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Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: January 5th, 2018, 11:42 am
by nathan
Well, perhaps 'speculating', rather than investing!

Does anybody on here have experience in how to get started in this area? Given that volatility may equal opportunity, it would be interesting to take a small position and learn about this area.

Nathan

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: January 5th, 2018, 12:55 pm
by moorfield
However you do cryptocurrency speculation or investment, remember it's an extremely immature and volatile asset class. You need to start with some serious risk management before you enter any position. Plan for, at least, a 50% price drop in the underlying. If you want to learn, "paper trade" a small position for the next few months.

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: January 5th, 2018, 1:06 pm
by PinkDalek
nathan wrote:Well, perhaps 'speculating', rather than investing!

Does anybody on here have experience in how to get started in this area? Given that volatility may equal opportunity, it would be interesting to take a small position and learn about this area.

Nathan


Plenty on Bitcoins, Britcoins, Cryptocurrencies etc over at "Other Investing":

viewforum.php?f=78

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: January 5th, 2018, 1:07 pm
by moorfield
nathan wrote:Does anybody on here have experience in how to get started in this area?


... and to answer your question, most of the main spreadbetting brokers are now offering bitcoin markets, the simplest entry point for most.

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: January 5th, 2018, 2:51 pm
by JMN2
moorfield wrote:However you do cryptocurrency speculation or investment, remember it's an extremely immature and volatile asset class. You need to start with some serious risk management before you enter any position. Plan for, at least, a 50% price drop in the underlying. If you want to learn, "paper trade" a small position for the next few months.


"paper trade"...haven't heard this silly term since the late 90's...

Just buy some, one or more or a fraction depending on your means or appetite - caveat emptor - put it away and embrace the next decade as a bitcoin millionaire. What a collectible!

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: January 5th, 2018, 3:19 pm
by moorfield
JMN2 wrote:"paper trade"...haven't heard this silly term since the late 90's...


Don't knock it - it's a useful approach for testing ones risk appetite, particularly if trading on margin.

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: January 5th, 2018, 3:45 pm
by JMN2
moorfield wrote:
JMN2 wrote:"paper trade"...haven't heard this silly term since the late 90's...


Don't knock it - it's a useful approach for testing ones risk appetite, particularly if trading on margin.


In the back of one's head one knows that is make believe. Doesn't teach anything to anyone.

Although, I've always played with real money and haven't learned anything...

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: January 5th, 2018, 3:51 pm
by DiamondEcho
I'd suggest it to a 'complete newbie' too. I'd have benefited from it when I started out as in it's absence I learned a few early very painful lessons in not blindly chasing the fad/tip-of-the-day (then equity warrants). Those starting out likely have an idea what their strategy is, so just create the paper-trade/shadow/virtual-portfolio equivalent, and observe for a period of time. If you added deal-costs and honest trade prices I can't see a downside from at least trialling such an pre-investment approach.

p.s. to your latest just now JMN, it isn't real so true you don't feel it as much. But if you outright overlook the outcome then you're cruising for a fall, and perhaps should start very small in live markets.

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: January 5th, 2018, 6:55 pm
by redsturgeon
Moderator Message:
Moved here from "Trading My Way To A Million"

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: January 6th, 2018, 7:25 am
by Bubblesofearth
nathan wrote:Well, perhaps 'speculating', rather than investing!

Does anybody on here have experience in how to get started in this area? Given that volatility may equal opportunity, it would be interesting to take a small position and learn about this area.

Nathan


Question - why is cryptocurrency more interesting as an investment than;

- collectables such as coins, stamps, paintings etc

- penny shares that are just as volatile as crptocurrencies.

- commodities futures

- one of many other investments that are just as volatile

Answer - because bitcoin has been the 'hot topic' in the news for the last year.

Is that a good reason to invest?

BoE

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: January 8th, 2018, 9:44 am
by feder1
Can I post this link from another company on the best way to invest in bitcoin etc.?


https://www.fool.co.uk/investing/2017/1 ... urrencies/

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: January 16th, 2018, 11:11 am
by argoal
As I type, Bitcoin is at $11,843 having falled from a high of around 19,345 in December.

It looks like a crash could be on the cards any time now. Any guesses as to how low this could go?

On the other hand it could be a shake out ready for another climb to 20K and beyond.

My money (virtual not real) is on a crash.

It is fun to watch from the sidelines whichever way it goes.

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: January 16th, 2018, 10:07 pm
by paulnumbers
argoal wrote:As I type, Bitcoin is at $11,843 having falled from a high of around 19,345 in December.

It looks like a crash could be on the cards any time now. Any guesses as to how low this could go?

On the other hand it could be a shake out ready for another climb to 20K and beyond.

My money (virtual not real) is on a crash.

It is fun to watch from the sidelines whichever way it goes.


A screen of red... https://coinranking.com/

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: January 16th, 2018, 11:37 pm
by Hampshirelad
paulnumbers wrote:
A screen of red... https://coinranking.com/


Theres 2721 "coins" listed on that site!

I'll be suprised if any of these survive 2018....

I do see the rise of central bank crypto's sometime in future however.....governments will love the power/control it provides for them.

