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Buy btc when it's low, buy things with btc when it's high :) If you're trying to invest in it like a forex trader without adding liquidity to the market (e.g.,

Buy btc when it's low, buy things with btc when it's high :) If you're trying to invest in it like a forex trader without adding liquidity to the market (e.g., buy-n-hold), you're part of what drives these bubbles in the first place.. I treat these bubbles as periodic shopping sprees. I bought a bunch of e-cigarette stuff and a few christmas presents during this bubble. (and I still have more $us worth of btc than what I spent on the original btc).

oskarth 13y ago
Buy low and sell high? What a brilliant strategy. EDIT: If you think you've found a sure-fire way to beat the market, you are probably wrong. That or you are doing insider trading or high-frequency trading (arbitrage).
- Mikeb85 13y ago
  You'd be surprised how many people buy high when caught up in the euphoria, then capitulate and sell low...
  - kayoone 13y ago
    when you think they buy high, they might think they buy low. Oh if wed only knew when low is low and high is high.
- warfangle 13y ago
  Ah, except I'm not trading for cash. I'm trading for something that means more to me than cash (which I would have used cash to purchase anyway) :) What the merchant does with it afterwards, on the other hand. And I'm not in it to make a fast buck. I'm just using it for occasional vanity purchases. I don't like treating a volatile commodity as a forex investment.. just doesn't seem wise. If it crashes to <$1/btc, I'll be out like, a hundred bucks. So what?
  - Johnie 13y ago
    What's the difference between what you are doing and selling btc for cash and using that cash to buy stuff? The only difference is that you are forced to buy things at a certain time rather than keeping it in cash. The underlying transaction is the same.
    - warfangle 13y ago
      > forced No, not really. It just changes my strategy on which currency to use when I want to buy something.
  - jbooth 13y ago
    How do merchants even price things to sell using bitcoin when it has volatility like this? Do they dynamically change the price of goods based on the bitcoin/$ exchange rate? Or do they actually sell the same goods for 1$ one day, $3 the next and $2 the third?
    - warfangle 13y ago
      If they use a service like coinbase, they price in USD and then payout almost immediately. It's a deferred sell, to be sure, but it adds more economic activity than just an exchange transaction.
- warfangle 13y ago
  new reply to reply to the edit :) I don't think I've found a sure-fire way to beat the market, not one bit. I understand that it's risky-brisky. But I do think that non-investment activity will add more legitimacy to the btc economy itself, which is why I opt to spend instead of sell.
camus2 13y ago
And how do you know when low is low ? sorry but what you says doesnt make sense. You dont know wether bitcoin will go down to 100$ or go up to 1000$. You cant know for sure, you only can assume it will go up or down. So the "buy low sell high" doesnt mean anything.It like saying water is wet. For some people 1000 was low enough to buy, for some it was not high enough to sell.
- warfangle 13y ago
  For me? High is "higher than it was a little while ago, looking like a hype circlejerk from lurking on /r/bitcoin;" low is "returning to market norms:" the resumption of relatively flat price increase over time after a bubble pop.
- Kluny 13y ago
  When the hype gets loud enough that local papers and your tech-unsavvy parents are talking about, it's high. Sell then. For me that would have been mid November - I would have missed the $1000 peak but still would have made out like a bandit.

oskarth 13y ago

Buy low and sell high? What a brilliant strategy. EDIT: If you think you've found a sure-fire way to beat the market, you are probably wrong. That or you are doing insider trading or high-frequency trading (arbitrage).

Mikeb85 13y ago
You'd be surprised how many people buy high when caught up in the euphoria, then capitulate and sell low...
- kayoone 13y ago
  when you think they buy high, they might think they buy low. Oh if wed only knew when low is low and high is high.
warfangle 13y ago
Ah, except I'm not trading for cash. I'm trading for something that means more to me than cash (which I would have used cash to purchase anyway) :) What the merchant does with it afterwards, on the other hand. And I'm not in it to make a fast buck. I'm just using it for occasional vanity purchases. I don't like treating a volatile commodity as a forex investment.. just doesn't seem wise. If it crashes to <$1/btc, I'll be out like, a hundred bucks. So what?
- Johnie 13y ago
  What's the difference between what you are doing and selling btc for cash and using that cash to buy stuff? The only difference is that you are forced to buy things at a certain time rather than keeping it in cash. The underlying transaction is the same.
  - warfangle 13y ago
    > forced No, not really. It just changes my strategy on which currency to use when I want to buy something.
- jbooth 13y ago
  How do merchants even price things to sell using bitcoin when it has volatility like this? Do they dynamically change the price of goods based on the bitcoin/$ exchange rate? Or do they actually sell the same goods for 1$ one day, $3 the next and $2 the third?
  - warfangle 13y ago
    If they use a service like coinbase, they price in USD and then payout almost immediately. It's a deferred sell, to be sure, but it adds more economic activity than just an exchange transaction.
warfangle 13y ago
new reply to reply to the edit :) I don't think I've found a sure-fire way to beat the market, not one bit. I understand that it's risky-brisky. But I do think that non-investment activity will add more legitimacy to the btc economy itself, which is why I opt to spend instead of sell.

camus2 13y ago

And how do you know when low is low ? sorry but what you says doesnt make sense. You dont know wether bitcoin will go down to 100$ or go up to 1000$. You cant know for sure, you only can assume it will go up or down. So the "buy low sell high" doesnt mean anything.It like saying water is wet. For some people 1000 was low enough to buy, for some it was not high enough to sell.

warfangle 13y ago
For me? High is "higher than it was a little while ago, looking like a hype circlejerk from lurking on /r/bitcoin;" low is "returning to market norms:" the resumption of relatively flat price increase over time after a bubble pop.
Kluny 13y ago
When the hype gets loud enough that local papers and your tech-unsavvy parents are talking about, it's high. Sell then. For me that would have been mid November - I would have missed the $1000 peak but still would have made out like a bandit.