Thinking of getting into Bitcoin

[MillerPanda]

Hello everyone.

 

I am thinking of getting into the world of Bitcoins. Not mining or anything but just as a means of payment for items an such.

Just curious how it seems to work out for you if you use them. Seems like a easy way to pay for things, is it? Any worry of the no buyer/seller protection?

How do you get your Bitcoins? do you mine them or buy from exchanges? if you are buying them where do you like to go?

Done some reading online, just wanted you guys/girls hands on info. Any other tips are welcome.

I do have a wallet(Bitcoin core) it is currently syncing with the network.(takes a bit to catch up) 

 

Thank you for your time

[beanhubbleday]

Not worth it, the amount you get out of it after paying for electricity, hardware etc.. you'll lose money

[vorticalbox]

the only way to get bitcoins without a lose is buy low sell high. I use a website called blockchain that gives you an online one and allows you to buy coins right into the wallet.

 

if you store supports bitcoins then yeah you can buy things, they tend to no be that widely supported but that may change.

 

as for buying protection that's down to the person, it's anonymous but transactions are public you can this amount was sent from a to b but not who actually sent it.

[manikyath]

2 minutes ago, JackHubbleday said:

Not worth it, the amount you get out of it after paying for electricity, hardware etc

8 minutes ago, MillerPanda said:

Not mining

how difficult is reading for you?

--

snarky comments aside, some actual help:

 

you have to see bitcoin not as a currency, but as an investment in a similar way you'd invest in for example gold.

you buy bitcoins from an exchange, and intend to sell them back for a profit (or as a backup if you fear your country's currency may crash, people in the UK who had a backup plan like this set up before brexit must have been very happy with it after the pound nosedived)

 

using bitcoin as a direct payment method is "lossy" at best, since most places offering bitcoin payment convert it straight to dorrars, using a terrible conversion ratio to cover their butts for the fluctuation in bitcoin value. it's most likely to a point where if you so dearly want anonymous payment you're better spending cash on prepaid cards and using those to pay for your things.

[vorticalbox]

2 minutes ago, manikyath said:

how difficult is reading for you?

--

snarky comments aside, some actual help:

 

you have to see bitcoin not as a currency, but as an investment in a similar way you'd invest in for example gold.

you buy bitcoins from an exchange, and intend to sell them back for a profit (or as a backup if you fear your country's currency may crash, people in the UK who had a backup plan like this set up before brexit must have been very happy with it after the pound nosedived)

 

using bitcoin as a direct payment method is "lossy" at best, since most places offering bitcoin payment convert it straight to dorrars, using a terrible conversion ratio to cover their butts for the fluctuation in bitcoin value. it's most likely to a point where if you so dearly want anonymous payment you're better spending cash on prepaid cards and using those to pay for your things.

do you have any source for the retail use of bitcoins? I assumed they just took the current value and sold it straight away into currency to as you said avoid the fluctuate nature of bitcoins.

[Litargirio]

Yes, you buy bitcoins from stock exchanges.

 

I personally use Coinbase, which is fairly good. You can also use it as your wallet if you aren't going to store huge amounts of bitcoins or make lots of transactions.

 

If your goal is to pay for stuff using bitcoin, I wouldn't recommend storing a lot of it in your wallet, since its value fluctuates (by a lot, sometimes), and you might find that your $300 worth of bitcoin are suddenly only worth $250. Though it could also be the other way around.

[Mira Yurizaki]

2 minutes ago, vorticalbox said:

do you have any source for the retail use of bitcoins? I assumed they just took the current value and sold it straight away into currency to as you said avoid the fluctuate nature of bitcoins.

Newegg and Tiger Direct take Bitcoin. I think Microsoft started taking them for some things.

[manikyath]

10 minutes ago, vorticalbox said:

I assumed they just took the current value and sold it straight away into currency to as you said avoid the fluctuate nature of bitcoins.

yes, thats what they do, but (at least from what i hear) the conversion rate is usually horrible. it's like me putting €50 on paypal, and after the conversion rate having less dollars than they told me i would have. (primary reason why i prefer directbanking over paypal.)

[MillerPanda]

First off, Thank you to the people who actually read what i wrote.

I have a few local places that take them, I don't know if they do some shady things with the books but they offer better prices if you pay with bitcoin.

I have seen a lot of people say its more of a investment(just like stocks)and it seems a lot of people here feel the same.

I think for now i will stay with more traditional banking for buying and do more research and market watching from a investment view.

 Thank you everyone.

 

[Teddy07]

why would you want to buy regular items with bitcoins? Doesn´t make sense to me

[MillerPanda]

1 minute ago, Teddy07 said:

why would you want to buy regular items with bitcoins? Doesn´t make sense to me

I can pay 100$usd or .079 BTC  its about a 25$usd savings for every 100$usd

[manikyath]

4 hours ago, MillerPanda said:

I can pay 100$usd or .079 BTC  its about a 25$usd savings for every 100$usd

that's actually a pretty notable savings, depends on how long it'll be like that and how much money you'll lose in the long run (for example if you'd buy a bitcoin now, spend half of it, and then suddenly bitcoin value drops like a brick, the second half essentially negating all profit you made.)

[MillerPanda]

9 minutes ago, manikyath said:

that's actually a pretty notable savings, depends on how long it'll be like that and how much money you'll lose in the long run (for example if you'd buy a bitcoin now, spend half of it, and then suddenly bitcoin value drops like a brick, the second half essentially negating all profit you made.)

