Bitcoin Forum

I have just come into some money from the sale of a car.  I'd like to buy bitcoins but I am not sure how to buy.  Given the current market conditions would you suggest a one off buy,  buying over a period of a few days, buying over a period of a month or any other way.  I hope to get some good suggestions although I realize nobody can really predict what's going to happen given the current volatility.

In the middle of the drop from having too many overleveraged BFX longs, I called $420 bottom with $390 worst case bottom.  That looks to still be the case except $420 is looking like it's going to hold.  Halving will likely take it to $600 or higher.  I guess if you're trying to mitigate risk, you can always buy 1/2 now then wait and see to cost average the rest.  I sold at $465 when I saw it getting shaky and bought back in at $420.

The global financial situation is so bad now that it feels dangerous to me not owning some Bitcoin at all times.  The day I wake up and see Obama on TV saying, "Sorry, your bank accounts are now worth 0", or "We've Cyprused all accounts by 50%", I don't wanna be all in on fiat.  The only thing I use fiat for now is swing trading during volatility.

It depends on which country you live, because in many countries bitcoin is banned and is illegal to use, but buying once or twice a month is enough.

I would buy half now, in case we are in for a pump like last time. And save half to invest in the later months in case we are not.

You assume that the price will rise over the long term (otherwise you wouldn't be buying), so the longer you wait, the more expensive the bitcoins will become. For that reason, it makes sense to buy it all right now.

However, there are two other factors:

• Short term price expectations. If you expect the price to take a dump in the near future, then it would be better to buy after the drop, but you might want to buy some now in case you are wrong.
• Liquidity. If the amount you are buying will move the market, then you should buy smaller amounts over time in order to give sellers time to come into the market and fill your orders.

It is always better to buy with half of your cash rather than buying with all at once. Market can goes both way so if it goes up, you gain profit and if it goes down you get chance to buy more cheaper coin.

I think you should spread out your buy. If you buy a large amount at one time, many banks may think it is suspicious and some exchanges might think so as well. This could cause your account to be frozen or in some way limited so that you can't withdraw your Bitcoin without it being a huge pain. By spreading it out, you can avoid this entire problem.

Spread out the buy. If bitcoin drops, you'd still be done, asu can buy some cheaper. If bitcoin rises straight after you buy, which is highly unlikely, you'll still make profit. It really depends on how risky and greedy you want to be.

It depends on how you're going to make the purchase, but I'd say just buy them all at once.   You're going to incur more transaction fees the more you spread it out and you may lose your nerve.  Good luck however you do it!

it depend if you're here for the long term because you believe in bitcoin, then in this case it's better to buy with everything you have ready to be dumped from fiat

but if you want only to do daily trading, and take advantages of those mini p&d that occur, it could be good to buy in a small amount at every new increase

I think it is better to spread the buy over a certain period, for example 6 months. So far, in long term, the price always rises.

I think it would be wise to wait a little longer before buying it in a one off buy style. It would be better if you let the halving passes by before you buy everything as everyone knows, it has a great chance that the Bitcoin value increases by then.

Spread it out, it's the safest with the current market position of Bitcoin :)

If your a long term holder then just buy some every month, that way you kind of get decent prices unless your constantly buying in an uptrend and then it crashes .

Spreading is usually better, dollar cost averaging is usually a good idea for a long term investor.

Outside of price, the only other downside you would have is if you wished to invest it somewhere, you would miss out on gains.

As most of people here, I agree that spreading out the purchase is usually a better strategy.

It doesn't cost any more in commission, because almost all the exchanges are charging a percentage fee, whether you buy 1 or 100 btc.
It might work out cheaper to transfer the funds to the exchange all at once - depends on the fees your bank is charging.

How much you should spread it out also depends on how liquid is the exchange you have chosen.
Some exchanges have lower fees if you put in the limit order, rather than just lift the best offer - if you are not in rush, I advise you do that.

Spreading out the purchase via "dollar-cost averaging" is good if you want to buy over a period of time, but if you have money to spend now, it is better to buy all at once now, rather than waiting while the price goes up.

One off would be best take the risk.

