Withdraw to bank account via SEPA transfer(europe):
A way back to fiat:
After being around crypto for quite a bit maybe you thought about withdrawing some money back to fiat, this could be some profit you've got from successful trading crypto, maybe it was a post on steemit or mining revenue which is my case.
For me the usual way back to fiat is via a bitcoin debit card, I got one from wirex(previously E-coin) about two years ago, I have to say I am very happy with the service they provide, I got one of the physical visa card and never ran into a problem paying over the counter or even online. It is a fast easy way out, you just send bitcoin to your wirex account then wait for your bitcoin transaction to confirm(which is be the longest part right now), once this is done you can simply load you bitcoin to your card, the process is instantaneously. It is by fare the fastest way I have found to get from BTC to EUR but there is a cost.
Transaction cost:
Firstly wirex takes a monthly fees for SMS notification which is not optional this cost about 1 EUR/per card/per month.
There is also some fees for ATM withdraw and paying in a different currency.
The cost of a virtual card is $3 and $17 for a physical one (You can find all fees listed on their website at https://wirexapp.com/cards/)
But the highest cost is when you are loading your card, when converting bitcoin to euro for example they use their conversion rate which includes their commission. At the time of writing 1 BTC = 2171€ on their application but is around 2257€ on coinmarketcap.com, this is between 4-5% commission.
I think the commission (and overall cost) is a little bit too high at the moment so I decided to look for some cheaper alternatives.
SEPA transfer into crypto:
My only gateway(beside cash) into cryptocurrency is actually using my traditional bank account and a bitcoin exchange. I am using kraken.com as my default exchange to crypto because I can send direct SEPA transfer to their fiat account and they will credit my kraken online account where I will be able to convert EUR to cryptocurrency.
The process if very simple and the money is credited within 1-2 business days. In order to sent money to kraken, there are a few things you have to be careful with like the name of the kraken account needs to match with the name on your bank account and you have to use the reference(identifier) and include it in every transactions otherwise your funds will be frozen. I made this mistake once and I had to contact the customer support to get my funds credited, they are very professional and resolved the issue in a matter of days.
I have only been using kraken.com to get into crypto but this week I wanted to withdraw some profits from my mining operations but didn't want to load it to my debit card due to fees, that is when it hit me, I could try using kraken the other way around and send a SEPA transfer to my bank account.
Kraken.com to bank account via SEPA:
Kraken.com support a wide range of cryptocurrency including BTC, Tether USD, Ripple, LTC, Doge, DASH, ETH,ETC and a few more, they are expending this list every year, unfortunately they don't support BTS or STEEM yet so you would have to convert to another of those crypto to withdraw your steem profit.
So my first step to withdraw to fiat was to send the DASH I mined to kraken.com
then I needed to trade those DASH to EUR and finally start the withdrawing process.
Kraken.com does take a fee for SEPA transfer of about 0.09€ regardless of amount which is a lot cheaper then loading to a debit card, I completed the withdraw procedure today and will edit this post when I get my funds credited on my bank account. I expect the funds to arrive between Saturday and Monday which equals 2-3 business days.
Edit on Friday 30/06/17:
I just received my funds this morning, the SEPA transfer took less than 24hours to complete(1 business day) so now I know I need less than 24 hours to cash out any cryptocurrency at a reasonable price of 0.09€ per SEPA transfer.I will keep you updated, until then have a good day.
I'm using kraken aswell. Took a little time to get the verification started but afterwards it's imho the best exchange there is if you want to turn back into Euro.
If I really want to buy some coins fast with fiat Kraken seems to lack the opportunity to have some instant payment methods. But the other way around it doesn't matter if your fiat is on your bank account today or tomorrow since there are no big fluctuations with the value of Euro. (At least not as big as in crypto).
How long did the verification take?
For me I guess around half a week which was really decent but is still much longer than e.g. Bitfinex where you don't have to get verified at all if you're just interested in trading with crypto.
I've read from others that it can even take some weeks when it's really busy because a lot of new people are signing up.
Yes I think mine was over a week but as you said once it is done and everything is setup you don't have any problems and their customer service is pretty good.
Yes fluctuations is not a problem with euro and the delay for SEPA transfer is very good for the price you pay for compare to debit cards.
Yup. Another plus (at least if you're living in Germany) is that you can easily transfer a log of every transaction made by kraken to https://cointracking.info/.
There you can a) get a nice overview for your coins and b) get a list of all transactions with the profit you made (differentiated by <1 year hodling and >1 year hodling because that makes a difference here in Germany) for tax purposes.
I just looked at the site, it looks very powerful I will definitely bookmark it for later use. Thanks for the tip!
Nice. It's been the reverse for me i've been having trouble exchanging fiat for crypto.
I guess it does depend a lot on the country, I find it very easy around europe via bank transfer or via cash on site like localbitcoin.
I've tried localbitcoins. I guess it depends on the amount. I can't seem to find any available purchases over $10,000 and the ones I do, I'd be overpaying for BTC by like $500.
That is also a problem, I have realized that cash transaction on localbitcoin are priced higher which is kind of a shame. Probably for transactions over a few thousand dollars might be easier via bank transfer after you got your account verify(otherwise limit are very low).
hey walter, thanks for the advice! this is actually pretty useful for me since i'm about to make my first venture into crypto investments.
4-5% certainly is a bit high, and it's similar to BTC atm machines. i suppose the convenience comes at a cost!
Wow I didn't knew about SEPA seems good for me to use.
Thanks @walterjay for posting this.
Hey @walterjay I need your help!
I've nominated my Mom for steem Guilds can you please Support her by upvoting my nomination Comment I would be really grateful to you. Here is the link
https://steemit.com/steemvoter/@steemvoter/steemvoter-guild-nominate-a-friend-for-the-guild-vote-sunday-july-2#@tech-trends/re-steemvoter-steemvoter-guild-nominate-a-friend-for-the-guild-vote-sunday-july-2-20170702t130419421z
@walterjay I stopped by to say Hi and wishing you good health and joyful living!
I see you haven't posted in a while, thanks for the recent upvote - have you read my "Open Letter To Steem and EOS Programmers and Application developers"?
I value your experience with steemit and would like your thoughts about these important issues.
Thanks Walter.
Hey Ron, thanks for stopping by, I have been really busy this month so I didn't take the time to write a post lately but I am still reading and voting on steemit, I will resume posting soon.
I haven't read the post you mentioned but I will read it this evening and let you know my thoughts on the matter.
@walterjay I'm glad you are well and hope you are enjoying your work.
John @johngentry said these types of open discussions have almost died recently as most programmers and execs rarely post? if I'm interpreting him correctly.
My wish is for these important issues to be discussed more frequently to educate the steemit members because ultimately I think the mass awareness, or the lack of it, will determine the outcome of blockchain tech., financial and internet freedom.
I look forward to your comments, cheers!
Nice article ,very helpful I'll try.
I have heard there are many new cards available now, and low cost, are you still using this one? BTW< I have written 24 novels, and I understand you are also writing, if I can ever be of help to you, please let me know.
Thank you for stopping by, I am currently using wirex until my cards expires which is next year but I will look into all those new cards before renewing. As for the writing it is more of a hobby I am trying to start and get better at so thanks for the offer.
I understand, I started writing as way to pass the time when the real estate market crashed 11 years ago, and it has resulted in 24 international best sellers since then, so you never know what might happen with that hobby of yours, just saying, my friend. Steem on