Bitcoin

[Marc J]

Anyone got any?

Or thought about it as a payment option?

[Excalibur]

Anyone got any?

Or thought about it as a payment option?

Didn't it just go bust or something? I remember seeing something in the papers.

[Marc J]

Didn't it just go bust or something? I remember seeing something in the papers.

One of the largest Bitcoin exchanges (MTGox) went bust. Bitcoin itself is alive and kicking (and up 18% today ;)).

[Shaun]

I've been watching the value rise for a while, and thought about buying some as an investment. I haven't as yet though. I keep feeling that the bottom is going fall with a hefty bang soon. How about you Marc. You got any?

[Marc J]

I've been watching the value rise for a while, and thought about buying some as an investment. I haven't as yet though. I keep feeling that the bottom is going fall with a hefty bang soon. How about you Marc. You got any?

When it hit the $1,000 mark around Christmas I thought I'd like to get in on the action. Then it fell to around half that so I decided definitely!

Obviously, treat it like gambling / forex / stocks & shares, and only invest what you can afford to lose (perhaps completely).

It's worth noting that to actually get into it is quite a lengthy procedure, if you want to buy bitcoin for cash. You need to be able to fund your chosen exchange with "real" money and to do that you have to jump through hoops to get verified at different stages. To do this and get to the point where you can actually buy bitcoin (there'll most likely be a bank wire transfer in there, which will take 3-4 days and around £30 in charges). So allow a week from deciding you want to buy, to actually buying your first Bitcoin. In my case that was just as well, as it allowed me a little time to research into it some more and pick a better exchange than MTGox (which would have been my first choice at the time had I been able to jump right in).

I ended up going with www.okpay.com who need verification on my account and verification again when the wire transfer went in. From there you can either fund an exchange (I use www.bitstamp.net) or withdraw your funds directly from OKPay in bitcoin (at the current market rate). So now I have a grad total of BTC1.2954, and am verified everywhere I need to be in order to fund / trade / withdraw (although funding with more cash would still take a few days via wire transfer).

There are quicker ways like localbitcoins.com, where you can choose your preferred payment method (including cash in person). It takes seconds to create a bitcoin wallet address so in theory you can accept bitcoin very quickly, but being able to trade that and ultimately cash-out would still be a lengthy process including approval / verification somewhere along the line (unless you stuck specifically to localbitcoins).

Finally, NEVER accept a reversible form of payment (e.g. PayPal) when selling bitcoin.

Also, for the "convenience" and speed to entry of localbitcoin expect to pay a premium, I just had a quick look and prices are 10% - 25% above the going rate to buy BTC.

[Shaun]

Food for thought. Thanks for the info Marc. :beer1:

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

The whole thing half confuses, half frightens me.

I can't get me head round the fact that there's no tangible currency there. The fact one of the big ones just out and out disappeared (I assume with folks money?) didn't do much to put my mind at ease with it.

Apart from that, I don't really get what it's for. I know there's a big illegal base using it for hidden transactions but I don't get why anyone doing a legit transaction would use it.

[Marc J]

Apart from that, I don't really get what it's for. I know there's a big illegal base using it for hidden transactions but I don't get why anyone doing a legit transaction would use it.

An example: http://www.scan.co.uk/info/bitcoin

Or, like stocks, shares or forex...i.e. Buy low sell high....but with very little fees :)

[Marc J]

Onwards and upwards, doubled in value this year :D :beer1::beer1:

http://qz.com/870155/bitcoins-btc-price-surging-but-theres-another-measure-that-really-shows-its-become-valuable/

I'm keeping hold of mine, here's hoping it doesn't crash any time soon :daft: :muppet:

[Marc J]

Woohoo, happy days :)

Price at my last post (Dec 2016) was £708...now £2,120 :beer1: :beer1:

Now taking some out and buying some Ether and Ripple to diversify a little :D :D

[Excalibur]

Now taking some out and buying some Ether and Ripple to diversify a little :D :D

Into heavy duty Pharmaceuticals and Ice Cream? :confused: That's a tad leftfield.

