day trading - what's the catch?

[CEG5952]

When bitcoin did not have any/only a few merchants accepting it for payment, it was not competing with anyone. Today with LTC having no/very few merchants accepting it for payment, it needs to compete with bitcoin which has a stronger network and is not missing any features that LTC has.

That doesn't mean there isn't a place for LTC or other altcoins. It just means that bitcoin has the "first mover" advantage that ensures it to be the likely forerunner. Doesn't change anything.

[InwardContour]

When bitcoin did not have any/only a few merchants accepting it for payment, it was not competing with anyone. Today with LTC having no/very few merchants accepting it for payment, it needs to compete with bitcoin which has a stronger network and is not missing any features that LTC has.

That doesn't mean there isn't a place for LTC or other altcoins. It just means that bitcoin has the "first mover" advantage that ensures it to be the likely forerunner. Doesn't change anything.

Each additional coin that a merchant accepts will cost some incremental amount for the merchant, if it is additional training for employees, for paying the LTC equivalent of coinbase, updating their website, or other costs. However if a business accepts BTC they will really not receive any additional benefit from accepting BTC and LTC as it is very easy to convert LTC to BTC on most/any exchange.

[Lamigo]

When bitcoin did not have any/only a few merchants accepting it for payment, it was not competing with anyone. Today with LTC having no/very few merchants accepting it for payment, it needs to compete with bitcoin which has a stronger network and is not missing any features that LTC has.

That doesn't mean there isn't a place for LTC or other altcoins. It just means that bitcoin has the "first mover" advantage that ensures it to be the likely forerunner. Doesn't change anything.

Each additional coin that a merchant accepts will cost some incremental amount for the merchant, if it is additional training for employees, for paying the LTC equivalent of coinbase, updating their website, or other costs. However if a business accepts BTC they will really not receive any additional benefit from accepting BTC and LTC as it is very easy to convert LTC to BTC on most/any exchange.

And don't forget the user base of BTC and LTC are highly over-lapping (those holding some LTC are likely to be holding some BTC as well).

[lynn_402]

When bitcoin did not have any/only a few merchants accepting it for payment, it was not competing with anyone. Today with LTC having no/very few merchants accepting it for payment, it needs to compete with bitcoin which has a stronger network and is not missing any features that LTC has.

That doesn't mean there isn't a place for LTC or other altcoins. It just means that bitcoin has the "first mover" advantage that ensures it to be the likely forerunner. Doesn't change anything.

Each additional coin that a merchant accepts will cost some incremental amount for the merchant, if it is additional training for employees, for paying the LTC equivalent of coinbase, updating their website, or other costs. However if a business accepts BTC they will really not receive any additional benefit from accepting BTC and LTC as it is very easy to convert LTC to BTC on most/any exchange.

There are a few services like GoCoin which make it really easy to accept a few altcoins. No additional training is needed for employees.
There's no reason to accept BTC only when there are services like this.

Recently, Hustler.com started accepting BTC, LTC, and Dogecoin for subscriptions through GoCoin, and I'm quite sure that trend will continue

[dougg]

The catch is always losing your precious bitcoin lol.

If it was this easy, everyone would be trading all day and quit their jobs by now.

[AirC]

The catch is always losing your precious bitcoin lol.

If it was this easy, everyone would be trading all day and quit their jobs by now.

Thats pretty obvious dude.. 

[hollowframe]

When bitcoin did not have any/only a few merchants accepting it for payment, it was not competing with anyone. Today with LTC having no/very few merchants accepting it for payment, it needs to compete with bitcoin which has a stronger network and is not missing any features that LTC has.

That doesn't mean there isn't a place for LTC or other altcoins. It just means that bitcoin has the "first mover" advantage that ensures it to be the likely forerunner. Doesn't change anything.

Each additional coin that a merchant accepts will cost some incremental amount for the merchant, if it is additional training for employees, for paying the LTC equivalent of coinbase, updating their website, or other costs. However if a business accepts BTC they will really not receive any additional benefit from accepting BTC and LTC as it is very easy to convert LTC to BTC on most/any exchange.

There are a few services like GoCoin which make it really easy to accept a few altcoins. No additional training is needed for employees.
There's no reason to accept BTC only when there are services like this.

Recently, Hustler.com started accepting BTC, LTC, and Dogecoin for subscriptions through GoCoin, and I'm quite sure that trend will continue

I would assume that it costs GoCoin some additional amount for each additional altcoin that they support. These additional costs would likely need to be passed onto their customers.

[FattyMcButterpants]

When bitcoin did not have any/only a few merchants accepting it for payment, it was not competing with anyone. Today with LTC having no/very few merchants accepting it for payment, it needs to compete with bitcoin which has a stronger network and is not missing any features that LTC has.

That doesn't mean there isn't a place for LTC or other altcoins. It just means that bitcoin has the "first mover" advantage that ensures it to be the likely forerunner. Doesn't change anything.

totally. i think we might see similar price movement to the last bubble -- where altcoins looked like they were all going to die, then BOOM, they took off and outperformed BTC.

[notrly]

Not sure if I should make a fresh post but seen as this thread is already active and gone on a tangent...

I've put a small amount of coin in btc-e just to try day trading for to see if I can turn $10 to $10.20 but have an issue.
I put a sell order in but no one seems to buy it even if it's below the high order.
Some trades have gone through but not sure of the format yet.
I thought I put a sell order in and whenever someone want's to buy BTC at around my price then I get a cut.

Here's the history of a previous sell I made but still not sure why other orders aren't selling.

