Ok, let's try to consolidate all the recent bitcoin craze into a single thread. I think it would be good to have a single, main outlet where those who are genuinely interested in bitcoin can discuss and speculate, vs. 536 different threads. This should keep everyone here sane and those who don't care about bitcoin will hopefully appreciate that it's contained to one thread as well. Everybody wins 
I'm not an expert at bitcoin or trading (yet). Actually, I did mine my first 0.1 btc back in 2011. It took me a week to mine $2.68 before I promptly uninstalled the miner and forgot about it... until last month, when I got interested in speculation and trading. I'm slowly getting addicted to candlestick charts. I think it started around the same time that LukeP rejoined WF. Thanks a lot, Luke <3
Needless to say, I'm hooked.
I'm learning new stuff every day and I aspire to learn a lot more going forward. I always welcome a healthy debate and an inspiring exchange of ideas... and I know I'm not the only one, hence this thread.
I'll start by sharing an observation I made regarding the different exchanges, and my take on the differences and how I use them. I haven't spent a whole lot of time with all of this yet, please keep that in mind, so it would be great to get some experienced voices in here to either confirm or dismiss this. In any case, take it with a grain of salt.
I currently use BitcoinWisdom - Live Bitcoin/Litecoin charts for charts... hat tip to Loco Luke for the hint!
MtGox
Out of the three major (USD) bitcoin exchanges - MtGox, Bitstamp, and BTC-e - I don't use MtGox at all because that seems to be the general consensus. People say it's virtually impossible to get your fiat out of there, so I'm not touching it. I do, however, look at it occasionally, because it seems to always have the highest price and volume. I'm currently still trying to find out if I can use it as a general indicator/trend setter for the other exchanges, because everyone seems to be looking at it all the time.
BTC-e
The next exchange I pay attention to is btce. It's Russian and from what I've seen so far, it's extremely volatile compared to others... except MtGox, probably. btce seems to like the hype a lot and as a result, the price is all over the place.
This could be fueled by the fact that btce has a live chat and a mini-chart right on their trading page. It's right there in front of you all the time (I don't use it though). People in the chat are constantly yelling BUY BUY BUY or SELL SELL SELL... and the sheeple follow.
Last night (Nov 18), for example, btce was at an all-time high of $823... for a total of 1 minute at most, before it dropped to $551 within the next 20 minutes or so. And just this morning, it went down to $375 with a close of $466. All this happened within a few hours.
Bitstamp
The third exchange I use is Bitstamp. Compared to btce, Bitstamp seems to be a whole lot more laid back. Prices are usually in-between btce and MtGox. Momentums appear to last longer than on btce and it usually seems to trail behind btce a bit trend-wise. It's still volatile (especially at the moment), but I believe the people there are not as trigger-happy as on btce. Or maybe I should say they appear to be more strategic than on btce?
Compared to btce, Bitstamp is an oasis of zen with their lack of charts and the soothing clean & green UI.
Now this is assuming the majority of traders on these platforms are actually using the web UI and not some bot or software.
To sum this up:
- MtGox seems to be a trendsetter that is referenced a lot elsewhere and followed by others. By observing MtGox, it may be possible to get a head start for short-term trends.
- btce is like a war zone where the armies are made up of menstruating young girls.
- Bitstamp is like a cool back yard where the guys have a bbq going and chillax most of the time... but they got a TV on and are quick to come running out to the porch when need be. They just have a slightly longer reaction time, because burgers.
Can anyone confirm these observations or are they way off?
I'm not an expert at bitcoin or trading (yet). Actually, I did mine my first 0.1 btc back in 2011. It took me a week to mine $2.68 before I promptly uninstalled the miner and forgot about it... until last month, when I got interested in speculation and trading. I'm slowly getting addicted to candlestick charts. I think it started around the same time that LukeP rejoined WF. Thanks a lot, Luke <3
Needless to say, I'm hooked.
I'm learning new stuff every day and I aspire to learn a lot more going forward. I always welcome a healthy debate and an inspiring exchange of ideas... and I know I'm not the only one, hence this thread.
I'll start by sharing an observation I made regarding the different exchanges, and my take on the differences and how I use them. I haven't spent a whole lot of time with all of this yet, please keep that in mind, so it would be great to get some experienced voices in here to either confirm or dismiss this. In any case, take it with a grain of salt.
I currently use BitcoinWisdom - Live Bitcoin/Litecoin charts for charts... hat tip to Loco Luke for the hint!
MtGox
Out of the three major (USD) bitcoin exchanges - MtGox, Bitstamp, and BTC-e - I don't use MtGox at all because that seems to be the general consensus. People say it's virtually impossible to get your fiat out of there, so I'm not touching it. I do, however, look at it occasionally, because it seems to always have the highest price and volume. I'm currently still trying to find out if I can use it as a general indicator/trend setter for the other exchanges, because everyone seems to be looking at it all the time.
BTC-e
The next exchange I pay attention to is btce. It's Russian and from what I've seen so far, it's extremely volatile compared to others... except MtGox, probably. btce seems to like the hype a lot and as a result, the price is all over the place.
This could be fueled by the fact that btce has a live chat and a mini-chart right on their trading page. It's right there in front of you all the time (I don't use it though). People in the chat are constantly yelling BUY BUY BUY or SELL SELL SELL... and the sheeple follow.
Last night (Nov 18), for example, btce was at an all-time high of $823... for a total of 1 minute at most, before it dropped to $551 within the next 20 minutes or so. And just this morning, it went down to $375 with a close of $466. All this happened within a few hours.
Bitstamp
The third exchange I use is Bitstamp. Compared to btce, Bitstamp seems to be a whole lot more laid back. Prices are usually in-between btce and MtGox. Momentums appear to last longer than on btce and it usually seems to trail behind btce a bit trend-wise. It's still volatile (especially at the moment), but I believe the people there are not as trigger-happy as on btce. Or maybe I should say they appear to be more strategic than on btce?
Compared to btce, Bitstamp is an oasis of zen with their lack of charts and the soothing clean & green UI.
Now this is assuming the majority of traders on these platforms are actually using the web UI and not some bot or software.
To sum this up:
- MtGox seems to be a trendsetter that is referenced a lot elsewhere and followed by others. By observing MtGox, it may be possible to get a head start for short-term trends.
- btce is like a war zone where the armies are made up of menstruating young girls.
- Bitstamp is like a cool back yard where the guys have a bbq going and chillax most of the time... but they got a TV on and are quick to come running out to the porch when need be. They just have a slightly longer reaction time, because burgers.
Can anyone confirm these observations or are they way off?