[Marc J]

Into heavy duty Pharmaceuticals and Ice Cream? :confused: That's a tad leftfield.

I have to admin at being more than slightly concerned about investing in something with the name of "Ether"...as in "vanishing into the..." :eek:

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Good on you man, still not something I'd throw my hat in with.

I remember when I came back from teaching out in Saudi Arabia with a sizeable wad of dough on my hip I tried to get a mortgage.

I was able to put down a 30+% deposit on the place I wanted but my own bank were having none of it because I was "financially unreliable" or something like that but if I wanted to make my money work for me they'd take 10 or 15 grand of my savings and invest it in stocks or shares for me :D

I no longer bank with them. :D

[Marc J]

A rocky few days but on the up generally again :)

Things have changed slightly since my first "how to" post, and a few very easy to use websites are now available to streamline the whole process (slightly).

The three I'd recommend are Bitstamp, Coinbase and Kraken. All three allow 2FA security (Google Authenticator) and additional security (e.g. email confirmation) on trades, which you should definitely enable if you use them.

You'll need to provide verification of who you are to satisfy AML (Anti Money Laundering) and KYC (Know Your Customer) laws that the sites must abide by, so expect to provide full info including uploading photo ID (e.g. passport / driving license) and proof of address (e.g. recent utility bill).

Fees differ slightly, you still need to do a SEPA transfer which your bank will likely charge you £10 for, so be sure to factor that in, and that'll take 2-3 business days to hit the account on the site so you won't be able to buy anything until it goes through.

All 3 sell Bitcoin. Bitstamp also sells Ripple, Coinbase also sells Ethereum and Kraken sells pretty much everything! Of the 3 I'd say Coinbase is the easiest to use and for smaller volumes their fees generally work out better, but they have some bad press (if you look hard enough, mostly to do with their support). Bitstamp is the middle ground and Kraken is more for the experienced user.

The one thing you really shouldn't do if you buy any cryptocurrency is keep it in the wallet the trading site provides. Only keep in there what you need for trading in the short term. The only way to be completely sure your coins are safe is to keep them in a wallet you hold the private key for, and then transferring your coins from the website you bought them from to your own wallet's address. Then keep the recovery seed for your wallet safe & secure, with copies in multiple secure locations (if you lose this, you lose your investment).

I'm not sure if now is a particularly good time to get in....everything is a bit crazy at the moment with massive gains / losses (on 24th / 25th May Bitcoin went from $2300 to $2800 and back to $2300 again) but everything seems to be on the rise again and Ethereum in particular looks like it may have some big news from China this week and is already up 22% today.

Don't let the four figure headline price put you off - you can buy as little as you want....for example for €10 (about £8.70) you can buy 0.00478650 Bitcoin right now ;)

But remember - if you give it a go only gamble with what you can afford to lose!

[Marc J]

Bitcoin price has doubled (again) in the 3 months since my last post :eek::):beer1:

Here's a funny cartoon I saw....

18377

Or maybe it's just tulips all over again: -

Tulip mania (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania)
Greater fool theory (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory)

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Bitcoin price has doubled (again) in the 3 months since my last post :eek::):beer1:

Here's a funny cartoon I saw....

18377

Or maybe it's just tulips all over again: -

Tulip mania (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania)
Greater fool theory (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory)


:D

In laymans terms - how does one actually get bitcoin

[rth_discos]

Can you sell bitcoin - i.e. convert it back to cash again?

[Marc J]

In laymans terms - how does one actually get bitcoin

See my post #15 (http://www.forum.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/showthread.php?41563-Bitcoin&p=663194&viewfull=1#post663194), or one of the many online guides.


Can you sell bitcoin - i.e. convert it back to cash again?

