Buying vs trading

[avikz]

Whats the difference between actually buying bitcoin and trading it with someone for a price in order to acquire it?  Werent the early days the latter and not actually buying it but paying someone else to trade it and thus acquiring it?  How did "buying" bitcoin a really long time ago change from how today people buy it at a fixed price?

What's the difference between staying in a loan free apartment and staying in a rented apartment? if you understand this, you will also understand the difference between trading and investing.

In trading, you do not have the ownership of the Bitcoins. But in investing you actually own that Bitcoin. Tradings are usually valid for a day while the timeline is decided by you in investing. Trading is short term while investing is usually long term. Trading makes money, investing builds wealth.

[moneystery]

it's the same, the only difference is the method, if you buy bitcoin from someone else that means you are doing a p2p transaction, but if you use an exchange then it is a cex transaction. no need to bother yourself with things like this because now most people use exchanges for their transactions and it has been going on for a long time... so whichever you feel you understand better, just do that. the most important thing is how you understand how to store bitcoin securely in your wallet.

[Natalim]

Whats the difference between actually buying bitcoin and trading it with someone for a price in order to acquire it?  Werent the early days the latter and not actually buying it but paying someone else to trade it and thus acquiring it?  How did "buying" bitcoin a really long time ago change from how today people buy it at a fixed price?

One thing is certain, both aims to acquire bitcoin. It’s just that when you buy, you can buy and hold then, but trading means buying or selling your bitcoin, you just have to do it at the perfect time to ensure higher profits. However, for a beginner, focus on buying and hodling, and sell only when you see the market price is profitable to sell. Trading requires more knowledge and experience, you can try it later on when you think you’re capable enough.

[Baki202]

If you want to trade with your bitcoin, it's better you learn how to trade yourself because there are materials on the internet that can guide you. Nowadays, giving someone your bitcoin to trade for you means that you are investing for someone, because you will get scam. If you cannot trade on your own, it's better that you buy and hodli for long term with little risk. When you buy or sell bitcoin, you are trading.

What people even need to understand is that they need to buy before they can trade and when it comes to buying that is like one of the easiest thing to do and the place that there will be enough challenge and you will not be able to cross the border with tools which is knowledge is trading because people always take it lightly they don't know that trading comes with a lot of responsibility. And you will need a lot of guidance to be able to trade, it's either you learn how you trade or you forget about the whole thing there material la to guide but I will strongly advise everyone to have someone to put them through in there investment, there is a lot you will learn physical than just trust some books you will find very hard to understand.

[BenCodie]

Whats the difference between actually buying bitcoin and trading it with someone for a price in order to acquire it?  Werent the early days the latter and not actually buying it but paying someone else to trade it and thus acquiring it?  How did "buying" bitcoin a really long time ago change from how today people buy it at a fixed price?

one can be on the free market, where you're trading for the spot price. Another could be for a fixed price and a varying fee, from a company/ATM or something of the like. Another, like you said, could be a peer to peer (p2p) transaction, where there is an offset on the going rate and either an in-person trade for cash or a trade for another online form of currency (like paypal, or bank transfer). One the leaders of P2P trading back in bitcoin's hay day was localbitcoins. They shut down operations quite some time ago though, and there aren't many local solutions around anymore.

[Callido]

it's the same, the only difference is the method, if you buy bitcoin from someone else that means you are doing a p2p transaction, but if you use an exchange then it is a cex transaction. no need to bother yourself with things like this because now most people use exchanges for their transactions and it has been going on for a long time... so whichever you feel you understand better, just do that. the most important thing is how you understand how to store bitcoin securely in your wallet.

All what OP said i find confusing to understand but i will just drag elements from other responses i see here.

Trading is just the same, exchange of currencies, selling one currency to get another sometimes it is done with the intentions of making profit and the other just to own a separate currency for any use like trading your BTC into USDT so you can be able to do P2P or perhaps another form of trading is like predicting and analyzing future prices, this is the hardest part of trading and not advisable to newbies who has not yet understood Bitcoin well and also have not accumulated good amount of Bitcoin for holding.

[GbitG]

Whatever is easiest for you, just do that.

If you don’t have technical trading skills, I suggest keeping it simple - just buy and hold for the long term. If early buyers were able to make a decent profit, then following their strategy isn’t a bad idea.

At the end of the day, only you know your own skills in investing. But like I said, keep it simple, buy and hold. It’s a proven strategy that has made investors profitable, especially those who trust Bitcoin and don’t panic when the market goes bearish.

Yep, that's true mate!!!
If someone didn't have much more technical skill, then it would be good for him to just stay in the edge and try to buy. Because in the Trading department, we need a a lot of effort to get make his prediction right, as well as Trading being much riskier than casual Buying. So, I agree with you that if a person does not have technical skill, then the easiest solution for him is to buy the dip and hold. I mean buy at the right spot and hold for long term because Bitcoin proves to be profitable in the long term.

Besides this, trading is also a good way to make a profit, but in actuality, one has to put a lot of effort into taking trades. One has to monitor subtle things like market sentiment, dynamic trends, etc. which is usually a hard stance for beginners.

