Just read an article that had the writer reply to some comments made post article, found it interesting. Here is the full article first.
How I became a Bitcoin traderBy Matthew DeBord
Readers of DeBord Report will know that I've become embroiled in a controversy/experiment involving Bitcoin, the cyber- or crypto-currency that's captured the hearts and minds of some passionate supporters in the technology world. In response to some commenters on the posts I've written so far, I decided to buy and trade some Bitcoin, just to see how it would go.
I suppose I could call this "Bitcoin Challenge" to parallel the "Bike Challenge" I'm also currently engaged in.
There are some superficial similarities. I haven't ridden a bike anywhere in more than a decade. I've also never traded currencies — or much of anything else.
However, my sideline career trading BTC is off to a decent start. I don't know why, but the price of Bitcoin has been headed up of late. Because this is just an experiment and not an attempt to make real money, a few weeks back I purchased $10 of Bitcoin. I bought BTC at $3.90 and, a few minutes ago, sold it at $5.40.
I wound up making $3.70, roughly, on the trade, after the fee charged by Mt. Gox, a Bitcoin exchange. I had to make the trade because I'd set a conservative 20-percent return objective and an optimistic 25-percent objective. A return of 37.5 percent meant that I'd beaten my optimistic goal by more than 10 percent. Just for some perspective, the total real return in the S&P 500 since the 1950s is only 7 percent.
Also, as you can see, I picked the $10 amount initially because it makes it easy for me to do the math.
What I'll do now is wait until the price either falls to my previous 25-percent goal and reinvest the original $10; or if the price keeps going up, I'll bank the original $10 and invest the $3.70. This will enable me to devise a sort of long-short position — I don't know if you can trade BTC short on Mt. Gox — by putting my profit at risk and letting the $10 sit around waiting for the price to fall to jump in.
I welcome anyone who wants to pick this strategy apart to do so because I have no idea what I'm doing...for now!
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/economy/2012/01/04/4168/how-i-became-bitcoin-trader/After the article someone made the comment, "You are acting like a day trader in a volatile market. This will be the way of BTC for a while until distribution is wider and assessments of its value is better understood." to which Matt replied
This is actually why I'm doing this. I'm trying to prove -- to myself -- that BTC is actually something you trade rather than something you use to buy stuff. An instrument, not a currency. However, I've just gotten started and have some other tricks in mind. Thanks for your comment.
I do not know this guy or his history, but it seems if you want to start making money with Bitcoin with a guy who claims he has no idea what he is doing for now, Matt is your man.
