Mini guide to fair market BTC/XRP trading and redemption

[alexkravets]

Hi guys,

I just wanted to share what I learned about actually using Ripple's built-in distributed order book to trade BTCs, XRPs, etc.

Steps to sell XRPs today for Bitstamp BTC IOUs

1. Log into your https://ripple.com/ account and click on "Contacts" on the left panel. Click + to add "Bitstamp.net" and their ripple address is rvYAfWj5gh67oV6fW32ZzP3Aw4Eubs59B
2. In ripple UI, Click on Advanced -> Trade -> change issuer (blue link next to BTC/XRP currency pair)
3. Start typing in "Bitstamp..." in the "issuer" field or rvYAfWj5gh67oV6fW32ZzP3Aw4Eubs59B directly.  You have now entered the only viable BTC/XRP market in the ripple universe.
4. Click around to see the order book, eventually put up your bid by clicking on buy BTC and specify desired price per BTC in XRPs. Click "Place Order"
5. Once your order clears (could take a while unless you match best counter-offer manually) you will NOT be notified, instead you will notice your ripple account balance has changed and now you have some BTCs there as well as remaining XRPs
6. You now have bitstamp issued BTC flavored IOUs in your ripple account.  You can then use these to buy back XRPs when their prices fall as billions more are released.  
7. These bitstamp-flavored BTC IOUs can be send around to other ripplers.

Steps to redeem those bitstamp.net BTC IOUs back into the comfy cozy comfort of your offline brain wallet:

1. Log into bitstamp and hit deposit -> ripple -> send using ripple web client
2. Enter amount of BTC IOUs to move into bitstamp.net account from your ripple account (they are still IOUs at this point !)
3. Transfer from bitstamp.net's account back into the comfy cozy safety of your offline brain wallet.

Whole thing takes seconds (except for the confirmation when transferring BTCs out of Bitstamp's account)

Having completed the steps above, you will do some practical hands-on training in how to use Ripple's built-in distributed multi-asset order book trading.

Enjoy.

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[SRG]

This is very helpful, thank you.  However, what about the other direction, from Ripple to BTC?

I went and traded some of my XRP for BTC from Bitstamp, so now I have their BTC IOUs in my Ripple wallet.  However, when I go to Bitstamp to move them from my ripple wallet to my Bitstamp account it says I may incur a fee in BTC.  I thought the whole point of ripple was that I paid the fee to move IOUs around in XRP not BTC.  What am I missing?  It seemed high for a miners fee, e.g. > .0005, is it Bitstamp's "gateway fee" for converting their ripple BTC IOUs into BTC?

Thanks!

This is a duplicate post because it seemed to fit better here than where I originally posted it.

[SRG]

Thanks, that is what I mostly did though I initially tried to save a step by hitting the send using ripple client button on bitstamp.  I'm still getting a potential BTC fee, looks to be 1%.  I'm guessing that is the charge to convert at the gateway?

Thanks again for the guide.

Edit:  When I actually did the transaction there wound up not being a fee.  Pretty sweet.  Thanks again.

[zulzedd]

Thank you for this nice guide. It will help a lot of people.
I had same experience with Ripple/Bitstamp.

[Ecks]

Can't seem to get anything to come up (either bid or ask) for bitstamp's order book, worked fine yesterday for me. Anyone else have this issue?

Edit: Found a fix, just had to change the currencies to be exchanged then change it back and presto, fixed.

[bitcool]

Can't seem to get anything to come up (either bid or ask) for bitstamp's order book, worked fine yesterday for me. Anyone else have this issue?

some ajax calls don't seem very stable.

[Bit_Happy]

Thank you for helping 

[Bit_Happy]

The btc fee to send to Bitstamp was very high  0.0062

per Blockchain.info:
Generous - Fees will be set to ensure transactions are high priority (0.001 BTC Base Fee).

6 times higher fees, why?

[prophecynine]

hey, thanks for the infoes. How the heck do I read the order book? can't quite figure it out...

[alexkravets]

hey, thanks for the infoes. How the heck do I read the order book? can't quite figure it out...

It's currently misaligned, you have to scroll way way down to see the ASKs, the fix is in soon perhaps even today

[prophecynine]

I found the asks, but what does each column signify?
do you know of any charts of historical rates?
thanks

[alexkravets]

I found the asks, but what does each column signify?
do you know of any charts of historical rates?
thanks

No charts or rates yet, read column headings for explanations.

[prophecynine]

ok, I think i figured it out... I guess its pretty standard exchange listings, but it took me a while to wrap my head around it ;p

[Mjbmonetarymetals]

Forgive me in advance - this thread is describing how to sell XRP now in order to achieve there "best price" as they will eventually be worth less.

It doesn't look to be possible to buy XRP with btc through ripple , as ripple cannot be funded with btc.

Could be missing something or the point of ripple entirely.

[misterbigg]

It doesn't look to be possible to buy XRP with btc through ripple , as ripple cannot be funded with btc.

Could be missing something or the point of ripple entirely.

Yep, you missed it. Open a Bitstamp account, fund it with Bitcoins then "Withdraw" the BTC to your Ripple account and use the Bitstamp BTC IOUs to bid on XRPs in the order book.

[Monster Tent]

It seems retarded that you need an account just to see an order book.

[Amitabh S]

Steps to redeem those bitstamp.net BTC IOUs back into the comfy cozy comfort of your offline brain wallet:

1. Log into bitstamp and hit deposit -> ripple -> send using ripple web client
2. Enter amount of BTC IOUs to move into bitstamp.net account from your ripple account (they are still IOUs at this point !)
3. Transfer from bitstamp.net's account back into the comfy cozy safety of your offline brain wallet.

Whole thing takes seconds (except for the confirmation when transferring BTCs out of Bitstamp's account)

Having completed the steps above, you will do some practical hands-on training in how to use Ripple's built-in distributed multi-asset order book trading.

Enjoy.

WARNING Either Ripple or bitstamp or both are having some bugs. Sometimes, the transfer does not happen. Only try with smaller amount of BTC in step 2. I made the mistake of trying with 1 BTC. If you follow the above instructions, you will probably lose your BTC and the XRP. The BTC never turned up on my Bitstamp.net account.
I've contacted support but till then fingers crossed.

[alexkravets]

I have observed a few day-long delays when redeeming, eventually everything does get reconciled tho.

[webr3]

If you check https://www.bitstamp.net/account/withdraw/ripple/ before doing a deposit or withdraw, it'll tell you the ripple status - if it's down, don't send, if it's up you'll have low latency

[jasonslow]

Thanks for this it works for me.