How do you know when you are in profit? USD or Satoshi?

[dinalo]

Both are important but at the end of the day if you are in bitcoin profit you can always wait for the price to rise even if you are not in USD profit.

[ImHash]

That is the problem when it comes especially to altcoins trading, as bitcoin price never stops changing you need to recalculate your positions all the times, that's why it's too much frustrating for me at least to be an active trader in crypto. however I have always tried to stay in green side of my trades if I buy something at 0.0001 no matter what is the bitcoin price I will only sell any thing above 0.0001 even if it's a few sats profit.

[beerlover]

Both are important but at the end of the day if you are in bitcoin profit you can always wait for the price to rise even if you are not in USD profit.

USD profits may happen automatically when you have finished off your trading in satoshi profits. It means USD prices may not within our control but making more satoshi than the initial capital must be the only task we need to focus while trading.

[andreibi]

Of course, in USD. Because that's the currency you will be spending at the moment. Maybe in the distant future where all things are paid in BTC or something else.

[jpoker272727]

I am a little confused because I have always looked at the satoshi prices, but sometimes I hear people say that you should look at the dollar value if you are in profit or not. But when you trade at an exchange to BTC all the peaks and vallies are measured in BTC? Should you follow dollar value or satoshi value to know if you are in profit? Or do just have to choose one of them and stick to it? For example if I buy at 0.1 satoshi and now the chart show 0.12 satoshi I think I am in profit? But is that not always the case? I am using cointracking for example to see if I am in profit or not. If I look at BTC value of Doge I am currently in -7% on the coin, but if I switch to dollar I am +0.09%  It is very confusing..

Does it have to do with if you plan to keep your money inside crypto or take it out? If you plan to take it out I guess dollar is more important, but my plan is to stay in crypto for the long term so dollar value is not even important at that point...?

I mean if you buy a coin at 0.1 satoshi and you sell it at 0.2 satochi you have sold in "profit" even if btc would have sunken 90%?

There are some scenario here that can happen and depends from which perspective you see the "profit"

If you bought bitcoin with fiat money then you value the coins in fiat, and even if your balance is less than you had it means that you are in profit in fiat.

At the other side you can;t say that you are in profit if you plan to hold for a long time the bitcoins because your balance is less so this is a loss.

[Adbitco]

It's to a large extent matter of personal choice as already said by the other senior members and my personal choice and preference is bitcoin gain. I bought a coin when it was at a lower value in bitcoin and sold it at a higher value in bitcoin so obviously I made a profit simple. In any case I am more interested in accumulating and possessing bitcoins than USD.

[Bagaji]

It seems to me you are new in trading either forex or crypto currency. When you are trading crypto currency dollar value should not be the main focus in terms of profit but bitcoin value, this is because some times one may be making profit in bitcoin and the dollar value of the profit is decreasing this could happens as a result of a decrease in the value of Bitcoin to dollar and not necessary means you are not making profit in your trading.

[Singwala]

Do not based in USD cause bitcoins is flactuating.
The best is to based in bitcoins for example you have 0.02 or 65$ in USD price and becomes 0.025 so you earn 0.005 but in btc 0.025 is just 60$ so you lose in USD and you win in btc. that's called price is down and but bitcoins is up . all you  need to do is hold your bitcoins anv wait for 10,000 $ price keep holding

[gabmen]

Do not based in USD cause bitcoins is flactuating.
The best is to based in bitcoins for example you have 0.02 or 65$ in USD price and becomes 0.025 so you earn 0.005 but in btc 0.025 is just 60$ so you lose in USD and you win in btc. that's called price is down and but bitcoins is up . all you  need to do is hold your bitcoins anv wait for 10,000 $ price keep holding

You can't also disregard the rate in dollars when you look at your earnings because that's the rate you'll get when you withdraw or transfer to your bank account. I agree with you that of course your earnings should be counted in the amount of btc that increased but you still would have to consider the current exchange rate before you withdraw

[choppork]

Definitely bitcoins (in Satoshi) because the price of bitcoin in USD is moving so much. I just think it's an absurd idea to think in terms of fiat. For example, you have 1BTC, you traded altcoins, then you earned 0.1BTC. You now have 1.1BTC. But because the price of bitcoin has decreased in the process, the value of 1.1BTC is less than the value of 1BTC before. That's totally weird that you've made more bitcoins but since you measure your profit in terms of USD, you lost?