Now that is the 64 million dollar question! Yes, you should be able to, but there are horror stories of delays when trying to get the funds from your exchange to your bank. Should go smoothly if you're approved and send all the relevant documentation, but use an exchange with a good reputation for cashing out. When I do come to cash in, I'll check reviews to find where the best place to do it is...and cross everything :)

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

See my post #15 (http://www.forum.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/showthread.php?41563-Bitcoin&p=663194&viewfull=1#post663194), or one of the many online guides.



Now that is the 64 million dollar question! Yes, you should be able to, but there are horror stories of delays when trying to get the funds from your exchange to your bank. Should go smoothly if you're approved and send all the relevant documentation, but use an exchange with a good reputation for cashing out. When I do come to cash in, I'll check reviews to find where the best place to do it is...and cross everything :)

I assume none of this is an issue if you only use it for assassinations and ordering bricks of heroin? :confused::daft:

[yourdj]

Just watched the film about it on Netflix.

I am not a gambler, but would make an 'investment' based on a certain degree of risk. I thought about investing in Alibaba when that went PLC but decided against it as it was based in some offshore island and not China.Wish I had bought some shares of someone like Amazon years back or something like that!

[Marc J]

I am not a gambler, but would make an 'investment' based on a certain degree of risk.

If you'd invested £1,000 into Bitcoin when you posted that (3 months ago), it'd now be worth £2,500* :eek:

My CryptoCurrency portfolio made more profit yesterday than my wife brings home in a month, a point which I stupidly pointed out to her like a right :muppet:

* the value of CryptoCurrency can go wildly up and down, and you might lose everything. Never invest in cryptos more than you can afford to lose.

[yourdj]

If you'd invested £1,000 into Bitcoin when you posted that (3 months ago), it'd now be worth £2,500* :eek:

My CryptoCurrency portfolio made more profit yesterday than my wife brings home in a month, a point which I stupidly pointed out to her like a right :muppet:

* the value of CryptoCurrency can go wildly up and down, and you might lose everything. Never invest in cryptos more than you can afford to lose.

But it could also have been easily £5. Thats the point, investments in things like that are not far off gambling.
I am currently looking at Chinese businesses as its set for a monumental collapse. Buy cheap and hope that it bounces back.

- - - Updated - - -


If you'd invested £1,000 into Bitcoin when you posted that (3 months ago), it'd now be worth £2,500* :eek:

My CryptoCurrency portfolio made more profit yesterday than my wife brings home in a month, a point which I stupidly pointed out to her like a right :muppet:

* the value of CryptoCurrency can go wildly up and down, and you might lose everything. Never invest in cryptos more than you can afford to lose.

Nice one Mark, thats brilliant, great to see investments make a success and help drive the economy too. Where do you buy stocks and shares out of interest and do you have a broker? :)

Its all good to get a good return on investments but many people also loose money the bitcoin thing could also have been easily £5. Thats the point, investments in things like that are not far off gambling as its so unstable. I am currently looking at Chinese businesses as China is set for a monumental collapse (we are talking depression standards), which will also affect many other markets. Buy cheap and hope that it bounces back is the thinking, but i need someone who knows that they are talking about really.

Wish i had invested in Alibaba. I thought hard about it, but decided not too as it was based on some off shore account in the philippines or similar, plus the communist government etc. Its growth is bigger than amazon now or so i have read. I don't know what £10,000 would be worth now, but quite a bit more since they went PLC. I know its cliche, but buy cheap and sell high as big business often survive these things. My dad had a firm in the stock exchange and made a fortune in the Falklands war era when everyone crapped their pants and he bought up all the cheap shares. They made millions overnight or so I gather?? Hardly got a pot to pxxx in now (retired at 40) so it did not do him any favours. :)

[rth_discos]

Wish i had invested in Alibaba

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and of course, makes the idea of investing look 'easy' when looked at retrospectively!

[Marc J]

Where do you buy stocks and shares out of interest and do you have a broker? :)

For stocks and shares I use Hargreave Lansdown (www.hl.co.uk), not done any trades for a few years, though, my portfolio just sits there making a little...nothing compared to BTC, though!

