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With regard to currencies, fiat or crypto, I see 2 issues: 1) the currency itself 2) how to make payments with the currency. In this case this will help to make new ways to pay with Canadian dollars which is good. But since it's still using the Canadian Dollar, the currency itself has the disadvantages of fiat currencies, namely the tendency of the central bank to increase the money supply over time and reduce the purchasing power of the currency. That's where fiat currencies are not doing a good job and where bitcoin could really shine, as a store of value and preserving its purchasing power over time.
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If you are worried about an account being hacked, two-factor authentication is a good safeguard. For example, Bitcoinica uses Google Authenticator as an optional two-factor authentication method that works very well IMHO.
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Competition between the exchanges is what protects the bitcoin traders. If liquidity improves, you'll see even more competition. Right now the market for Bitcoins is small. But still there is decent competition. Look at the BTC/USD market on Bitcoincharts. There are 14 exchanges listed with various fee structures. Some you pay, some are free. There is even 1, bitfloor, that pays you for orders that add liquidity to their order book (you pay to remove liquidity). Competition is the key and I hope there will continue to be competition between the bitcoin exchanges.
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I just got my first issue! It's great! Did anybody else get theirs yet?
April Fools! |
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I just got my first issue! It's great! Did anybody else get theirs yet?
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I haven't traded at Bitcoinica. To those that have traded at Bitcoinica, do you think it's clear what the rules are and how things work? Before playing any game of chance I think it's important to know the rules of the game. Plus you should always be aware of potential fraud. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_exchange_fraud |
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There are many avenues for speculating on the price of many different things. Some avenues are better than others. For example, I prefer speculating on exchange rates via FX Futures instead of trading spot forex. Why? In the futures markets, the bid and ask are determined by orders placed from ALL participants. If June EUR/USD futures are 1.3341 bid and 1.3349 ask, I can change the market by placing an order to buy 1 contract at 1.3342. Now the market will be trading 1.3342 to 1.3349. The rules of the exchange say that this contract can't trade at a price less than 1.3342 unless I am filled on my order.
At a typical retail forex trading shop, things operate very differently. The bid and ask are determined by the dealer and ONLY the dealer. Let's say he sets his EUR/USD market at 1.3341 to 1.3349. You enter an order to buy at 1.3348. The dealer keeps the market at 1.3341 to 1.3349. Let's say another client enters an order to sell at 1.3342. The dealer keeps the market at 1.3341 to 1.3349. You are willing to pay 1.3348 and another client wants to sell at 1.3342, but BOTH YOUR ORDERS GO UNFILLED! That's how it works. In other words, the deck is stacked against you. To add insult to injury, you can easily get stopped out of your position because ONLY THE DEALER CONTROLS his market. If you are long EUR/USD at 1.33, and have a sell stop in at 1.20, the dealer can temporarily dip the market to 1.20, sell you out at 1.20 (to him) and then bounce the price back to 1.3341 to 1.3349 EVEN THOUGH EUR/USD DIDN'T MOVE AT ALL ON OTHER MARKETS! It is this control of the price that I don't like and why I don't trade forex through a retail shop like this.
Now there are some ECN alternative spot forex brokers that charge a commission, such as interactive brokers, and send your orders to forex dealers to take the other side. I think trading through that type of broker will give you a higher probability of trading profitably.
In BTC, currently there are not futures markets (correct me if I'm wrong). But there is a bitcoin equivalent to retail spot forex trading. It's called Bitcoinica. How are the bid and ask prices determined at Bitcoinica? Does Bitcoinica just set them wherever they want? If you place a buy order in between the spread you won't change the bid ask. Can Bitcoinica move their market prices down temporarily to sell you out of your long position even if the prices on Mt Gox haven't changed at all?
It's dog eat dog out there. Caveat emptor.
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In a foreign exchange market, you always have a position.
By holding only fiat, you are implicitly short BTC. As BTC goes down, the purchasing power of your fiat, relative to BTC goes up. That is, you can buy more BTC with the same fiat at the lower BTC price.