Most times I don't even know the price of bitcoin in USD just because it's not relevant unless I have to cash out.

[MRlong]

I always use Bitcoin is value for calculate my profit, because I trading BTC/Altcoins and I will make profit with Bitcoin, not is USD. I want earning more Bitcoin before it very popular, reach to highest price and very difficult when earning it. Every month, I sell some Bitcoin to FIAT and use it as salary for my life

[Xavofat]

Should be USD.  Altcoins are their own things.

While they're still cryptocurrencies, a diversified collection of cryptocurrencies is not the same as short-term trading into Bitcoin.

[bouren]

I am a little confused because I have always looked at the satoshi prices, but sometimes I hear people say that you should look at the dollar value if you are in profit or not. But when you trade at an exchange to BTC all the peaks and vallies are measured in BTC? Should you follow dollar value or satoshi value to know if you are in profit? Or do just have to choose one of them and stick to it? For example if I buy at 0.1 satoshi and now the chart show 0.12 satoshi I think I am in profit? But is that not always the case? I am using cointracking for example to see if I am in profit or not. If I look at BTC value of Doge I am currently in -7% on the coin, but if I switch to dollar I am +0.09%  It is very confusing..

Does it have to do with if you plan to keep your money inside crypto or take it out? If you plan to take it out I guess dollar is more important, but my plan is to stay in crypto for the long term so dollar value is not even important at that point...?

I mean if you buy a coin at 0.1 satoshi and you sell it at 0.2 satochi you have sold in "profit" even if btc would have sunken 90%?

First of all when you investing in Cryptocurrencies, you invest BTC not USD. So btc is your base money and profits must be calculated in terms of satoshis.
So when you invest in cryptocurrencies, you need to follow either of the one assumption below to to determine profits-
1. Bitcoin is equivalent to money, not investment
Or
2. Recognize bitcoin as first investment and cryptocurrencies be secondary investment. So calculate cryptocurrency/BTC profits first in satoshis term then calculate final profits in terms of USD/BTC @ you bought and sell BTC.

[raven7886]

I always use Bitcoin is value for calculate my profit, because I trading BTC/Altcoins and I will make profit with Bitcoin, not is USD. I want earning more Bitcoin before it very popular, reach to highest price and very difficult when earning it. Every month, I sell some Bitcoin to FIAT and use it as salary for my life

I guess for altcoin trading the profit decider must be number of satoshi where in bitcoin trading against fiats, fiat value should be taken into consideration for profit/loss calculations.

Honestly we do not need to have any confusion here on basis or against what we are trading that should be taken for considering profit and loss calculations.

In trading pair notation like x/y : x must denote as the trading asset and y is the profit decider. In BTC/USD, dollars must be the profit decider and in LTC/BTC, bitcoins must be the profit decider.

[dothebeats]

I take profits in BTC since the value for USD is just too volatile right now. Also, I cash out whenever I needed to and not to book profits unlike most traders are doing. This is to ensure that I would be getting the maximum profit that I want from the entry point that I had.

[Cosbycoin]

I always use Bitcoin is value for calculate my profit, because I trading BTC/Altcoins and I will make profit with Bitcoin, not is USD. I want earning more Bitcoin before it very popular, reach to highest price and very difficult when earning it. Every month, I sell some Bitcoin to FIAT and use it as salary for my life

I guess for altcoin trading the profit decider must be number of satoshi where in bitcoin trading against fiats, fiat value should be taken into consideration for profit/loss calculations.

Honestly we do not need to have any confusion here on basis or against what we are trading that should be taken for considering profit and loss calculations.

In trading pair notation like x/y : x must denote as the trading asset and y is the profit decider. In BTC/USD, dollars must be the profit decider and in LTC/BTC, bitcoins must be the profit decider.

Good explanation. But I never had any confusion for measuring my profit losses but after reading OP's concern I just got fe doubts whether I am doing right or not. I guess profit calculations could be not by both USD and satoshi levels and like you said where we are trading and what we are trading will give us clear idea on how to measure profits.

[Qartersa]

I always use Bitcoin is value for calculate my profit, because I trading BTC/Altcoins and I will make profit with Bitcoin, not is USD. I want earning more Bitcoin before it very popular, reach to highest price and very difficult when earning it. Every month, I sell some Bitcoin to FIAT and use it as salary for my life

I guess for altcoin trading the profit decider must be number of satoshi where in bitcoin trading against fiats, fiat value should be taken into consideration for profit/loss calculations.

