Quote from: Bitmunitions on April 25, 2013, 01:34:43 AM

Quote from: arobinson on April 25, 2013, 12:27:16 AM

Would like to introduce myself to the forums.

I have been introduced to bitcoin a few years back, now I see it has grown to be very respectable trading currency from what I gather. Mining seems a little difficult to understand at first but I find it extremely interesting. It seems like with the new rigs mining is basically pointless for the average Joe? Isn't what is happening in this situation is exactly the opposite of what bitcoin is about?

Seems like "day trading" can be very profitable. The swings allow for quick trades, although I am probably doing it wrong. Quick question about this, I have signed up with Mtgox and would like to know how the auto buy/sell works. If I post a auto sell at $130 will it sell that to someone if the price is above it or will it wait till the spot price is $130?

What is with these other currencies? Does anyone recommend I take a look at any? Is there a "Next bitcoin" currency making its way up?

I'm not the best writer so please excuse the mess. Thanks in advance to anyone who gives a little in-site with any questions.

Hello.

As far as your question on mining goes, it is still profitable for the "average Joe." Especially with the price increases in Bitcoin, that is even more true now. Of course it does take a bit of an investment as the best cards to use can run around $200-300 USD. Several companies are even starting to sell (and ship) ASIC machines. These are Application specific integrated chips that are designed for SHA256, which is what Bitcoin uses for decrypting the blockchain. These machines are rather cheap for the amount of power they offer. Some people believe Butterflylabs.com is a scam website, but I personally disagree. I suggest you do your research and make your own decision.

Now on to day-trading. You are correct in that the price swings allow for a LOT of potential profit if executed properly. However, to see a lot of profit, you must invest a good bit and with that comes a lot of risk. The greater the risk, the greater the potential return. Today alone the price in bitcoin saw a sharp spike from about $145 to $165 then back down to $150 and back up to $155. If you do the math and time it correctly, you could have easily made $500 USD today alone.

If you have any more questions that I failed to fully answer, you are more than welcome to PM me or continue posting on this thread.

Good luck!

Thanks for the response.

I heard I can use the video card out of my xbox to mine? How would that work?

I was interested in buying a few GPU cards, where in your opinion is the best place to buy (cheapest and most reliable)?

I was thinking of making a skype group for bitcoin discussion, would there be any interest out there newbies?