Scalping Bitcoin - Any experiences?

[BitcoinTraderFX]

I have been toying with scalping, which I define as quick 30 second trades that scalp for $20-$50-$100 or so.

These would be trades where you sit in front of your computer during the whole process.

In techno speak, you would be hitting the bid and the ask for quick scalps, acting as market maker. Commissions are so low, that I'm surprised people aren't making market already. It's akin to being a floor trader.

This wouldn't hurt bitcoin since it would just be infusing volume, and not far enough to introduce volatility.

I was thinking of releasing an indicator, but I'm not sure if it's something people do, or are interested in.

I have been doing some for fun, mainly I would like some feedback on what experiences have been doing it.

Thanks for any feedback!

: )

cj

[im3w1l]

There are some open source scalping bots available if I remember correctly.

[bitleif]

I've been thinking about it, but I don't feel I have enough experience to make a consistent profit without getting burned. Would be interesting to hear more about definitely.

[BitcoinTraderFX]

I don't see how bots can make money, these is not enough volume yet, and you pretty much have to see what's going on in terms of volume available at the bid and ask. I'm an algorithmic trading programmer, and even I won't go the bot route yet.

I'm talking about a really quick trade, that might be over with in 10-30 seconds.

[oda.krell]

What are your decisions based on, in such a short time frame? Very fast moving average-based indicators?

The shortest window I personally see as "tradeable" is something in the range of selling/buying back within an hour or two.

[damnek]

BitcoinTraderFX, goomboo wrote a detailed plan on how to develop profitable bots for bitcoin trading in this thread:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=60501.0

I've never tried it, but he's reporting huge gains.

As for very short-term scalping, I have serious doubts about whether that will pay off in the long run. I can tell you however that 1-2 hour scalps have worked very well for me.

[beaconpcguru]

People do do this, readily and have been.  Except its not in the department your talking about.. they scalps hundreds of thousands... if you had 50,000 bitcoins, how would you play with the profits in order to maximize your own and minimize others? This question is rhetorical

[gtabmx]

I don't think this will work. One lag-filled swing in the wrong direction while you are holding a position or have an order, and by the time you cancel or exit, the whole months profit can be gone.