Quote from: gusti on September 13, 2011, 03:23:19 AM

Quote from: BkkCoins on September 12, 2011, 04:53:27 AM

Quote from: defxor on September 12, 2011, 04:28:49 AM

Quote from: Jeremy West spendbitcoins.com on September 12, 2011, 04:05:02 AM

This subtlety matters though. Some people claim bitcoin is doomed if the exchange rate drops any more. In reality, though, all that matters is that the price stabilises somewhere. Whether that's at 0.01 USD or $1000 USD makes little difference.

Some people, who are used to dealing in multiple currencies, don't even think that matters. While $/ might not move more than 20% over a few months, you still have to hedge for currency volatility just as with Bitcoin.

But how do you hedge for Bitcoin volatility. There isn't any functional options or futures markets yet. I know there's talk about it but when I went looking they weren't functional. You would need something that can offset Bitcoin price changes.

if you are concerned about btc to usd rate fluctuations, you can hedge your position temporarily staying in usd
i.e. check how silkroad protects it's sellers from exchange fluctuations

That's the same as not having a BTC position - which doesn't help with hedging. The point of hedging a position is to pay a small premium (like insurance) against adverse moves, without compromising any beneficial moves. eg. owning an option to sell close to your buy price prevents substantial loss if the price drops, but you still gain if the prices rises. You only lose whatever the option price would be.

Granted, in this volatile a market the option prices would be very high (if they existed).