[edy_58]

If you want to trade with your bitcoin, it's better you learn how to trade yourself because there are materials on the internet that can guide you. Nowadays, giving someone your bitcoin to trade for you means that you are investing for someone, because you will get scam. If you cannot trade on your own, it's better that you buy and hodli for long term with little risk. When you buy or sell bitcoin, you are trading.

What people even need to understand is that they need to buy before they can trade and when it comes to buying that is like one of the easiest thing to do and the place that there will be enough challenge and you will not be able to cross the border with tools which is knowledge is trading because people always take it lightly they don't know that trading comes with a lot of responsibility. And you will need a lot of guidance to be able to trade, it's either you learn how you trade or you forget about the whole thing there material la to guide but I will strongly advise everyone to have someone to put them through in there investment, there is a lot you will learn physical than just trust some books you will find very hard to understand.

When we just started it would be better to buy it first, but we also need to know when the right time to buy it so that we can benefit from it and in terms of trading of course there are many things we must understand so as not to make mistakes that make us lose money in it And learning to trade first becomes very important and true as you say learning from someone will certainly be better than reading the theory itself because when we don't understand then we can ask those who guide us.

[uneng]

All what OP said i find confusing to understand but i will just drag elements from other responses i see here.

Trading is just the same, exchange of currencies, selling one currency to get another sometimes it is done with the intentions of making profit and the other just to own a separate currency for any use like trading your BTC into USDT so you can be able to do P2P or perhaps another form of trading is like predicting and analyzing future prices, this is the hardest part of trading and not advisable to newbies who has not yet understood Bitcoin well and also have not accumulated good amount of Bitcoin for holding.

Yes, in order to buy Bitcoin, you have to trade another currency for it. Every sales and purchases of Bitcoin involve the concept of trading. There are those who attempt to profit from short term trading or daily trading, which consists in trying to buy BTC for the cheapest price to sell it as soon as possible for the highest possible price, taking advantage of the small fluctuations over Bitcoin price along the day.

Meanwhile, there are long term traders, who prefer to wait Bitcoin to get more valuable after months or years in until they finally sell it for profit. It's the safest strategy in crypto industry to go through this route, as the risks are much lesser when compared to short term trading.

It may be frustrating for investors who don't have a large portfolio to hold for the long term, but that is how they should build their finances, if they don't want to expose themselves to high risks which have potential to prevent them from thriving along the years.

[nullama]

Whats the difference between actually buying bitcoin and trading it with someone for a price in order to acquire it?  Werent the early days the latter and not actually buying it but paying someone else to trade it and thus acquiring it?  How did "buying" bitcoin a really long time ago change from how today people buy it at a fixed price?

You are always doing exactly that, paying fiat for an amount of sats.

When you buy at an exchange, they simply list your intention to buy X amount of sats, then compare it with a list of people wanting to buy at different prices, and complete your transaction by filling up those orders up to the amount you wanted.

Of course it can be more complex than that, but that's the basic idea, you are always buying sats from someone in particular. Exchanges just make this more efficient.

In the past let's say you wanted to buy 10 BTC, but only 2 people were selling and they only had 1 and 4 in their wallets, so you could technically only buy 5 BTC in two independent transaction, manually talking with them, making independent payments, etc. It's a hassle.

With an exchange you have way more people buying and selling all the time, so it's easy to fill up the transaction in seconds, and you only need to pay once to the exchange.

[Sebas.tian]

I think, there is a little difference between buying and trading coins , because you must buy from the market before you will be thinking on how to trade your coins to make income from them. Buying is the act of punching coins from the seller and hold for long term or short term before you can sell to make income, because you have to make a decision on the term that you are capable of holding the coins to achieve a good results at the end. Telling someone to trade for you has made many people to lose their funds, because there are scammers in the community acting like genuine traders that can help people to trade to make income for them than to ended up in scamming such people, and I will not encourage you as a newbie to allow people to trade for you.

[nullama]

I think, there is a little difference between buying and trading coins , because you must buy from the market before you will be thinking on how to trade your coins to make income from them. Buying is the act of punching coins from the seller and hold for long term or short term before you can sell to make income, because you have to make a decision on the term that you are capable of holding the coins to achieve a good results at the end. Telling someone to trade for you has made many people to lose their funds, because there are scammers in the community acting like genuine traders that can help people to trade to make income for them than to ended up in scamming such people, and I will not encourage you as a newbie to allow people to trade for you.

People have lost their money from exchanges as well...

"Quadriga: The cryptocurrency exchange that lost $135m": https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47203706

And that's just one example, there have been many more, like Mt.Gox and others.

The only safe way to store your coins is with your own wallet.

Not your keys, not your coins....

[betswift]

When you have the keys to the storage where the Bitcoin is - it's yours.
If it's not the case - you can trade it, but it's not yours, basically, due to the exchange having control over the storage where it is contained.
So in order to "buy" it, you should just transfer it afterward.