchanging currencies and therefore the process is a little less welcoming than simply hopping on Amazon. For a beginner I wouldn't recommend starting out with more than $50 worth of Bitcoin as that will be plenty for you to play around with and get your feet wet, but isn't going to break the bank in the unlikely scenario that you somehow lose your Bitcoins. Once you've either bought Bitcoins directly from Coinbase, or Circle, or used an actual exchange or some other means to acquire Bitcoins they will be deposited into your Bitcoin wallet.

And finally we have the easiest, and most fun step. Spending Bitcoins! It's as simple as entering an address, just like a postal address, or email address, in this case 1C4Q1RvUb3bzk4aaLVgGccnSnaHYFdESzY is the Bitcoin address for Voat. All you need to do is double check the number of Bitcoin you'd like to donate is correct, and quadruple check that the address is correct, click send, and the transaction will be finished.

Once you've played around with a small quantity of Bitcoin you should do some more extensive research into the benefits and disadvantages of different wallets, exchanges, and other Bitcoin Services. Research some of the disasters that have already occurred during Bitcoin's short history such as Mt.Gox and make sure you have a strong understanding of how to protect your coins. Have fun, be careful, get in early! ;)

binky ago

What scares me about bitcoin is that I suck at keeping dynamic data. I have backups of stuff from years ago but I'm always dropping my laptop, unplugging a hard drive, or having PANDA ANTIVIRUS BREAK MY ENCRYPTED HARD DRIVE WITH A WORKING. 80. MOD. SKYRIM. CONFIGURATION.

Sorry. As I was saying, I suck at keeping dynamic data. I do not want to bet a large sum of money that I'll always have a particular file that changes all the time. And I've never had an internet connection fast enough to do a backup in a reasonable amount of time.

AlLnAtuRalX ago

What you want to do is set up a hierarchical deterministic (HD) wallet. This wallet has a master seed of English words that can be used to recover the wallet at any time, no other backups necessary. Electrum is an example of such a wallet, though it has some privacy tradeoffs as it's SPV (if you care about the NSA tracking your transactions, check the implications of this). Most BTC wallets these days are HD wallets by default, except some online wallets that control your keys (a la Coinbase, Circle, blockchain.info), and some older wallets that haven't yet upgraded (Bitcoin Core and old versions of Mycelium come to mind).

When you first create such a wallet, all you need to do is write down the 18 English words they give you and store them somewhere safe. As long as you never lose that word list, you will always have access to all the money in your wallet. Conversely, if someone steals it, they can steal all your money. Just like cash.

DashFerLev ago

I think that if there was a simple how-to and a donate button it would streamline everything.

I have no idea how to bitcoin, but if it was just a matter of clicking a link, paying bitcoin, ????, and voat gets like $10 I'd donate.

DungeonMaster ago

https://www.circle.com/en

easy as fuck

raisin ago

Never used Bitcoin before but this sounds interesting. Sorry if that's a dumb question, but would it work with Canadian banks/Canadian dollars, or is it strictly US?

DungeonMaster ago

No clue, im not from canada, but I dont see why it wouldnt. Its such a BADASS website, its really well made, it will tell you right away if it does or doesnt im sure

raisin ago

Alright, thank you. I will give it a try today.

DungeonMaster ago

Test it out by donating to voat ;)

De1WvO3Ndc8jTldFhaA6 ago

It's very simple, IF you believe in want to advocate for free speech, you HAVE TO look into Bitcoin, you owe it to yourself. If you are not prepared to overcome the small hurdle of learning about a new technology, than I don't want to hear any complaints about censorship or paypal freezing accounts.

Bitcoin works, Bitcoin cannot be censored. Learn about it, use it.

Teh_Sauce_Guy ago

I have tried several times to learn how it works. I simply can't.

m-p-3 ago

And some banks in Canada make it afwully hard to send money to Bitcoin exchanges..

woofcat ago

canadianbitcoins.com has served me well a few times. They take Interac online without issue.

sgtkeel ago

While I'm online for work most of the day, and I try to keep track of many things, but bitcoin has slipped through the cracks for me. If I had an ELI5 with some good visuals or references, I'd definitely give it a shot. Even if the only thing I use it for is to donate to voat.

Ascisco ago

This might help

https://www.bitconsultants.org/btcbasics

DungeonMaster ago

https://www.circle.com/en

easy as fuck

sgtkeel ago

Will check this out, too. Thank you.

DungeonMaster ago

Test it out by donating to voat ;)

sgtkeel ago

Trust me, I will. I'm more than happy to contribute to a good cause. PayPal can suck it, they won't get my business anymore.

DungeonMaster ago

Make SURE you go and CLOSE your paypal account. Just stopping using them doesnt give them the message. CLOSING your account is the only way the big wigs at the top will ever take notice.

sgtkeel ago

Nice visuals and reference material, thanks @Spank_My_Bottom!

Stoic ago

Many people that would otherwise donate will find having to get into bitcoin just to give a little bit of money too much of a hassle. There should be an easier alternative.

De1WvO3Ndc8jTldFhaA6 ago

It's very simple, IF you believe in free speech, you HAVE TO look into Bitcoin, you owe it to yourself. If you are not prepared to overcome the small hurdle of learning about a new technology, than I don't want to hear any complaints about censorship or paypal freezing accounts.

Bitcoin works, Bitcoin cannot be censored. Learn about it, use it.

pilgrimboy14 ago

Someone should, if they haven't already, create an easy cash to Bitcoin site. I have no desire to learn the ins-and-outs of Bitcoin.

DarthYoda ago

just download an app like mycelium or breadwallet, then you can do anything you need. It is designed so a child can use it so it's not hard to figure out. You just have to get some btc, buy some from circle or get tipped from changetip

pilgrimboy14 ago

That may sound simple to you. It sounds like something I don't want to figure out to me. I have to figure out a new app and another website.

edited to be a little more constructive: What I would like is a site where I can say "I want to send $20 worth of bitcoins to this guy." And it does that. I just use my credit card without learning bitcoins.

AlLnAtuRalX ago

Are you in the US?

https://www.circle.com

https://www.coinbase.com/

https://www.gocelery.com/

all do exactly what you're looking for.

pilgrimboy14 ago

Thanks. Then my the problem I thought I had is nonexistent.

Guerilla ago

Bitcoin is probably the surest way to make sure it actually arrives but not many people will go through the process of making bitcoin and donating it to the site. We need a more stable and easy to use platform, maybe even a build in site feature where you can directly donate using your credit card.

HappyCoffee ago

I would have thought most people would just buy the bitcoin on an exchange and send it rather than try to make it themselves.

It's an inconvenience, for sure, but at least nobody can suspend a bitcoin wallet.

De1WvO3Ndc8jTldFhaA6 ago

It just shows you how much misunderstanding there is about BTC, even here.

If find that dissonance absolutely remarkable on a platform like voat.

glugglug ago

The US government has seized several bitcoin exchanges.

01 ago

Source?

Seriously, this would be pretty big news if true. The most the US government did was seize 25 million USD from mtgox' US accounts in 2013. You might also be confusing it with the shutdown of Silkroad, but that was a marketplace (think ebay) not an exchange.

deadbeef ago

If somebody seizes an exchange and all the wallets they host then yes, the bitcoins in those wallets are probably lost to you.

But you should not be keeping bitcoins in wallets that a third party is privy to. Any bitcoins you are storing should be kept in private wallet(s) on computers that are in your physical possession. You should only be using wallets hosted elsewhere when you are moving funds. This is Bitcoin 101.