I'm US based and a site I use in the UK recently started accepting bitcoin and I figured it was time I dug in and learned to use this currency that many of my friends love. Years ago when bit coin could be meaningfully mined a friend told me to get into it. I didn't. He did. He did quite well.

I figured I would make this purchase.

I read some FAQs and figured I had a handle on it. I started here. Installed a wallet on my PC. BitPay and Electrum were both pretty straightforward. Then I went to buy bitcoin.

Holy impossible Batman.

I started at Circle. Realized after a bit that they don't seem to actually sell bitcoin anymore.

I then went to Coinbase. Coinbase took debit cards. Ok great. I put in my debit card info. Needed my address. Failed. Failed. Locked me out. Fine.

Went to Cex.io. They promised to have me up and running in a few minutes. Put my debit card info in. Then they needed a picture of me, my card, my ID, etc. Ok…this seemed like a hard pause.

The site I use in the UK takes bitcoin or E-Check. I didn't want to expose my checking account info so that was why I was leaning toward bitoin.

A friend who loves bitcoin recommended local coin. Looked like a lot of coin payment options, but in person cash seemed like the most reliable. I hit up two people and both proved nearly impossible to meet up with.

A week passed, but I was determined. I went back to Coinbase. They now approved my address. Yay! Now I needed to verify two charges on my account. Ok. Wait two days. Nothing. Try again. Nothing. Try again. Finally. I'm approved. I need $200 of bitcoin. $100 limit? Crap. Ok now I'm pissed. I put in my checking account. $2500 limit. Great. I initiated my order on the UK site and went to purchase. Placed my order and…Coinbase told me it would be 8 days before I got my coin…at the current price. In 8 days bitcoin could be worth the $200 I paid or $250 or $150. Who dreamed this up?

Really pissed I went back to Cex.io and gave them my driver's license, front and back of my card, and a selfie. I waited for approval. Rejected. They need a photo of my passport. No fucking way.

I immediately paid by e-check.

Bitcoin might be theoretically awesome, but as a somewhat technically savvy newcomer it is way too much hassle for far too little utility. I give up.