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• Bitstamp (bitstamp.net), a European currency market that supports several currencies including euros (EUR) and US dollars (USD) via wire transfer
• Coinbase (coinbase.com), a US-based bitcoin wallet and platform where merchants and consumers can transact in bitcoin. Coinbase makes it easy to buy and sell bitcoin, allowing users to connect to US checking accounts via the ACH system.
Crypto currency exchanges such as these operate at the intersection of national currencies and crypto currencies. As such, they are subject to national and international regulations and are often specific to a single country or economic area and specialize in the national currencies of that area. Your choice of currency exchange will be specific to the national currency you use and limited to the exchanges that operate within the legal jurisdiction of your country. Similar to opening a bank account, it takes several days or weeks to set up the necessary accounts with the above services because they require various forms of identification to comply with KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) banking regulations. Once you have an account on a bitcoin exchange, you can then buy or sell bitcoins quickly just as you could with foreign currency with a brokerage account.
A more complete list can be found at http://bitcoincharts.com/markets/, a site that offers price quotes and other market data across many dozens of currency exchanges.
There are three other methods for getting bitcoins as a new user:
• Find a friend who has bitcoins and buy some from them directly. Many bitcoin users started this way.
• Use a classified service like local bitcoins.com to find a seller in your area to buy bitcoins for cash in an in-person transaction.
• Sell a product or service for bitcoin. If you're a programmer, sell your programming skills. If you have an online store, see (to come) to sell in bitcoin.
• Use a bitcoin ATM in your city. A map of bitcoin ATM s can be found at http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-atm-map/
Alice was introduced to bitcoin by a friend and so she has an easy way of getting her first bitcoin while she waits for her account on a California currency market to be verified and activated.