Most (60% of my total shares value) is in Antofagasta (https://www.shareprice.co.uk/ANTO/ANTOFAGASTA), a Chilean mining operation. Been up and down, but generally up lately. I also have some shares in RBS which I bought at the wrong time, but holding them anyway...you never know!

[DJWilson]

Started to take a deeper look into this over the last few days, feel like I may have missed the boat now its hit the £10K mark.

Has anyone had any experience with Coinbase to buy/sell and store?

[Marc J]

Has anyone had any experience with Coinbase to buy/sell and store?

Buying - yes no issues.
Selling - no, not yet, I'm HOLDING ;)
Store - no, no, NO! Don't store crypto currencies at exchanges (see: Mt. Gox)

[Marc J]

Crashing! :eek:

[DJWilson]

Buying - yes no issues.
Selling - no, not yet, I'm HODLING ;)
Store - no, no, NO! Don't store crypto currencies at exchanges (see: Mt. Gox)

Mt. Gox, Japanese wallet?


Crashing! :eek:

Working its way back up now...

[Marc J]

Mt. Gox, Japanese wallet?

Yes, in particular their Bankruptcy; stolen bitcoin episode (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mt._Gox#Bankruptcy.3B_stolen_bitcoin_.282014.E2.80 .9316.29) -


The company said it had lost almost 750,000 of its customers' bitcoins, and around 100,000 of its own bitcoins, totaling around 7% of all bitcoins, and worth around $473 million near the time of the filing.[72][73] Mt. Gox released a statement saying, "The company believes there is a high possibility that the bitcoins were stolen,” blamed hackers, and began a search for the missing bitcoin.[10][37] Chief Executive Karpelès said technical issues opened up the way for fraudulent withdrawals.

I narrowly escaped this...if I'd taken the plunge a week earlier I would have chosen Mt. Gox (they were the biggest at the time), left my BTC in their wallet and lost it. No matter how big and trustworthy (you think) your exchange is, move your BTC to a wallet where you alone hold the private keys, and DO NOT LOSE THESE.


Working its way back up now...

Just a glitch ;) :eek:

[DJWilson]

No matter how big and trustworthy (you think) your exchange is, move your BTC to a wallet where you alone hold the private keys, and DO NOT LOSE THESE.



I'm looking for wallets at the moment but no idea who's best in conjunction with buying/selling via Coinbase.

Seeing a lot of people have issues selling via CB into UK banks. Not sure if this a small percentage with a big voice or an actual serious issue across the board.

[Marc J]

I'm looking for wallets at the moment but no idea who's best in conjunction with buying/selling via Coinbase.

It doesn't matter that your coming from Coinbase. If you've decided to buy using Coinbase that's fine, you can then make an instant bitcoin transfer from your Coinbase BTC wallet to another bitcoin address - one that you control.

Or choose a wallet from those available...there are many and DYOR (Do Your Own Research). I've used an Android wallet in the past, which is fine if you trust it and make backups. Or you can spend a little and use a dedicated hardware wallet like a Trezor (https://trezor.io/). More info on wallets at https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet


Seeing a lot of people have issues selling via CB into UK banks. Not sure if this a small percentage with a big voice or an actual serious issue across the board.
It's usually always a small percentage with a big voice....people rarely make a noise when everything goes smoothly. What to do is give them no reason to decline anything - before buying or selling get your account at your chosen exchange approved as far as you can - this means sending them everything they ask for. You'll find most people complaining are doing so because their accounts aren't approved, or approval is delayed, and this is stopping them withdrawing funds. Because of the news about bitcoin just now, all exchanges will be swamped and you'll probably be looking at many weeks (3 isn't unusual) to get accounts approved. When cashing in, I'd test with a small amount first.

[DJWilson]

Just bought my first bit of Bitcoin and made a paper wallet.