I think your missing the point of dollar-cost averaging though... the whole idea is that you have literally no clue if the price is going up or down, so you spread the risk over days. If we knew 100% market was going up of course dollar-cost averaging is not as good. With commissions being % based, it eliminates the barrier to entry that dollar-cost averaging usually entails

I buy bitcoin whenever I have spare money. It is not one off. I hope to spread the risk. If the price rises eventually. I will earn some money.

Best is to never buy with all your money in one time. Do it 50% now, and wait what will happen. If the price goes down more, then you can decide to buy more if you want. If it goes up, then you can enjoy your profits :)

1. The point of dollar-cost-averaging is to avoid trying to time the market. That's why you buy fixed amounts at fixed times. The point is not to reduce risk. There is a more effective way to reduce risk: diversification.
2. You do have a clue  (or at least you think you do) about which way the market is going. Otherwise, why would you be buying bitcoins? If you believe that the price is going up, then obviously the longer you wait to buy, the less you will make.

Spread it out. Buy 20% each week. Then you'll be more able to use a sudden price drop in your advantage. That's the best manner do spread your investment. I do the same.

1) When focusing down to buying into one 'stock', timing the market is the main risk. The whole point of dollar-cost-averaging (When you already have the cash as OP stated)is to avoid the risk of a bad entry time. Of course, if you don't have the money up front it is used as a way to slow accumulate wealth.

2) Of course buying bitcoin in the long run you are assuming a rise, but I meant short term. Lets say you bought 9 coins when it was near $500 a month ago. Just now you would be about breaking even. But if you bought 3 before then, 3 at 500, and 3 after, your average may be only 350. Where you then already made money, because in the immediate term you negated the risk of poor entry time.

In a larger scale, what if you were someone who has bought 1 bitcoin every month over the last 2 years versus someone who bought 24 bitcoins when they were $1400 a piece. Again, even if in a year the price is 2000 a coin, the person who dollar cost averaged will be alot happier because his average price is lower. thus reducing the "risk" of a poor entry time. I mean in OP's scenario it's not like buying it over time would give him any benefit outside of that

Sorry to intrude...

But I guess what I don't get from your post is that if your trying to avoid timing the market, what for other than the risk that you picked a bad time? there is no other benefit from buying over a period of time IF you have the money now...

The way to reduce risk is through diversification of assets. Look at it from an asset allocation perspective. Initially you are 100% cash, then you are 90% cash, then you are 80% cash, ... Why sit on all that cash? Just reallocate it and be done with it.

you will get many suggestion but i will recommend to go with split percentage of your buying limit, it means what ever amount you are going to invest split it into 25% ratio and buy, if you want to hold long term   then this option will work out, splitting your buying amount in 25% and buy on every dip and average your buying price of bitcoin, then wait for your target.

As far as Bitcoin is concerned that's just another can of worms, but I can easily say those who put entities such as banks that are mostly responsible for terrible economies worldwide should have their heads checked as well. The last time I checked... Bitcoin isn't hurting anyone

Split your purchases if you are expecting price shift. I usually split my assets into parts, create 2 or 3 sections and the buy in time interval of 1, 2 days.
But I feel it is more to diminish loses of price crash, if you are fine with the current value then buy it right away.

Huh? What are you talking about? I either don't understand what you try to explain, or you are just saying something that doesn't make sense.

Diversification is the best way to reduce risk, yes. I just think dollar-cost averaging is another way to reduce risk.

As I said before, the reason you want to sit on some cash is because the fear of entering at a high point. If someone bought $1,400 of BTC back when it was at the peak, they would have 1 bitcoin. If they waited until it dropped to sub $300, they could have about 4 with the same amount of money. Take that ahead 10 years where BTC is worth maybe $10,000. Thats a 30k difference because of a few months of buying. Do you not agree that fundamentally speaking that is a risk? In the general stock market where a big swing is 5%, it doesn't matter to much. But when you can double or half you money in a month it is a whole different ball game.

Bitcoin price not constant one It will change day by day But in past few weeks Bitcoin price is in raising face. He can buy a bitcoin in the time of Christmas that means on 25th DEC. So many speculators also predicting price range on that will be high. Just wait for days and buy.

