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What personal information do you have to provide to buy bitcoins in the UK via a bank transfer?

I recently created a wallet on bitbargain.co.uk with the intention of buying my first bitcoins. I verified my phone number and entered my address details, however after this the website asked me to upload a photo of my passport or drivers license, a photo of me with my passport or drivers license, and a copy of a bank statement or utility bill with my address on it.

Is it usual for a website to ask for this information to buy bitcoins? Are there any other sites where you buy bitcoins via a UK bank transfer or credit card payment without having to disclose this information?

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Policies will depend upon the exchange itself and setting up an account can take a good long while.

Some exchanges ask for less information, but I'd recommend being careful with using them. There have been some scams that have cost people large amounts of money.

Usually, exchanges want all of the information so they can increase security. As Bitcoins that are lost or stolen are nearly impossible to recover, exchanges want your personal contact information incase any legal problems come up. IE, you decide to run a scam yourself.

I'm pretty sure Mt. Gox has changed its policies. You now have to provide government issued ID to set up an account on Mt. Gox

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Yes that sounds a bit harsh, but it is not abnormal for exchanges to request such information. Mt. Gox does this for example, but only if you want to increase you bitcoin flow through the exchange (i.e. a verified account or trusted account). According to the bitcoin wiki you can use Mt. Gox without any personal verification (except for an email address of course), but this imposes a monthly $1000 withdrawal limit and a monthly $10000 exchange limit. For most normal users this should be sufficient. Also be wary for any sites requesting a photocopy of your identification papers, as they could use it for identity theft. Make sure that you only upload such information to trusted parties!

PS. Please use some proper interpunction in your question, makes it a lot better to read!

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All exchanges require detailed address and identity information. In the U.K., the two exchanges are BitBargain and LocalBitcoins. Both have the same policy.

My experience is that Bitcoin exchanges have the same or higher standards as do banks.

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