Questions on Trading and fees etc

[genesis2020]

Im just getting started with Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin in general. To 'get my feet wet' I thought it would be a good learning exercise to actually invest in some currencies, including bitcoin, so I created a CoinBase account and bought into several currencies in the top 10, the majority of my admittedly small investment was Bitcoin.
However, this incurred large transaction fees (£3 each time, totalling over £20 when you factor in the different currencies I bought bits of) which, to me, is not sustainable. I've been reading blog posts and listening to lots of podcasts where they talk about traders doing dozens or even hundreds of transactions a day. The economics of this aren't feasible unless you're making massive gains which is unlikely in the current market.

My question, therefore, is how to the established Bitcoin traders (and those on other currencies) transact to reduce/eliminate these high fees? I'm not concerned about the cost that I've incurred to date; to me this was just out of my training budget so to speak as it gave me practical experience of buying Bitcoin. Its more for my understanding and potential in the future.

Thanks

[1713899009]

1713899009

[panganib999]

Either find another exchange with relatively lower transaction fees, or just p2p exchange, which is free(depends if you use escrow). It also depends how you buy BTC. Generally, fees are higher when you use debit/credit cards to buy them, and most exchanges adopt it. Plus, if you're using an exchange from a foreign country, that could also result in additional transaction fees. Most traders also study the spreads of the coins they are currently trading in plus limiting orders (but doesn't guarantee the transaction would continue), they could pretty much bypass a lot of the transac or at least lower those that are needed.

[genesis2020]

Thanks for the prompt reply. I transferred all my funds to Coinbase via BACS so there were no fees there or foreign currency fees. It was literally purchase fees that Coinbase charge to enact the transaction. I get that's how they make money for the service they provide, and I'm fine with that. However, long term its not a feasible way of transacting.

How does the P2P transacting work then in a practical sense? How would one go about purchasing Bitcoin via P2P? What tools, site(s), method would someone follow?

Dont worry, I'm not going to jump in and do it, I'm just trying to understand how it all works

[RapTarX]

A bit off topic; although in reputed exchanges, the fees are proportionally high, I wouldn't mind bearing it. Many less reputed exchanges/ low quality exchanges might offer cheaper fee which I wouldn't be interested to use because these exchanges might be vulnerable & subjective to get hacked by hackers or the exchange itself can scam you. Therefore, when you choose exchange, put less importance to fee; look at their reputation to avoid the potential risk.
Coinbase is one the best exchange but never think of holding your crypto in any exchange for long time. Remember- Not your keys, not your crypto.

bought into several currencies in the top 10, the majority of my admittedly small investment was Bitcoin.

I would prefer at least 50% BTC in my portfolio(100% is even better); not a financial advice though.

How does the P2P transacting work then in a practical sense? How would one go about purchasing Bitcoin via P2P? What tools, site(s), method would someone follow?

Try currency exchange section of the forum. Be aware of scammers- always use escrow.

[o_e_l_e_o]

What you have done is make an instant buy order via Coinbase, which is subjected to high fees of 0.5% plus $3: https://support.coinbase.com/customer/en/portal/articles/2109597-coinbase-pricing-fees-disclosures.

What you want to do is make a market order via Coinbase Pro, which will be subject to much lower fees of just 0.5%: https://pro.coinbase.com/fees

You can transfer your funds from Coinbase to Coinbase Pro free and instantly by following the instructions here: https://support.pro.coinbase.com/customer/en/portal/articles/2945332-how-to-transfer-funds-between-your-coinbase-pro-and-coinbase-accounts

Bear in mind that Coinbase Pro, as the name suggest, is more complicated than just clicking on "buy", as you would on Coinbase. Even if you just want to place an order at current market value, you will need to spend some time learning to understand the interface. Platforms such as this is how traders trade to avoid paying large fees as you have done, and if you look at the second link above, you'll see that the more they trade, the less percentage they pay in fees.

[DannyHamilton]

Coinbase offers multiple purchase options.  Some are very expensive (such as the way you did it).  Others are very cheap (for example a Limit Order on their pro.coinbase.com website).

So at Coinbase, if you use either ACH or SWIFT to make your cash deposit, and then place a Limit Order, then the most you'll pay in fees is half of a percent.  That means £20 in fees should get you at least £4000 worth of crypto.

The fees are reduced if you make larger purchases.  For example, any single purchase of $10,000 or more will experience a fee of only 0.35% (That's $35 for a purchase of $10,000).