The prices of assets (stocks, real-estate, currencies) tend to move in a non-linear way: most of the time it is not just up, up, up (or down, down, down) every day.
Even if there is a longer-term trend in either direction, the prices usually oscillate around that trend - up one day, down next day and so on.

I suggest spread it out. Do you remember the days of 1 BTC = $1,200?   

I wouldnt put all my money into just bitcoin. Its good to diversify and maybe buy some gold? But personally
I like to buy on dips (I bought $40 worth when it dropped to $410) so I just play it by ear and add on
dips

If the price will go up a lot in short term, then it is better to buy now. But we will never know. So it is to spread the buy.

Yeah it's kind of lunatic to go "All bitcoin". Sure you can invest like 50% into this great coin, but all?
Try to diversify like this
50% stocks
50% crypto
Then 40% bitcoin and 10% altcoins

The problem doesn't start when you buy bitcoins but when you own them as an asset and everyday you check its price.The first rule of trading is Act Fast,the time taken to analyzie the market or making a decision could be used to profit from the early actions.The rule is simple : Study the market for a week,check the upper bounds and the lower bounds ,you can get a rough price estimate what is the lowest it could fall ,once hit the price again,buy them.For short term trading,in the same week you have idea about the upper bounds as well,resell them.

OP, what did you end up doing, if anything?   And yes I was wrong about the transaction fees--my mind is always in the stock market and sometimes I forget btc exchanges charge a %.

It is always recommended that buy in split , first you study the market for some days when you get confidence about the market then start buying in split according to your plan . because nowadays market is too volatile in a 24 hrs time the market fluctuates around more than $20 to $30 so you have to first check the market position then start buying.

Do you mean we should buy only when the price is the lowest in the last 24 hours? If the price rises, we will not buy.

If you think the price will rise in long term, you can buy whenever the price drops 20% from the recent peaks.

I want to move into a position where I buy and hodl, but I always hold out too long to buy in after a drop :/

that is where the bots come in. and so far the only good bot is the one you yourself code.
you set it so that it can decide for you by keeping its eye on the market 24,7 so you never have to lose any more opportunities.

The best thing is just save it. That is the best option I think that you can do and that will be smart if you are going to do that.
But I hope that more people will use Bitcoin. And that the value will rise for a long time in the future.

He is asking whether it is better to buy a certain amount of coins at once or several times with lower amounts.

Most of the people here think that the closer we come to the block halving, the higher the price will be. I know this thread is from December, but the advice for every one is to buy right now with 50% of the money that you have, and keep the other 50% for when the price goes down more. If you do this you will always have funds to benefit from the price that may get lower.

Think yourself in what respect you need the profit. So do the buying process accordingly.
Even when the post has been posted the price was good enough to get a good profit.
The same situation has been going on presently.

Buy all at once. Bitcoin is a dangerous, sexy beast that'll have you crying one day and leaping for joy the next.  Buying all at once will maximize these emotions, you'll fall in love in no time ;)

One thing is for sure, cryptocurrency had come to stay however, you must not put your eggs in one basket.  Best of luck

it depends on your strategy. there is no one right way to do it.

for example if you are planning on holding your bitcoin for long time and then sell it when the price went up, you should buy it all at once and move it to your cold storage.

but if you want to keep trading then you should change how you buy according to the situation. sometimes at once and sometimes with some spread by looking at how the market is changing.

I will have some crypto currencies in my portfolio. I have the bitcoin, Ethereum and Monero and litecoin. In that order.

You can also invest now around this time. The value is not that high now so it is possible to do that.
But you never know what can happen later in the future. But you can see now that the price is rising a bit.

really?you sold your car and have a plan to buy bitcoins? ;D this is amazing,because some people earn bitcoins for a dream to buy car ;D but anyway,you are true bitcoiner,you should buy when bitcoin price lower than currenct price,sure the price will going back to $400 and more.

The situation is different. If I think the bitcoin price will triple this year, and I do not have other resoucres, I might sell my car to buy bitcoin.

If your is worth $2000 now, the bitcoin you buy will be $6000 by the end of the year. It could be even higher.

My buying strategy is simple: Allocate X amount each month. Buy as much BTC as possible with X amount, regardless of price movements.