Let's see how this small taster pans out...

[Marc J]

Just bought my first bit of Bitcoin and made a paper wallet.

Let's see how this small taster pans out...

Good luck! I'm, down 20% in the last 24 hours, but still up on the week :)

[DJWilson]

Good luck! I'm, down 20% in the last 24 hours, but still up on the week :)


Thanks. Had a wobble yesterday but I see it being close to the $10K mark again by next week.

[Marc J]

Thanks. Had a wobble yesterday but I see it being close to the $10K mark again by next week.

Or today ;) :D

I'm guessing you must be up about 12% or 13% ish....

[DJWilson]

Or today ;) :D

I'm guessing you must be up about 12% or 13% ish....


Yup, 12%. Going to test run withdrawing my funds before putting any more in next week.

Hopefully it's as smooth as buying in!

[DJWilson]

Its been a good weekend overall.

Just waiting on verification to go through tomorrow or Tuesday in order to buy/sell freely and put back into my UK account

Been a £300 drop the last hour. That'll probably bounce back before 12 tonight.

[Marc J]

Just waiting on verification to go through tomorrow or Tuesday in order to buy/sell freely and put back into my UK account

How did the withdrawal work out for you? Any issues?

It's been an interesting week for Bitcoin...hope you're enjoying the ride :D

[yourdj]

This is all so exciting, I am glad I sold my TV 10 years ago. Who needs it with this post. :)

[DJWilson]

How did the withdrawal work out for you? Any issues?

It's been an interesting week for Bitcoin...hope you're enjoying the ride :D

Bit slow but finally all went through and can now buy and sell with ease.

Got exciting about 4PM today didn't it!?

[Marc J]

This is all so exciting, I am glad I sold my TV 10 years ago. Who needs it with this post. :)
Toby, the thread title make it very clear what it's about...if it doesn't interest you, don't click on it :p


Bit slow but finally all went through and can now buy and sell with ease.
All through Coinbase? Have you had a bank transfer back into your bank? If so, how did that go? I have an account at Kraken which is verified as far as it can go, and their fees seem a lot cheaper for cashing out...


Got exciting about 4PM today didn't it!?
Indeed, bit of a downturn at the moment, though. A friend of mine has held NXT (https://www.cryptocompare.com/coins/nxt/overview/USD) for some time now, he's done quite well this past week (almost 300%). I wish I'd bought some IOTA (https://www.cryptocompare.com/coins/iot/overview/USD) on Monday :eek:

[DJWilson]

All through Coinbase? Have you had a bank transfer back into your bank? If so, how did that go? I have an account at Kraken which is verified as far as it can go, and their fees seem a lot cheaper for cashing out...


Indeed, bit of a downturn at the moment, though. A friend of mine has held NXT (https://www.cryptocompare.com/coins/nxt/overview/USD) for some time now, he's done quite well this past week (almost 300%). I wish I'd bought some IOTA (https://www.cryptocompare.com/coins/iot/overview/USD) on Monday :eek:

Yeah, took 1 day for funds to arrive into my account via Coinbase. I've not looked into Kraken at the moment - its on the 'to-do' list of Bitcoin.

The fees on CB are a bit tough to swallow but if your buy/sell are timed correctly it's not an issue.

Not heard of NXT or IOTA. Time for some research!

[Marc J]

Not heard of NXT or IOTA. Time for some research!

NXT may be one to watch. IMHO stay away from IOTA, it's rise was due to a "partnership" with Microsoft, which turned out to just be someone from Microsoft saying something about IOTA (https://techiespad.com/iota-microsoft-partnership/).

[DazzyD]

There's been a few scare stories in the press the last couple of weeks like why you shouldn't invest in BitCoin. I'm guesing from the dramatic rises and falls that you're mentioning that it must be a pretty high risk investment. Would you say it's more risky than dabbling in the stock market? And have the exchanges become more stable as I recall reading that one went under in the early days and people lost money so is it safer these days?

