Bitcoin - is it worth a punt?

BoiledBreadTomatoSauce

I know there are scams galore, but realistically, is there any money to be made from Bitcoin?

I'd be starting relatively small and know I'd need to do my homework, but so many conflicting opinions about it online that I don't know what to believe.

Linton

For a bit of fun with money that doesnt matter bitcoin is one way of providing a bit of excitement in an otherwise dreary life. It is not a sensible way of investing your life savings.

MaxiRobriguez

BoiledBreadTomatoSauce wrote: »

I know there are scams galore, but realistically, is there any money to be made from Bitcoin?

I'd be starting relatively small and know I'd need to do my homework, but so many conflicting opinions about it online that I don't know what to believe.

I don't think you can do your homework. It's an unregulated industry with limited use cases at the moment. What exactly do you expect to uncover?

Any more than 1% of your asset portfolio in cryptocurrency is too much at this point, but that doesn't stop a small flutter. Consider it a bet, rather than an investment.

eskbanker

MaxiRobriguez wrote: »

I don't think you can do your homework. It's an unregulated industry with limited use cases at the moment. What exactly do you expect to uncover?

I disagree - I'm not tempted to take a punt on crypto but if I was then I'd research all about which to buy, where to buy from, how/where to hold them, risks to bank accounts, etc, as my limited understanding is that there are many ways of doing this badly and therefore homework would be needed to minimise risks by eliminating common newbie mistakes.

Ultimately there are no guarantees though - nobody controls the price or knows its future direction with any certainty, so all the homework in the world isn't going to ensure that this can be done profitably....

MarkCarnage

There is plenty of money to be made from scams....if you are a scammer.....

Crypto currency offers similar opportunities.

I can think of a lot better things to take a punt on.

Shashy

no.
..........

DrSyn

I prefer to buy a Lotto ticket rather than bet on any cryptocurrency.

Friday 20/7/19 Euro Lotto might make you £1M and at least some of it will go to support good causes.

N1AK

BoiledBreadTomatoSauce wrote: »

I know there are scams galore, but realistically, is there any money to be made from Bitcoin?

I'd be starting relatively small and know I'd need to do my homework, but so many conflicting opinions about it online that I don't know what to believe.

There's very little point in starting small with Bitcoin. They're worth ~£7,500 each at this moment. Even if, for example, you considered £7,500 then a quadrupling of Bitcoin prices would get you to £30k. Nice but hardly life changing, and you're risking losing £7,500 to get it.

Bitcoins been worth around £15k previously, and fell back down to £2k in between.

With hindsight people look at Bitcoin as a get rich quick option, but that's because they think about people buying back when it was £10-200 per Bitcoin. Yes, someone who invested £100 at £10 per Bitcoin could now sell for £75k but you can't go back in time, and Bitcoin would have to increase to nearly £6 million each for you to get the same return from buying at the current price.

MaxiRobriguez

eskbanker wrote: »

I disagree - I'm not tempted to take a punt on crypto but if I was then I'd research all about which to buy, where to buy from, how/where to hold them, risks to bank accounts, etc, as my limited understanding is that there are many ways of doing this badly and therefore homework would be needed to minimise risks by eliminating common newbie mistakes.

That's like analysing a platform when buying a fund and then saying you've done your research on the fund...

Or, I'm going to buy Woodford Equity Income because it's on Hargreaves Lansdown top 50.

Ngozi

Bitcoin can be profitable but can equally cost you a lot.
Start of with a small amount, £100 or lower if you like, considering it can go up and down like a yo-yo best time is to buy while its low. Took a bit of a hit this week, it could still go down even more, so if you bought now and it drops, best is to hold, but equally it could go up 10% in a night.
Cash out, wait for the next drop, re-buy etc...

Other crypto coins are worth watching, but you need to be fast, Dogecoin had a 40% spike after the listing on Binance. But once everyone has made x%, everyone then sells so price goes down, really fast. Making a bit of a recovery.

eskbanker

MaxiRobriguez wrote: »

That's like analysing a platform when buying a fund and then saying you've done your research on the fund...

Or, I'm going to buy Woodford Equity Income because it's on Hargreaves Lansdown top 50.

No it's not!

You seem to be introducing an entirely different point about quantity, quality and/or timeliness of research - all I was doing was challenging your assertion that "I don't think you can do your homework" when OP clearly can do some homework and obviously should do if they wish to get involved with taking a punt on crypto.