I'm gonna spread out my buying if I were in your shoes. If you are still not too familiar with the current trends or price movements, spreading out is the best thing to do. I wouldn't rush on going all in, as there will always be opportunities buy at a low price. It's not even timing that matters sometimes, it's just time.

That's a good form of try to make a better profit in the later days, as you'll get an assured price difference between the buying and selling price.

Yup. Simple no brainer for a simple person like me. :D

It is less tedious than monitoring prices and making the best shot. Unless there's a good trading engine around.

what is a "trading engine"?! if you mean some kind of automation and usage of bots then you can use them, there are a couple good bots out there that let you do all kinds of settings and also some of the exchangers have some kinds of conditional trading that you can set some conditions for your orders.

well i just buy bitcoin when i have some spare money to spend, but i think that buying lots of bitcoins at once is better, because when you will find from where you want to buy, price might rise

i have friends that buys then at same time, i have friends that buys few bitcoins but many times, both ways are good, you get bitcoins anyway, so it is up to how which you like more

Yes. There are a couple of commercial trading engines that pairs USD/BTC and some Altcoins. But it's a little complex to set up rules. I may want to explore it if I have more time but not now. :)

I would do a one off buy because than you have one price and you will make profit with the price that is the bitcoin sold for now.
I would recommend you to to it on that way and not spread it.

you can do one time as long as the trading transaction can be completed, and of course making it sure that the value is low enough to make a profit when you sell it.  spread buy out can also be an excellent idea depending on your strategy in receiving it.   :o :D ::)

personally i like to buy as many bitcoins as i can in one buy as usually i buy bitcoins when i see bitcoins for a small price, so in case that price might rise later, i buy them in one buy

but most of my friends buy them many times but bitcoin each time or so, they say they buy like this in case that price will fall later so they will be able to get even  cheaper bitcoins

i suggest you to spread buy out,find best deal and find right person to buy bitcoin,or if you want to buy bitcoin from exchange,its look better fo you,but you should find exchange that accept payment from your country.

If you do the one time buy it has to be with trusted traders doing it with localbitcoin is far more secure having actual trades and personally witnessing the transaction being done.  If you spread it that's also a smart move but still you have to do it with trusted ones.  Not with the sweet talking scammers.  That's why I do bulk trades with my localbitcoins because witnessing the completion of the trade is far more safe than waiting for it at the other side of the globe.

I would buy it in one time because most likely it will be cheaper with the fee's and also the price is now still low and maybe in the future a lot higher.

I also would do it in one transaction, the fee's will indeed be lower and there is a chance that the bitcoin is gonna rise in its price and if you than buy you will lose profit at the end when you sold them.

I wonder do exchanges give you discounts if you offer to buy in huge quantities.

I do not think so. But the Poloniex has some discount in fees if you are a big trader for some time.

if it is hard to buy bitcoins in your country, like you can't find sellers, or it is not even legal to buy bitcoins in your country, then i think you should buy them in one buy of course

but if you can buy bitcoins whenever you want, then i think that you can buy bitcoins when you need them and spread the buy out, and try to buy at cheap price

I am still following my strict routine of buying $X worth of BTC at a fixed day on a monthly basis, regardless of the BTC price. Let's say you budgeted $500 for investment, then every month on the 5th, you buy $500 worth of BTCs. We just have to think of BTCs as a form of shares investment.

That is a good method. The potential of the bitcoin appreciation is much larger than the share investments.

Indeed if you are gonna do it be sure to do it right and buy it low to sell it a lot higher, with buying it at one time you can make a lot of money in the future.

But most of us were greedy and hope for better appreciation and did not sell when the price spiked beyond 750. :)

I would def spread the buy out.

Take in different metrics so instead of buying 1 whole bitcoin today, you buy pieces so you hedge the risk way less.

When there is a huge price movement this saves you a ton of headache but you also miss out a huge action as well depending when it occurs.

But the buying should of been done before this whole halving scenario though lol.

This post is from back in december 2015, Does anyone know what the op actually ended up doing? did you buy any? Obviously with hindsight now it would appear your best decision would have been to buy in a one off at the time since we have had a fair price rise since then. had i known it would definitely gone up in price i would have gone all in however ive spread out my buys and this has worked out ok for me so far.