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People buy BTC with USD one day, and buy CAD with BTC the next, with every intention of going back through the exchange and the Bitcoin currency again in order

People buy BTC with USD one day, and buy CAD with BTC the next, with every intention of going back through the exchange and the Bitcoin currency again in order to cash out. Are you sure they're doing that?? Bitcoins volatility would render it pointless for Forex trading. (edit: by which I mean trading between two old school currencies via bitcoin)

vy8vWJlco 14y ago
I am taking it for granted that speculative trading is a pretty common, if not the main activity on MtGox: - "Bitcoin day trading": https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=57169.0 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=57169.0 - "Mt. Gox Temporarily Halts Bitcoin Trading to Allow the Market to Calm the Hell Down": http://betabeat.com/2013/04/mt-gox-halts-trading-temporarily/ http://betabeat.com/2013/04/mt-gox-halts-trading-temporarily... But I could be wrong.
- codeulike 14y ago
  Oh yeah, people are swapping BitCoin for (old school) currency Y and then back again like crazy. I thought you meant people using Bitcoin to do arbitage between (old school) currencies X and Y I agree that speculation is harming bitcoin. It needs less volatility to be truely useful. But then when a genuinely innovative currency/technology suddenly gets a ton of press, I don't see how a spike could be avoided.
  - vy8vWJlco 14y ago
    "I thought you meant people using Bitcoin to do arbitage between (old school) currencies X and Y" That's precisely what I suspect (and can only guess at this point) that it is being used for: http://bitcoinmagazine.com/btc-trader-bitcoin-arbitrage-made-easy/ http://bitcoinmagazine.com/btc-trader-bitcoin-arbitrage-made... http://lichtman.ca/is-bitcoin-arbitrage-feasible/ http://lichtman.ca/is-bitcoin-arbitrage-feasible/ https://github.com/michaelcdillon/BitCoin-Arbitrage https://github.com/michaelcdillon/BitCoin-Arbitrage At the same time, MtGox also serves as an entrypoint for non-speculating users and has effectively become the "Bitcoin bank." It's voluntary - people are choosing to use MtGox, but in this regard MtGox's success seems to be a Bitcoiner's weakness: a DDoS against MtGox can cut the value of a BTC (and their lunch money) in half.

vy8vWJlco 14y ago

I am taking it for granted that speculative trading is a pretty common, if not the main activity on MtGox: - "Bitcoin day trading": https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=57169.0 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=57169.0 - "Mt. Gox Temporarily Halts Bitcoin Trading to Allow the Market to Calm the Hell Down": http://betabeat.com/2013/04/mt-gox-halts-trading-temporarily/ http://betabeat.com/2013/04/mt-gox-halts-trading-temporarily... But I could be wrong.

codeulike 14y ago
Oh yeah, people are swapping BitCoin for (old school) currency Y and then back again like crazy. I thought you meant people using Bitcoin to do arbitage between (old school) currencies X and Y I agree that speculation is harming bitcoin. It needs less volatility to be truely useful. But then when a genuinely innovative currency/technology suddenly gets a ton of press, I don't see how a spike could be avoided.
- vy8vWJlco 14y ago
  "I thought you meant people using Bitcoin to do arbitage between (old school) currencies X and Y" That's precisely what I suspect (and can only guess at this point) that it is being used for: http://bitcoinmagazine.com/btc-trader-bitcoin-arbitrage-made-easy/ http://bitcoinmagazine.com/btc-trader-bitcoin-arbitrage-made... http://lichtman.ca/is-bitcoin-arbitrage-feasible/ http://lichtman.ca/is-bitcoin-arbitrage-feasible/ https://github.com/michaelcdillon/BitCoin-Arbitrage https://github.com/michaelcdillon/BitCoin-Arbitrage At the same time, MtGox also serves as an entrypoint for non-speculating users and has effectively become the "Bitcoin bank." It's voluntary - people are choosing to use MtGox, but in this regard MtGox's success seems to be a Bitcoiner's weakness: a DDoS against MtGox can cut the value of a BTC (and their lunch money) in half.