That is a good point.The price seems to swing far and fast 

[manikyath]

7 minutes ago, MillerPanda said:

That is a good point.The price seems to swing far and fast 

thats why i rather suggest you to look at bitcoin as an investment rather than a currency, it's too "hyperactive" to be a viable payment method.

[DutchTexan]

9 hours ago, MillerPanda said:

I can pay 100$usd or .079 BTC  its about a 25$usd savings for every 100$usd

4 hours ago, manikyath said:

thats why i rather suggest you to look at bitcoin as an investment rather than a currency, it's too "hyperactive" to be a viable payment method.

It's extremely volatile currency. There are people who trade stocks on the NYSE. Then, there are big fish that trade currency. I would think it is time to sell you bitcoins if you have them, but I'm not sure where/how to trade/exchange bitcoin for USD.

 

That's all I know. There aren't as many fundamentals to go over with bitcoin as public companies.

 

@MillerPanda where do you convert/buy bitcoin?

 

 

 

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, DutchTexan said:

It's extremely volatile currency. There are people who trade stocks on the NYSE. Then, there are big fish that trade currency. I would think it is time to sell you bitcoins if you have them, but I'm not sure where/how to trade/exchange bitcoin for USD.

 

That's all I know. There aren't as many fundamentals to go over with bitcoin as public companies.

 

@MillerPanda where do you convert/buy bitcoin?

 

 

 

thats (bolded part) why i like to see bitcoin as an investment, because it is as far as i know not really tapped into by the big fish, mostly because of how volatile it is, and how "new" it is as a concept.

[DutchTexan]

7 minutes ago, manikyath said:

thats (bolded part) why i like to see bitcoin as an investment, because it is as far as i know not really tapped into by the big fish, mostly because of how volatile it is, and how "new" it is as a concept.

This is true. It's not generally known or accepted as currency by most people. I was just illuminating that there are people who invest millions into foreign currency rather than day trading.

[manikyath]

2 minutes ago, DutchTexan said:

This is true. It's not really known or accepted as currency. I was just illuminating that there are people who invest millions into foreign currency rather than day trading.

the interesting bit about bitcoin for the small man is that those people are usually of the generation that "just dont understand"

 

if you're gonna be small man investing in bitcoin, the time is now. for the small man mining is already past the point of profit, its only a matter of time before the big guys in investing start to understand the concept.

(the profit in mining has essentially been gained by chinese giants operating huge bitcoin mines.)

[DutchTexan]

2 minutes ago, manikyath said:

small man investing in bitcoin, the time is now.

 

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, DutchTexan said:

 

i'd rather attest that to a gaining interest from the public than big pony investers, there's several regions where bitcoin is finding its entrance as a "backup currency" because their own currency may be on the edge of plummeting.

 

see that HUGE spike in 2014? i know a guy that got quite the gains there  (no one knows how much he actually made, but since even his closest frends at the time didnt know, i guess it's quite a lot)

[DutchTexan]

1 minute ago, manikyath said:

i'd rather attest that to a gaining interest from the public than big pony investers, there's several regions where bitcoin is finding its entrance as a "backup currency" because their own currency may be on the edge of plummeting.

 

see that HUGE spike in 2014? i know a guy that got quite the gains there  (no one knows how much he actually made, but since even his closest frends at the time didnt know, i guess it's quite a lot)

In all honesty, I'd wait a few weeks to see how the Bitcoin trend develops for 2017. All those countries with sketchy currency may entice their rich to latch onto something. I think 2017(America no longer allowing global feeding) should accelerate this fear within the mentioned 'troubled' countries. Especially with the EU and all that noise, it's going to be interesting. Will the back up be bitcoin? I don't think so, but you never know. Gold is really cheap now, relative to late 2011. Then again, gold prices are near the all-time high of bitcoin. You never know. 

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, DutchTexan said:

a few weeks

ah.. i see the problem, i think we're touching a language barrier here

 

with "the time is now" i dont mean "drop all you're doing and your bitcoin right here and now", i'm rather indicating a lager timeframe, like "2017 is probably the right year to look into investing in bitcoin". investing is always something long term, so if i say right now, i mean it's the time to find a predictable patter or event in bitcoin, and try to find that right spot to toss money, and sell for profit later on.

[DutchTexan]

3 minutes ago, manikyath said:

ah.. i see the problem, i think we're touching a language barrier here

 

with "the time is now" i dont mean "drop all you're doing and your bitcoin right here and now", i'm rather indicating a lager timeframe, like "2017 is probably the right year to look into investing in bitcoin". investing is always something long term, so if i say right now, i mean it's the time to find a predictable patter or event in bitcoin, and try to find that right spot to toss money, and sell for profit later on.

Then you're absolutely right. Heh, sorry, I am a very literal person. 

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, DutchTexan said:

Then you're absolutely right. Heh, sorry, I am a very literal person. 

the fact my 4AM english isnt perfect probably doesnt help either

[MillerPanda]

14 hours ago, DutchTexan said:

It's extremely volatile currency. There are people who trade stocks on the NYSE. Then, there are big fish that trade currency. I would think it is time to sell you bitcoins if you have them, but I'm not sure where/how to trade/exchange bitcoin for USD.

 

That's all I know. There aren't as many fundamentals to go over with bitcoin as public companies.

 

@MillerPanda where do you convert/buy bitcoin?

 

 

 

I dont own any bitcoins.Thats part of what i was curious about.Where do people who use bitcoin alot like buy/trade/sell. All i have is a empty wallet.