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: November 25th, 2018, 7:50 am
by bulltraderpt
Here's the Bit Coin graph only from January 16 through to today (25 Nov 2018).

This is probably one of the best examples you'll find ever find of Tulip mania style 'investing'.

https://uk.advfn.com/p.php?pid=chartscr ... N%5EBTCUSD

Oh and a cheery article to boot!

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11- ... s-continue

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: August 5th, 2019, 4:05 pm
by mjbdreamer
paulnumbers wrote:
argoal wrote:As I type, Bitcoin is at $11,843 having falled from a high of around 19,345 in December.

It looks like a crash could be on the cards any time now. Any guesses as to how low this could go?

On the other hand it could be a shake out ready for another climb to 20K and beyond.

My money (virtual not real) is on a crash.

It is fun to watch from the sidelines whichever way it goes.


You might be interested to have seen how you would have done if you'd bought at the £3k level after the spike and drop. Still a good opportunity to get in. I'll be back in a year to update again.

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: August 8th, 2019, 8:17 am
by Tzvikmister
So luckily I bought some a while ago and now I'm benefitting from this incredible rise. Yet still, I think it's a good time to invest and buy some, even if they say that the bubble will burst anytime soon (as they've been saying it for the last 3 years or even more)

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: August 10th, 2019, 9:52 am
by Gilgongo
nathan wrote:Does anybody on here have experience in how to get started in this area?


For the benefit of anyone reading this thread and wondering about the answer to this question, here's my experience of that:

In March 2010 I bought 10 bitcoins when they were at about parity with the US dollar. I did this by setting up a bank transfer to a holding account in Eastern Europe, and from that account to a "bitcoin exchange" called Mt. Gox (there were I think few if any viable alternative systems at the time for UK residents). This gave me a web-based "online wallet" which had an "address" with which I could transfer coins to/from other wallets, or exchange for fiat currency, all from the comfort of my sofa. I recall that fees involving fiat currency exchange and transfer were quite high though - perhaps as much as 10% in all. But I did not intend to sell any time soon.

In February 2014 I received an email from Mt. Gox saying that my bitcoins were missing presumed stolen, and that they were shutting down the service. I had made the mistake of keeping all my coins in a "hot wallet" - that is, online and therefore vulnerable to hacking. Still, a colleague of mine had done the same after buying 100 at the same time as I did. So I wasn't quite as annoyed as him about that.

Between October 2015 and January 2017 I started buying fractions of bitcoin each month (also buying a few Litecoins and Ether along the way). I did this by using the Coinbase exchange with my credit card to buy the fractions. Coinbase at the time had a credit card purchase limit of £200 I think. And I had 0.1% cashback on all my credit card purchases too, which was nice.

This time however, I put my coins into a "cold wallet", thereby taking them offline and out of harm's way. A cold wallet can take various forms (https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Cold_storage), including printing onto paper, a process with which I experimented with my Litecoins. Today, my coins are stored in a Ledger Nano hardware wallet with a "recovery key" (which can be used to resurrect the contents of the device in the event of it being destroyed) stored offsite. In order to transfer currency, I have to connect the device to a computer and from there transfer some or all of it to an online wallet (eg on the Coinbase exchange, but you can also use desktop software for this). In order to convert it into fiat currency, I have to do the same but use Coinbase (or another exchange) to which I have my bank account connected. And from there I can simply do a BACS transfer of the proceeds. There are both fixed and percentage fees associated with this though.

During a relatively mild upswing in the price a few years ago, I decided to try selling a faction to test the process and to recover my investment outlay. So if it all goes to zero least I've got my money back.

FWIW, I have found the management of crypto currency both difficult to understand (I have skated over some important details above) and frankly rather stressful at times. It's difficult to be Dorisian while while events occur that mean you could eventually lose access to your coins if you don't take the proper action in time. It also doesn't help that there is nobody to turn to in the event of you making a fatal mistake while doing things like performing the transfer of several thousands of pounds worth of coins from Coinbase to a cold wallet, or converting them from one blockchain to another as part of an only partially-understood technical update.

But so far, my only real regret is not selling my Bitcoin Cash, which I received for free as a result of a fork a couple of years ago. There was at the time much speculation about whether BCH would overtake BTC, and at one point BCH was worth about £800. But it's now £260 and drifting down. At the time of writing my holdings are worth almost £9,000. I tell myself I will sell once they are enough to buy a decent new car. I was not tempted to sell my bitcoin at £13,000 in 2017 though, so we shall see. And there is of course no shortage of lunatic "gurus" predicting prices of millions in the next 10 years.

But what is life if not to be dissipated in such comically meaningless endeavours? Life is a butterfly's dream from which none of us survive.

G

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: February 26th, 2020, 9:25 pm
by baltica77
This is a good question my man, especially if you approach the matter correctly and not be a hamster.
Cool traders use such things - best crypto trading bot, subscribe to closed channels in a telegram and be sure to monitor the news in this market. But it’s all the same time-consuming and will have to be given at least two to three hours a day.

Re: Cryptocurrency Investing

Posted: June 29th, 2020, 9:53 am
by DenBrown
You need to invest in cryptocurrency while the market is growing, while there is great volatility, you can enter the market, although the topic of cryptocurrency turned out to be almost hopeless in the future