bitcoin trading.

grey_gym_sock

hildosaver wrote: »

What you are expecting is Bitcoin to completely fail at one point and for it to become worthless - I do not believe that will occur. If you think like you do then anybody would be insane to invest anything into it so I get your point of view but I firmly believe that Bitcoin is here to stay.

that's not quite what i believe. i don't expect all bitcoin use to cease - it could happen, but i wouldn't rely on that all at - so it may well continue to have some price.

the point is: what price?

some people believe a story that bitcoin use will grow exponentially, and that therefore the price will also grow exponentially - not forever, but until both use and price are at least a several orders of magnitude higher.

i think that is completely mistaken, and when people have to give up that belief, the price will be a lot lower. this is the big bitcoin bubble, which hasn't broken yet, while smaller bubbles have come and gone.

why?

mainly, because the price level has nothing to do with the use level. most bitcoins are being hoarded by speculators, not used for transactions. and most people buying and selling bitcoin are speculating, or manipulating the price, not using it in a practical way (e.g. to buy prohibited drugs). so an increase in use has little or nothing to do with whether the price will increase.

i'm also doubtful about how much use will increase. can use cases be found outside the illicit uses which dominate so far? maybe. but it certainly won't replace use of successful fiat currencies, such as sterling. however, all this is secondary, because real use isn't what's driving the price: that's speculation and manipulation.

Theta101

....(e.g. to buy prohibited drugs)....

I'm curious why anyone would use Bitcoin for this.

Malthusian

Theta101 wrote: »

I'm curious why anyone would use Bitcoin for this.

Nerds often don't have enough friends to know a dealer, and are trepidatious about going to a dodgy area to buy it on a street corner. Hence mail order is an attractive option, despite the obvious risks.

Reaper

Theta101 wrote: »

I'm curious why anyone would use Bitcoin for this.

Unlike a bank transfer there is no paper trail. The dealer remains anonymous and cannot be tracked down solely from the transaction.

Richmc

I need some practical advise about how to set up an investment.

I have £500 to squirrel away so I thought I'd try investing in crypto currency. I know it's high risk and have been trying to research how it works.

Do I have to store it on my own PC or can it be hosted on line?
I'm looking at Etherum and Bitcoin to start with, are there any better alternatives?
Who are the safe websites to work with buying and selling?
What software do I need?
How do I work it day to day?
Is it easy to take cash out of the investment?

I'm hoping to take the £500 out once (if) it's made £500 return and then let it hopefully grow on it's own.
I'd appreciate comments from anyone with hands on experience.

hildosaver

Malthusian wrote: »

Nerds often don't have enough friends to know a dealer, and are trepidatious about going to a dodgy area to buy it on a street corner. Hence mail order is an attractive option, despite the obvious risks.

Mail order drugs is the main way people get the stuff nowadays - not just 'nerds who don't have enough friends' as you so patronisingly put it.

hildosaver

Richmc wrote: »

I need some practical advise about how to set up an investment.

I have £500 to squirrel away so I thought I'd try investing in crypto currency. I know it's high risk and have been trying to research how it works.

Do I have to store it on my own PC or can it be hosted on line? - There are several ways to store crypto - Online wallet - on an exchange - on a paper wallet - on a hardware wallet - google all of these to see which one suits you but be very wary of keeping on an exchange imo.
I'm looking at Etherum and Bitcoin to start with, are there any better alternatives? There are hundreds of 'alt coins' which are any coin that is not Bitcoin - again the internet is your friend here and make sure you do your research and do not just dive in - read forums, talk to people about coins and watch the markets for a few weeks at least before doing anything
Who are the safe websites to work with buying and selling? - the big one is coinbase but there are many others that I have used without any issue - bittylicious, local bitcoins, bittrex, etc. - again do your research
What software do I need? You do not need any software
How do I work it day to day? - not sure what you mean - are you intending to trade day to day?
Is it easy to take cash out of the investment? - There is a process you need to go through to register on an exchange and to get a bank account linked to it - it is a bit time consuming and requires paperwork and usually a photo of passports, etc. - any exchange you sign up to will give you guidance of what they need - you also need to buy and sell a bit to get your account upgraded to the level where you can sell large amounts - but generally once you have it all set-up selling is done very quickly and you can cash out anytime you want relatively quickly.

I'm hoping to take the £500 out once (if) it's made £500 return and then let it hopefully grow on it's own. Good luck with that - a 100% return is a pretty ambitious target - though the idea of reimbursing your original money is a good one.
I'd appreciate comments from anyone with hands on experience.

Good luck.

Theta101

I need some practical advise about how to set up an investment.

Do I have to store it on my own PC or can it be hosted on line?
I'm looking at Etherum and Bitcoin to start with, are there any better alternatives?
Who are the safe websites to work with buying and selling?
What software do I need?
How do I work it day to day?
Is it easy to take cash out of the investment?

I'd appreciate comments from anyone with hands on experience.

You could go the ETF route and trade the Bitcoin/Ethereum trackers.
I use Hargreaves Lansdown inside a SIPP.
I've had no issues at all.

Bitcoin Tracker
http://www.hl.co.uk/shares/shares-search-results/x/xbt-provider-ab-bitcoin-tracker-one

Ethereum Tracker
http://www.hl.co.uk/shares/shares-search-results/x/xbt-provider-ethereum-tracker-one

Reaper

I'm a novice myself having only recently dipped my toe in (I'm still deeply suspicious of a currency that doesn't do what currencies are meant to do) but here goes...

Richmc wrote: »

Do I have to store it on my own PC or can it be hosted on line?

Either. As exchanges get hacked from time to time after buying the coins most people download them into a local wallet. You just install a wallet program to do this (eg Exodus). For more security still take it off line onto hardware.

I'm looking at Etherum and Bitcoin to start with, are there any better alternatives?

I don't know enough about them to advise but I am wary of the obscure ones. I'm not sure they will survive. I bought some Etherium on the advise of my brother who likes their development plans.

Who are the safe websites to work with buying and selling?
What software do I need?

Any of the big ones. No software needed except the wallet.

How do I work it day to day?

Not sure what you mean. You buy, hold, sell. Getting money in and out involves jumping through hoops. I set up a Revolut account as it allows commission free currency exchange and you can send money from it to the exchanges cheaply.

Is it easy to take cash out of the investment?

As with buying it involves a bit of work.

badgerboy

I get up to six scam emails a day offering investments in Bitcoins - I never open or reply to these, I just forward them to the Phishing Police website.