BTC/GBP    sell    0.00153402 BTC    377.422 GBP    0.57897289 GBP    11.07.14 21:37
BTC/GBP    sell    0.0451778 BTC    377.422 GBP    17.05109563 GBP    11.07.14 21:31
BTC/GBP    sell    0.0560092 BTC    377.422 GBP    21.13910428 GBP    11.07.14 21:13

Here's a buy I did
BTC/GBP    buy    0.384819 BTC    371.733 GBP    143.04992132 GBP    14.07.14 21:55

I understand there needs to be a buyer but thought some of my cheaper sales would go through.

Also should I trade USD, EUR or GBP as I've done everything in GBP.

Or rather (I just noticed) that Volume: 2 BTC / 656 GBP but USD is Volume: 1748 BTC / 1077710 USD
I could do EUR as I have a European bank and UK but not USD so would have to convert USD to GBP at some point which then feels like forex.

Thanks

[giveBTCpls]

Yeah daytrading is almost like gambling. Most big gains are made from waiting. Warren Buffet took 10 years to cash out on his Washintong Post bonds and he converted like 10k into 300. The wait fucking sucks and you may lose it all for all we know tho.

[Domino]

I've put a small amount of coin in btc-e just to try day trading for to see if I can turn $10 to $10.20 but have an issue.

What about just deposit your bitcoin in PD (or any other reputable gambling sites) and make a 97% bet? It will be much simpler.

[lynn_402]

I've put a small amount of coin in btc-e just to try day trading for to see if I can turn $10 to $10.20 but have an issue.

What about just deposit your bitcoin in PD (or any other reputable gambling sites) and make a 97% bet? It will be much simpler.

If I remember correctly, I've read on this forum about someone betting an absurd amount of Bitcoin (about 1000?) for a 97% bet.
He ended up losing

[jump4ever]

I've put a small amount of coin in btc-e just to try day trading for to see if I can turn $10 to $10.20 but have an issue.

What about just deposit your bitcoin in PD (or any other reputable gambling sites) and make a 97% bet? It will be much simpler.

If I remember correctly, I've read on this forum about someone betting an absurd amount of Bitcoin (about 1000?) for a 97% bet.
He ended up losing

if you go to just-dice you can see in the statistics someone lost a lot of bitcoin (don't know exactly how much) on a 97% bet.
So you take a pretty high risk for low profit.

[spazzdla]

Hello,
I'm just interested if is it possible or there is some catch. I see that price of BTC on stocks is different (of course) but the difference is big enough to make money with just buying on one stock and selling on the other one. So my Q is what's the catch? I already checked fees and still it's should be ok.

I've never trade BTC (yet) so correct me if I'm wrong or there is only classic risks like falling price..

I check price @  http://bitcoincharts.com/markets/currency/USD.html

Thanks in advance for your time.

This is arbitrage not day trading.. 1000's are doing it and with many things.  I know a girl at my work that is pushing products from shevels at a low cost for a higher one on amazon.  It is prefectly legal and the crminals in power will want their tax money.

[HarHarHar9965]

I suggest with bitcoin, trading larger cycles, and not day trading.

[lynn_402]

I suggest with bitcoin, trading larger cycles, and not day trading.

how do you mean?

Instead of trying to profit from the <5% fluctuations that happen in the span of a few days, trade on large time-scales; ie. buy now and sell when the price is at 800$, then buy back at 600$, etc. This is less risky, since it depends less on luck.

I think that's what he meant.

[CEG5952]

I suggest with bitcoin, trading larger cycles, and not day trading.

how do you mean?

Instead of trying to profit from the <5% fluctuations that happen in the span of a few days, trade on large time-scales; ie. buy now and sell when the price is at 800$, then buy back at 600$, etc. This is less risky, since it depends less on luck.

I think that's what he meant.

that's actually common sense, not day-trading I think

Just depends what kind of trader you are. Some are very experienced trading single waves/sub-waves, and so are more inclined to make several trades in a day.

[Cryptopher]

I suggest with bitcoin, trading larger cycles, and not day trading.

how do you mean?

Instead of trying to profit from the <5% fluctuations that happen in the span of a few days, trade on large time-scales; ie. buy now and sell when the price is at 800$, then buy back at 600$, etc. This is less risky, since it depends less on luck.

I think that's what he meant.

It's all about opportunism. Set low buy orders, high sell orders - you never know if they are going to be filled, but if they are then you're laughing.

Flash dumps occur more frequently than you might be inclined to think - if you're one of the smart ones with a speculatively low buy order then you can profit massively if/when the dump hits the market you're trading in. I don't mean a few hundred dollars, or even over a timescale, the returns can be massive - many thousands from a few hundred, and almost instant by dumping in another market or exchange.

[cryptasm]

As long as you know what you're doing and don't risk too much btc (never more than you can afford to lose) you can make a decent amount of bitcoin without too much stress.  Challenge is to not get too greedy 

[Lieji]

I suggest with bitcoin, trading larger cycles, and not day trading.

how do you mean?

Instead of trying to profit from the <5% fluctuations that happen in the span of a few days, trade on large time-scales; ie. buy now and sell when the price is at 800$, then buy back at 600$, etc. This is less risky, since it depends less on luck.

I think that's what he meant.

It's all about opportunism. Set low buy orders, high sell orders - you never know if they are going to be filled, but if they are then you're laughing.

Flash dumps occur more frequently than you might be inclined to think - if you're one of the smart ones with a speculatively low buy order then you can profit massively if/when the dump hits the market you're trading in. I don't mean a few hundred dollars, or even over a timescale, the returns can be massive - many thousands from a few hundred, and almost instant by dumping in another market or exchange.

That's true.
For example on Feb 10, the price on btc-e dropped from $700 to $102 and went back up to $600 in a few hours.