Should I do a one off buy or spread the buy out?

[bhodson]

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.

[r0ach]

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.

[n691309]

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.

[Farmgloria]

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.

[odolvlobo]

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.

[~Bitcoin~]

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.

[samuel999]

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.

[Decoded]

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.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

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!

[Amph]

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

[miayama]

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.

[WENGER]

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.

[CryptoBeauty]

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

[helloeverybody]

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 .

[DrLove2048]

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.

[bitmarket.net]

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.

[odolvlobo]

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.

[Firedude]

One off would be best take the risk.

[DrLove2048]

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.

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

[Edsemen]

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.