just the idea of a new de-centralised payment system sounded interesting, accounts are relatively easier to find and from a trading point of view it's a lot easier then learning the workings of FOREX lol
To be honest, I was trading forex before bitcoin and I have to say that forex is a more accessible, easier to read, and a more profitable market. Here's why. Technical analysis is a great tool for profiting in the markets, but it tends to only work well if there are many practitioners using it. For example, the 200 period moving average is a widely-watched indicator and you can watch currency and stock prices bouncing around it. This happens because lots of individuals are watching these same things and have a plan / system based upon the same things. In essence, technical analysis becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy in larger markets.
Bitcoin is difficult to read / trade in that it is an illiquid market and there are relatively few individuals. You can make / lose a million dollars a day in the forex market, but a million dollars would cause the price to rise / fall 30% or more in bitcoin.
Here is the real deal when it comes to technical trading. If you do this, you will have a chance.
1. Develop a system:
--How many lots/bitcoin/shares will you trade?
--When will you enter?
--When will you exit?
--What times will you trade?
2. Backtest the system:
--Open a NinjaTrader demo account with a currency broker (I suggest MB Trading) and load up a chart. (I suggest NinjaTrader because it's great for this type of testing - you can click the arrow keys to move forward/back 1 bar)
--Move the chart one bar at a time recording your entries/exits in an Excel spreadsheet - chart your performance and do some metrics to see if your system has an edge
--Do this for 200-400 trades
3. Forward test the system:
--Take the system you developed and trade it on a demo account with fake money for at least two months and see if your results hold with your backtested results
4. Live trade
--If your system is robust and holds up, trade it with small amounts of money
--As you continue to make profits, scale in with more and more money