Bitcoin Center Korea in Itaewon hosts a bitcoin ATM where people can exchange cash for bitcoin or vise-versa. They also help people send money through the Bitcoin network which is often times faster and cheaper than traditional banks or money transmitters.
Oftentimes they will hold open houses for people interested in Bitcoin to come and learn more. They also invite developers in the cryptocurrency community to come and speak. Check out their website for upcoming events. Until then here’s a little FAQ that will answer a few questions about what exactly Bitcoin is and isn’t.
Q: What is Bitcoin?
Put very simply it is a new form of money that works extremely well on the Internet.
Q: So it’s a “virtual currency”?
No. Virtual currencies are generally tokens issued by a company for near-exclusive use on their site. Examples include loyalty or gift cards, air miles or mobile phone top-ups.
Bitcoin is a general purpose digital currency. It is programmable money.
Nothing like Bitcoin has ever existed before.
Q: How much would a transaction cost me?
Bitcoin fees depend on the size of the data to be stored not the magnitude of the transaction involved. A simple transaction should cost about $0.02.
Q: So that would make it easy to send money abroad?
Yes. Currently many services offering international remittances charge the person sending money home to their family significant amounts. Bitcoin greatly reduces this.
With Bitcoin an international remittance is as easy as sending an email.
Q: So the Bitcoin community owns it?
In a sense. It is not owned or controlled by any organisation. There is no government or corporation backing it. It is not patented or copyrighted.
Regardless, it now being used by millions of people all over the world to conduct transactions. These people are the Bitcoin community
Q: So can I send money to anyone on the Internet – not just via special websites?
Yes. You don’t even have to know who they are. Also they don’t have to be connected to the Internet to receive bitcoins.
Q: So I have more than one Bitcoin address?
Yes. The most private way to use Bitcoin is to never re-use an address. Your Bitcoin wallet will take care of this for you.
Q: And where do I get this wallet software?
Bitcoin is available for everyone. You can find Bitcoin wallets for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone and pretty much everything else.
Q: So it’s completely anonymous?
No. It is possible for someone with significant dedicated resources (governments, police agencies etc) to track your transactions by examining the public block chain.
Overall, its anonymity is much closer to cash than to a credit card.
Q: What’s the “block chain”?
It is the large database that contains all the transactions ever made using Bitcoin. New transactions are gathered up into a group called a block. Each new block references the one before forming a chain.
Bitcoin may be King of Cryptocurrency but there are others nipping at its heels. Some of the top alt coins that exist include Ethereum, Ripple, Monero, as well as coins that have forked from Bitcoin like Bitcoin Cash, and Bitcoin Diamond. I’ve been focusing on smaller cryptos with a low market cap value but show promise in their founders and the aim of the coin.
I have also joined up with the Bitconnect Site. Bitconnect is an exchange platform where you use bitcoin to buy bitconnect coins. Then you can loan those coins back to the bitconnect platform. They will pay you an interest rate per day based on the amount you lend. If you reinvest that interest it will slowly build up over the course of time your principal amount invested is locked in. After that time elapses you can withdraw everything out or if you don’t reinvest you can withdraw the interest earned out daily.
If you want to know more about Bitconnect sign up here with my affiliate link. Of course with all things involved with investing be wary and know that you have the potential to lose everything you have invested.
Directions: Out Itaewon Station Exit 2, take the first left up the hill next to the Hamilton Hotel (8.2)*. At the T-intersection, turn right. The Bitcoin Center is located just on the right.
Also check out this piece over on Bitcoin about the trials and tribulations of two Actors trying to live on nothing but bitcoin in San Francisco and Seoul: BitCoin News South Korea vs USA
Interesting that this center exists in Itaewon. Especially considering that Itaewon is such an international neighborhood and bitcoin is an international currency. I’ve been hearing a lot about it lately, as has everyone else. I’m withholding judgement for the time being to see how it all pans out
I’ve been investing only since October but it’s been a steep learning curve!
How interesting! A Bitcoin ATM, does that mean it’ll only operate with Bitcoins or will top currencies will also be available? Very, very thought provoking as I only know of a single bar in Daejeon that (allegedly) accepts Bitcoins. So does that mean, you’re in on the game? Have you invested in any of the currencies?
I think their Bitcoin atm is down at the moment. I’ve been in the crypto game for a few months now. I’m mostly into smaller alt coins hoping they will reap huge benefits later!