Honestly we do not need to have any confusion here on basis or against what we are trading that should be taken for considering profit and loss calculations.

In trading pair notation like x/y : x must denote as the trading asset and y is the profit decider. In BTC/USD, dollars must be the profit decider and in LTC/BTC, bitcoins must be the profit decider.

Good explanation. But I never had any confusion for measuring my profit losses but after reading OP's concern I just got fe doubts whether I am doing right or not. I guess profit calculations could be not by both USD and satoshi levels and like you said where we are trading and what we are trading will give us clear idea on how to measure profits.

The better thing to do is measure it in btc or satoshis. As we are actually dealing with bitcoins and not really the USD value. If you are earning in BTC then you should be measuring it in that and not USD as the latter cannot be influenced (unless you are a damned whale who can make a big ass impact on prices).

[CyberKuro]

I am a little confused because I have always looked at the satoshi prices, but sometimes I hear people say that you should look at the dollar value if you are in profit or not. But when you trade at an exchange to BTC all the peaks and vallies are measured in BTC? Should you follow dollar value or satoshi value to know if you are in profit? Or do just have to choose one of them and stick to it? For example if I buy at 0.1 satoshi and now the chart show 0.12 satoshi I think I am in profit? But is that not always the case? I am using cointracking for example to see if I am in profit or not. If I look at BTC value of Doge I am currently in -7% on the coin, but if I switch to dollar I am +0.09%  It is very confusing..

Does it have to do with if you plan to keep your money inside crypto or take it out? If you plan to take it out I guess dollar is more important, but my plan is to stay in crypto for the long term so dollar value is not even important at that point...?

I mean if you buy a coin at 0.1 satoshi and you sell it at 0.2 satochi you have sold in "profit" even if btc would have sunken 90%?

Whether you measure it in cryptocurrency or USD, as long as your capital has increased then you get profit.
But usually people like to cash out their profit in form of fiat currency, so they compare the value of bitcoin worth in USD which more reliable/stable than fluctuate digital currency (volatile). If you want to get profits as soon as possible, than you should measure bitcoin value worth in fiat currency but if you love to hold bitcoin then it doesn't matter as long as your bitcoin keep growing.

[Skarner21]

I am a little confused because I have always looked at the satoshi prices, but sometimes I hear people say that you should look at the dollar value if you are in profit or not. But when you trade at an exchange to BTC all the peaks and vallies are measured in BTC? Should you follow dollar value or satoshi value to know if you are in profit? Or do just have to choose one of them and stick to it? For example if I buy at 0.1 satoshi and now the chart show 0.12 satoshi I think I am in profit? But is that not always the case? I am using cointracking for example to see if I am in profit or not. If I look at BTC value of Doge I am currently in -7% on the coin, but if I switch to dollar I am +0.09%  It is very confusing..

Does it have to do with if you plan to keep your money inside crypto or take it out? If you plan to take it out I guess dollar is more important, but my plan is to stay in crypto for the long term so dollar value is not even important at that point...?

I mean if you buy a coin at 0.1 satoshi and you sell it at 0.2 satochi you have sold in "profit" even if btc would have sunken 90%?

Whether you measure it in cryptocurrency or USD, as long as your capital has increased then you get profit.
But usually people like to cash out their profit in form of fiat currency, so they compare the value of bitcoin worth in USD which more reliable/stable than fluctuate digital currency (volatile). If you want to get profits as soon as possible, than you should measure bitcoin value worth in fiat currency but if you love to hold bitcoin then it doesn't matter as long as your bitcoin keep growing.

Cryptocurrency is always changing value if we measure it in usd we are gaining profit since the price of bitcoin is increasing fast in the past month you don't need to measure the usd you should focus in the price of bitcoin and amount of your bitcoin. if bitcoin price was increase its value except that the price value is increase and you are gaining profit or if you increase the amount of your bitcoin it can increase also the profit but there is more possibility that you gain more profit if the price of bitcoin will increase..

[decryptionary]

I use blockfolio to easily see the USD change in value even if I am trading against bitcoin.

I've got more tips in my walkthrough: https://decryptionary.com/what-is-cryptocurrency/introduction-to-cryptocurrency/