[Marc J]

There's been a few scare stories in the press the last couple of weeks like why you shouldn't invest in BitCoin.

A lot of the scare stories are coming from bankers, fund managers and city traders. I can't think why, it's not like they have an interest in keeping things as they are? ;)


I'm guesing from the dramatic rises and falls that you're mentioning that it must be a pretty high risk investment. Would you say it's more risky than dabbling in the stock market?

Definitely. You can lose your shirt on both, but the volatility of crypto currencies means it's not unusual for them to fall or rise 20% or more in a day, for no apparent reason. I've got some very wealthy clients / friends who are happy if their shares portfolio makes 5% in a year :eek:


And have the exchanges become more stable as I recall reading that one went under in the early days and people lost money so is it safer these days?

Exchanges are hackable, nomatter how secure they claim to be. Use them to buy and sell by all means (and, unless you're trading to friends and family, or localbitcoin, you have to use them) but don't keep your bitcoins in an exchange long term - move them to a wallet that only you control, and keep that secure. If your bitcoins are held in a wallet at an exchange, and that gets hacked, you risk losing your bitcoins. Unless you (and only you) hold the private key to a wallet, it and any bitcoin balance in it is at risk.

[DazzyD]

A lot of the scare stories are coming from bankers, fund managers and city traders. I can't think why, it's not like they have an interest in keeping things as they are? ;)



Definitely. You can lose your shirt on both, but the volatility of crypto currencies means it's not unusual for them to fall or rise 20% or more in a day, for no apparent reason. I've got some very wealthy clients / friends who are happy if their shares portfolio makes 5% in a year :eek:



Exchanges are hackable, nomatter how secure they claim to be. Use them to buy and sell by all means (and, unless you're trading to friends and family, or localbitcoin, you have to use them) but don't keep your bitcoins in an exchange long term - move them to a wallet that only you control, and keep that secure. If your bitcoins are held in a wallet at an exchange, and that gets hacked, you risk losing your bitcoins. Unless you (and only you) hold the private key to a wallet, it and any bitcoin balance in it is at risk.

Given that I'm now a single dad to three kids and I no longer have any income from DJing, I don't have the spare funds to have a go at things like this anymore. But I am interested in it (like most things tech and finance related!). Maybe one day, but knowing my luck, BTC would have reached $1m by then!!! :eek:

[DJWilson]

Having nightmares with my Bread wallet at the moment. Been waiting 8 days for a transaction that should be up to 24 hours.

This surge and fees is awful. Segwit needs to get a move on.

[Marc J]

Having nightmares with my Bread wallet at the moment. Been waiting 8 days for a transaction that should be up to 24 hours.

This surge and fees is awful. Segwit needs to get a move on.

I've never used breadwallet - does it let you set your own fees? Looking https://estimatefee.com/ , you should be paying around $7.50 USD (currently 0.0004BTC) for a transaction that's confirmed within a maximum of 24 hours. If you need it quicker, pay more (for example within 20 mins = $19, 0.001BTC).

Also - see https://bitcoinfees.earn.com - the "Inf" at the top of that chart is infinity....miners will confirm transactions that are paying more, so if you don't offer enough for the calculation, you could be waiting a long time...

Your options: https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/53852/how-to-unstuck-a-low-fee-transaction-with-blockchain-info

[DJWilson]

I've never used breadwallet - does it let you set your own fees? Looking https://estimatefee.com/ , you should be paying around $7.50 USD (currently 0.0004BTC) for a transaction that's confirmed within a maximum of 24 hours. If you need it quicker, pay more (for example within 20 mins = $19, 0.001BTC).

Also - see https://bitcoinfees.earn.com - the "Inf" at the top of that chart is infinity....miners will confirm transactions that are paying more, so if you don't offer enough for the calculation, you could be waiting a long time...

Your options: https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/53852/how-to-unstuck-a-low-fee-transaction-with-blockchain-info


No, only express transfer or economy. If I knew a 24 hour process would be 9 days I would of picked express.

