Bitcoin Forum

Hey guys, I've got some money sitting in a savings account making low monthly interest (well below 2%) so I thought I'd invest in some bitcoins instead  :)



I remember hearing about Bitcoin when it was first released and loved the idea but didn't have the funds to play around with it back then...Now I do. Anyway, I already have a long time friend who is in the bitcoin buying/selling/trading "game" and that is really all I am interested in as well. He strategy is something like this;

1) He buys bitcoins on Circle (from a U.S VISA debt card tied to U.S Bank account) when price is low

2) Holds on to them until price rises (from Circle, he transfers them to a wallet on his local PC for storage, Electrum)

3) After price goes up, he sells them on Localbitcoins

4) For example, in November he bought 5 when price was ~$280....Sold them yesterday for ~$420 each ($700 USD profit in 30 days)



He pays very little sending/receiving/converting fees along the way and everything is almost instant he says, and relatively safe. Any thing wrong with the above? Any better suggestions?

I'm not a U.S citizen but I do have a U.S based bank account and debt card so only want to buy them with USD funds I have on there...No paypal/gift cards/etc. No dealing with chargebacks, invalid codes, etc. Aren't bank transfers the best option anyway?

Trading is profitable if you buy low and sell high. The question is when is high and when is low. You can see the market price here: https://blockchain.info/charts/market-price (https://blockchain.info/charts/market-price)

There is only one big error in this strategy. Bitcoin price is not going constantly up. So what would your friend do after step 2 if the price doesn't raise but lowers instead? Or what if it simply holds pretty much the same value?

This is simply investing in bitcoins. You buy them and you cannot know if it goes up or down. If it goes up, yes, they are worth more than what you paid for them. Yihaa!

In my example he only held onto them for 30 days before selling but that is because the price was right (higher)...If it doesn't raise considerably by the time you want to sell them, you simply hold on to them for longer  :)

Of course you can only do this if you buy them with money you don't need right away (so you aren't forced to sell) but I think it is reasonable to assume that at least 1 more point in the future after buying them, the price would be higher than what I paid for them, no?  ;D

You can't expect that kind of profit. You have to realise that once BTC plunged from $1300 to $500 in a matter of weeks/months.

Your strategy is flawed and it all depends on the price of BTC which is not guaranteed by anyone.

I know I can't expect it, that was just a lucky recent example. I also know about that drop but I would have never bought in @ $1300 each....

The thing is, I don't have much to compete with....If after 3 months even, I "only" get a 7% return on my investment even, then I'm winning...Bank only paying 2% per month.

I know it's a gamble bunch the chances bitcoin are going to be substantially cheaper than $300 per coin for example are slim in my mind....

I second everything said here--you've got money in what's probably a stable interest-earning account and you're pretty much guaranteed to have what you have in it now in a year.  If you plowed that $ into bitcoin, you have absolutely no guarantee that you'll have what you started with, plus you'll be paying transaction fees.

It's possible that the price will crash immedately after you buy, and then what are you going to do?  Think about this and decide what your risk tolerance is.  If you can't afford to lose your bank account money, don't buy bitcoin.  Good luck to you sir.

Does your bank account allow you to buy off circle? I'm not sure I have heard of not us citizen but us bank account using it.  So I don't have a clue does this work buying there?

Your number 3 scares me.  I like selling at a proper exchange you have FAR less risk, but yes you get less money by a small bit.  But look up money laundering it may sound crazy, and might be but in us if you do localbitcoins on selling it's possible to be considered a money launder.  Will people do it and most not get in trouble ? Yes... but still keeps me away from it.

I think this is a great strategy, however the question is do you have the capital to start and then do you mind the wait and the risk that it may fall in price and not rise?

Localbitcoins is not a proper exchange? Do you mean buying on Circle for example, and then selling on Circle as well? I understand that will not maximize my profits though....At the same time however, it is so easy buying directly from my USD debt/bank account and then selling them with the funds then being automatically withdrawn to the same debt/bank account.




All that money on my U.S account is spending money really, so yes :) Maybe not as big of an investment as some people on here but I hope to grow it and invest my profits back in...For example, buy 1 btc to start, then 2, then 3, etc etc  ;D I can hold onto them 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, doesn't matter...I don't "live" on that money, only savings. If it starts to drop a lot, sell and live with a small loss...I am OK with that  :P

Keep in mind this makes you a MSB and you can absolutely (and people have) be arrested for doing it if you're in the U.S., U.K, or associated countries.

What is a "MSB"?

Also, that is definitely not illegal in any of those countries you mention...Not mentioning these investments/profits on your taxes might be, but not the act of just buying and selling bitcoins...

Then again, I luckily don't have to care about all that because I am not from a country like that :)

If it does work, everyone would be rich. The main problem here is the risk. Bitcoin doesn't always rise, it can fall too. If it does, you would suffer huge losses. I'm sure that they at least need a simple ID verification for using their exchange.

I would also think about "holding" that money, waiting for the price rise. Holding money costs money, given the oportunity cost of making another profitable investment.

You're right. I completely forgot California, Florida, Texas, and a few other places aren't in the U.S. Sadly, I have no idea what country they're in.

(Redacted URLs because you'd probably claim people being arrested was because they were doing legal activities and people go to jail for not breaking the law regardless)

That's the simple idea of volatility trading. The thing that your missing is that bitcoin can down. Volatility trading buys after a drop and sells after a rise. Sure, you might miss a huge price rise, bit you'll miss big price drops.

That strategy is pretty decent because it follows the old advice "buy low, sell high". Problem is, you have to have patience and wait for the price to go low then selling high and all. The risk is price staying low or going much higher than you expected and then not knowing which would be a low price again.

Your friends strategy makes it sound easy but whens best to buy low? Now? next week? what if it keeps rising? its a dangerous game to play.

"Never risk more than you can afford to lose." And nobody has ever gotten rich by playing it safe. It takes risk.

Indeed, buying bitcoin is a gamble, i hope it will pay off. Trading is another gamble. As long as you follow the rule to not risk more than you can afford then you should be golden.

REMEMBER. THIS IS STILL A FORM OF GAMBLING. Do Not Gamble More Than You Can Afford. If the Price Decreases And Does Not Increase For A Long Period Of Time, And you suddenly need the money: you're stuck!

Those that bought into BTC in November of 2013 agree with you wholeheartedly, :).

that is a good strategy but keep in mind lets say you buy now at 440.
Then next week its back at 350. So if your thinking of investing be
prepared to hold for a bit until it goes up, or wait until its back in the
300's to buy.

And who says it'll go back to 300s? That's the issue. Nobody knows what's in the future.

this change that happened in 30 day, not happen every month (+40)
it can be in 30 day , go down (-40)

waiting for the pump to begin and start buying is a decent strategy, if you don't know about TA

someone said to dump all the way up through the pump and dump when it end, i like to do the opposite, buying all the way up, and dumping when it stop or they begin to dump

The issue with this is you could just as easily buy in at the top and get screwed. Still risky but as long as you use risk management you're good.

I would not put money from saving account. I have money there, just to be saved for any critical situation in my life or for my future living.
Trading is like betting. And gold rule is to play with amount you can afford to lost.