Bitcoin Forum

Other => Beginners & Help => Topic started by: Zakcy on September 18, 2011, 11:02:05 PM



Title: $100 bitcoin investment - How long will it take to double?
Post by: Zakcy on September 18, 2011, 11:02:05 PM
I'm really curious about the potential in making money through buying and selling bitcoins :P

Let's say I invest $100 in to buying bitcoins.

so I would sell them for a little higher than I bought them, buy more at a lower price, then repeat over and over again

Let's say I was just the average person, sometimes lucky, sometimes not lucky.

How long do you guys think it would take me to turn my $100 investment in to $200?


Title: Re: $100 bitcoin investment - How long will it take to double?
Post by: dree12 on September 18, 2011, 11:06:35 PM
I'm really curious about the potential in making money through buying and selling bitcoins :P

Let's say I invest $100 in to buying bitcoins.

so I would sell them for a little higher than I bought them, buy more at a lower price, then repeat over and over again

Let's say I was just the average person, sometimes lucky, sometimes not lucky.

How long do you guys think it would take me to turn my $100 investment in to $200?

Forever. By definition, the mean person would lose money due to fees.


Title: Re: $100 bitcoin investment - How long will it take to double?
Post by: nmat on September 18, 2011, 11:16:48 PM
I'm really curious about the potential in making money through buying and selling bitcoins :P

Let's say I invest $100 in to buying bitcoins.

so I would sell them for a little higher than I bought them, buy more at a lower price, then repeat over and over again

Let's say I was just the average person, sometimes lucky, sometimes not lucky.

How long do you guys think it would take me to turn my $100 investment in to $200?


Man... it depends on your strategy to sell/buy. How do you plan to know what is low or high? For example, now the price is 5.27. Would you buy or sell?

I'l tell you what, grab this chart (http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#rg5zvztgSzm1g10zm2g25) from the last five days and cover the right side with your hand or something. Then, see when would you buy and when would you sell as you slowly uncover the next days. Now you can see how much money you would have made.

PS: Obviously you're gonna get rich because you are going to cheat


Title: Re: $100 bitcoin investment - How long will it take to double?
Post by: Dargo on September 19, 2011, 12:04:43 AM

Let's say I was just the average person, sometimes lucky, sometimes not lucky.

How long do you guys think it would take me to turn my $100 investment in to $200?


If you are just the average person trying to actively trade, most likely you are going to lose money, and the relevant question is, how long would it be until you lose half or all of your money? Active trading where you just hold for a few hours or days is not easy. You can learn to do it, but this usually takes time. You would probably be better off buying and holding long term. Prices are pretty low now, but of course they could go lower. But it's not a bad bet to buy now and gamble that prices will get back up to $10 or so eventually. But don't do it unless you are OK with losing the $100, because price could just keep falling from here and never really recover. 


Title: Re: $100 bitcoin investment - How long will it take to double?
Post by: Asymptote on September 19, 2011, 01:34:06 AM
A far better strategy (more reliable) would be to simply purchase bitcoins and wait until the double, then sell them. Trying to actively trade and buy/sell on lows and highs is almost certain to leave you penniless.

If Bitcoin catches on, it will do much more than double. So just buy $100 and sit on them. You might be suprised how quickly it happens... could be a week, or a month, or a year.  But most investments require 5-10 years to double in price (and that's if you succeed!)