Seems there is no other option still.

I came in with heavy deposits and lost big using blocktrades - approximately 400 dollars on every single deposit just because they wanted a few extra dollars using wrong price quotes.

I could have transfered the same 10 bitcoins to Poloniex (a reputable exchange at the time) and then to Stemint, but that would have only allowed $2000 dollars per 24 hour period and I as powering up fast. I put in over $400k in within a couple weeks. Not a chance to get that kind of money into Steemit fast and fight the good fight via any other method except elbow-deep-in-my-as- blocktrades.

Here I am again. It seems that Blocktrades has decided to quote within forty cents of the real figures for some coins that I have checked (not 20 dollars off on each as before.) morre info on lack of optoins in a bit.

Now there is a new danger.

I have written once about this an I will write about it again and again.

Steem connect routinely asks for your owner key.

I have never eve used my owner private key except the 1st day that I signed up.

You need your owner key for only 3 things:

• Day one, to get your positng and active keys
• In case someone gets your posting or active key - to change those
• in case of a bad hard disk - to recover your account.
  these are similar reasons to use any private key for any real crypto currnecy.

Choose "manual transfer" until they stop this none-sense!

Yes. Blocktrades is offering to accept your owner key as if a fee isn't good enough to stay in business, No, as if a fee and a quote well biased to their side isn't enough to stay in business. No, they need your main, active or owner key to make a trade "easier for you". I think I can handle a destination and and amount and a memo to do my transfer, the same as I would for @booster or to pay someone in Steem.

Steem Connect and Steem related sites such as DTube

Have both asked me for my owner private key and I have never entered it.
I have written about it. Since then, there is an option to enter and active key, giving anyone who intercepts the key the ability to empty my Steem, SP and SBD as easily as I can.

This is not right nor acceptable

Any one key and your Steem is gone.

The downfall of crypto comes...

When sites just ask for the top level private key and people paste it in.

Just simply asking for the key which allows your money to be taken is criminal!

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Exchanges...

Here is a run down on options if you are invested in Steem or SBD :

There is the six month wait to have a deposit credited to Poloniex, if you have a problem ticket open.

The Government boot on the neck of bittrex to get my documentation and they will not let you take out any money till you give it up.

Lots of new scammy / referral linkish new exchanges that want your crypto. Shapeshift has Steem and SBC on Temporarily Disabled for over a year - Thanks Erik Voorheese
Changelly was open today but Blocktrades beeth them Current Steem $3.33, BlockTrades $3.03 (minus fees) and Changelly $2.92 I was actually shocked to see Steem on the list as my steem has been locked in a brokent gateway for over two months, I have been looking for a place to change a little steem out.

Then most sadly. Bitshares let me watch as bitcoin hit 19k and go back to 7k and up again near 10k while my Steem and SBD deposits were stuck in some heavy duty gateway maintenance thing. They were open when I made the deposit!!

The lack of any reliable exchanges to deposit or withdraw steem/SBC (waiting over two month s for a broken gateway on bitshares with a snyde remark in the support ticket which has been closed over and over as if solved, though my money has not arrived in the exchange. I bit my tongue for over two months now. And I am finally, sadly, speaking out.

Hi Htooms,
Please read this article https://blog.openledger.info/2017/12/18/openledger-official-web-sites-get-updates-by-the-first/
As you know the STEEM and SBD gateways are under maintenance https://blog.openledger.info/2017/12/29/golosgbg-steemsbd-gateways-are-temporarily-disabled/ since 29.12.2017

Your funds are already at r8tvw3-d940-df6jzent-6q23gjds and b6z6q9-d940-4p0d0jqj-63n4hpvv, but you will be able to see them only when gate will be opened. So you just need to wait.

Dated January 24th, 2018

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Oh how I really wanted bitshares to be the solution

I really wanted this to be the place that takes off as more and more .com exchanges get hacked. Most sites are disabling Steem and SBD. Other sites have no history. They are way to new to consider using.

So here are our choices.. and the problems with each

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1 Upbit : Too new to trust
2 Bittrex : Government Forcing all to submit Documentation
3 Binance : Too new to trust
4 Upbit : Too new to trust
5 Poloniex : Not trustwrothy. Holds deposits for six months at times.
6 Binance : Too new to trust
7 Binance : Too new to trust
8 OpenLedger : Deposit gateways have been closed for over two months
9 Poloniex : Not trustwrothy. Holds deposits for six months at times.
11 OpenLedger : Deposit gateways have been closed for over two months
12 OpenLedger : Deposit gateways have been closed for over two months
13 OpenLedger : Deposit gateways have been closed for over two months
14 Shapeshift: Steem temporarily disabled since I joined Steemit
15 Changelly: Steem temporarily disabled since a month after I joined Steemit

Edit: Changelly is up but paying way less than blocktrades today.

Sad state of affairs.
Please steer around any site that asks for "main" or "owner" keys.
Don't give anyone access to your (pick one)coin private keys either.

--
Thanks for taking time...

Remember. Your job is to make sure people know that simply putting it "on the blockchain" does NOT mean that it is on the Bitcoin (or another reliable decentralized) blockchain.

No longer posting my Open Lendger or Bitshares link. I will be un-boarding one trader per month - halting any new on-boarding until the gateways for deposits are fixed. I have 50 traders that were buying bitUSD from me via bitshares- 6 to 10 of traders per month. and they will all go back to Dash and Ethereum purchases.