"Short," in the Bitcoinica sense, treats BTC like a commodity, loaning coins to you to sell now and allowing you to buy them back later.
So, the bottom line is this: do you view BTC as a currency or as a commodity?
I understand what you are saying. But I was thinking more like this. If I short BTC at $5 on Bitconica and flatten the position at $4. I've made some profit in USD. Before Bitcoinica, if I were flat BTC when the price was $5 at Mt Gox and then I'm still flat BTC if the price goes down to $4 I didn't make any profit in USD. I think Bitcoin has some qualities of both a currency and a commodity which makes it hard to categorize and makes it really in a category of its own. |
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What kind of time-frame are we talking about here? Will this be implemented "soon" as in I will receive my first issue of Bitcoin Magazine very "soon"? Or soon as in by a certain date.
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Bitcoinica is good for Bitcoin because since they opened you have a way to be effectively short BTC. Are there any other ways to be effectively short BTC? Any ones with a relatively liquid market like Bitcoinica or Mt Gox BTC/USD trading? Any reliable BTC forward or futures markets out there?
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Crypto X Change says they have a new fee structure coming shortly. Any rumors or news as to what that structure will be or when it will be effective?
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Intersango already does this.
Intersango just reduces the amount they charge liquidity providers and increase the commission that liquidity takers pay. At Intersango, right now Liquidity Providers PAY 0.35% Liquidity Takers PAY 0.95% The only exchange that I know of that actually gives a net rebate is www.bitfloor.comwhere Liquidity Providers RECEIVE 0.10% and Liquidity Takers PAY 0.4% I trade at BitFloor and it's got a lot going for it. Deposit USD via Dwolla or Mt Gox code. Withdraw USD via Dwolla. Check it out. |
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I see Venmo as another service in an already crowded field of competitors offering services to transfer USD, either with fees or without. The market is splintered and for each service you need to set up another account. All of these services are subject to chargebacks. How is Venmo any different from these services which have mobile apps you can use to send USD 1) PayPal 2) Chase QuickPay https://www.chase.com/online/services/quickpay.htm3) ING Direct's P2p2 http://home.ingdirect.com/products/htmls_content/demo_p2p.htmlHow will all of this shake out? Probably some consolidation, but around which service, who knows? |
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Caso não BTC/BRL seguir BTC/USD o tempo todo? Bitcoins não são iPads, é muito fácil de movê-los de um lugar para outro.
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O preço do bitcoin está caindo como uma pedra! No Mercado Bitcoin o preço caiu mais de 17% hoje! Como baixo ele vai?
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I was told that a guy named Godot would hand deliver the first issue right to my door. I'm so excited waiting for Godot!
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I don't see Venmo as a problem. It's just a way to transfer USD. I want a currency that 1) is widely accepted 2) easy to transfer in person 3) easy to transfer online 4) holds its purchasing power over long periods of time Venmo is just another attempt to help make USD easier to transfer online. It may or may not work. But it's still dealing with USD. While BTC has some hurdles to clear, the one huge trump card that BTC has and the big Achilles' heel of the USD is #4. The USD has lost over 95% of its purchasing power since the Federal Reserve system was created in 1913. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_Federal_Reserve#InflationBTC is designed to be deflationary over long periods of time. So not only would BTC hold its purchasing power over long periods of time but its purchasing power will likely grow over long periods of time. Bitcoin is revolutionary in many ways. Will BTC have success equal to other fiat currencies? Will BTC be successful but only on a small niche market level? Will BTC fizzle out and be worth nothing or close to nothing? Stay tuned to find out. The USD has been around for a while. We already know the endgame result, continued loss of purchasing power. Maybe only economics freeks and computer geeks are currently affected by BTC. But just as USD policy affects everyone in the US (and most other countries), BTC has the potential to affect everyone. |
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Has anyone done any trades at ExchangeZone.com ? If so, what was your experience? Would you recommend using ExchangeZone? Any tips?
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