I'll check them links out, see what's what. Thanks.

[Marc J]

After a crappy year, at least some things are doing well!

Bitcoin hits all-time high rising above $20,000 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55343657)

Did you cash in Nathan, or still HODLing?

[rth_discos]

After a crappy year, at least some things are doing well!

Bitcoin hits all-time high rising above $20,000 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55343657)

Did you cash in Nathan, or still HODLing?

For those who do now hold Bitcoin - surely now is the time the cash in?

I've spoken to a few people and they believe 12 months time is the time to cash in - but based on what happened in 2017, I wouldn't wait!

[DJWilson]

After a crappy year, at least some things are doing well!

Bitcoin hits all-time high rising above $20,000 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55343657)

Did you cash in Nathan, or still HODLing?


Cashed in! Bottled it...

[Marc J]

For those who do now hold Bitcoin - surely now is the time the cash in?

I've spoken to a few people and they believe 12 months time is the time to cash in - but based on what happened in 2017, I wouldn't wait!

My wife never let me forget that I didn't cash in in December 2017, but by that point I'd held for 4 years through some ups and downs and, if I'm honest, thought if it did drop (or see a "correction" as everyone likes to say in these drops) it wouldn't have been by quite so much. But I held anyway, the way I saw it I was always in profit even at it's lowest recently (Dec 2018 - I was still at almost 700% profit).

So, to make sure I don't get that ear bashing in future I asked her this time if I should sell up, now that it's even higher than it was then. Her answer? "No, just keep a hold of them, they're bound to go even higher". So she's lost the right to have a go at me about that, now :)


Cashed in! Bottled it...

:eek: I hope you did well ;)

[rth_discos]

My wife never let me forget that I didn't cash in in December 2017,

Had you cashed in at the peak and then reinvested after the drop, how would things be looking now?

[Marc J]

Had you cashed in at the peak and then reinvested after the drop, how would things be looking now?

My crystal ball would have pride of place on my mantlepiece that's for sure!

But, to answer your question, if I'd sold at the previous peak (Dec 2017) I'd have been selling at about £15k per bitcoin, buying back the same bitcoin at the lowest point (Dec 2018) would have cost about £3k, and then today (right now) worth almost £18k again. And if I'd ploughed the whole £15k back in.... £90k! And I have more than 1 bitcoin ;)

Yes, it sucks, but you'd go mad thinking about the "perfect" time to buy and sell, with shares / forex as well as crypto. So I try not to think about that.

Anything over £12k in one tax year (if realised i.e. cashed out) attracts capital gains tax, anyway, so I would never cash in that much. Speaking to my accountant last week, they recommend cashing in £12k in my name and £12k in my wife's name on April 5th, and the same again on April 6th, if I wanted to. That'd be £48k total over 2 tax years for the 2 of us so tax free. That's if it's valued at £48k in April, and if I wanted to cash in!

[rth_discos]

Yes, it sucks, but you'd go mad thinking about the "perfect" time to buy and sell, with shares / forex as well as crypto. So I try not to think about that.


Oh of course - and there's a fine line between what it is and gambling!

[Marc J]

OK, so... I started getting really twitchy with the price increases this past few weeks. The majority of my crypto was held in paper wallets which, at the time (2014) was the "safest" storage method. Times move on and apparently that's stupid now, and I also wanted to be 1 step closer to "cashing in" if I decide to, so I bought a Trezor Model T hardware wallet (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07B8Q2G3K/), and use it along with the Exodus software wallet (https://www.exodus.io/).

Must say it is soooo easy to setup and use, and I feel a lot better now that my crypto isn't under my mattress! Claiming all my forked coins was a breeze, too. I would highly recommend these to anyone looking to get into (or out of) crypto.

By all accounts the Model T is overpriced for what it is, the Trezor One (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00R6MKDDE/) is just as good but I'm a sucker for anything with a screen!