After seeing the premium differences when buying with bitcoin from some bullion shops it got me thinking. Is it worth it? The only thing I know about cryptocurrency is how it comes to be. Exchanging USD for it? That's another story- I know less than nada. My questions are - Have any of you converted to bitcoin? Is there an exchange premium? Have you used it to buy bullion and, if so, did you find it worth the work and why?
Why are you surprised? When buying PMs you pay extra for transaction costs ... be it PayPal fees, Credit Card fees, etc. With BitCoin and ilk, you also have tremendous volatility to toss into the mix.
As a holder of Bitcoin, I would highly recommend against converting fiat to it just to buy bullion. That will most likely be a losing proposition unless you are willing to spend a good amount of time learning about the entirety of the ecosystem, and being able to correlate the roller coaster of its price chart to events that move it. A little bit like the concept of the stock market, but there are currently less tangibles to define what makes the market move, not like what drives most stocks in a normal market today. If you already have some, then it's just like anything else when buying PMs, you compare your premiums and buy when it suits you. If you don't have any Bitcoin, just buy the bullion direct with cash or a wire transfer, it'll be more stable in the end. I mined all of my coins many years back, so right now I'm on the plus side of the price. I have bought bullion with it (and other things) but I don't pay much attention to the premiums. There is a "fee" for using BTC just like there is for a credit card, etc as there are transaction fees for every transaction you do, kinda like a CC merchant fee. These are usually small but can be a couple bucks per transaction depending on market factors.
Like anything knowledge is key, before you dive in to anything always do your research it will always save you $$$$ in the end.
Yeah I did the math on mining when I heard about it and the electricity cost was the deciding factor for me not to. Kids in college turning their dorms meter into a jet engine wasn't an issue so it was just equipment costs.
For instance Provident allows you to buy using Bitcoin. For instance: https://www.providentmetals.com/2017-american-silver-eagle.html which for a single ASE Cash/Check $19.32 Bitcoin $19.53 Credit Card $20.13 one ounce AGE Cash/Check $1,324.48 BitCoin $1,338.28 Credit Card $1,379.67 I don't mine Bitcoin/crypto, but I kinda Day Trade in crypto from time to time.
Ok I didn't know there was a fee like buying stocks or a transaction fee like PP, CC, etc. so it makes sense. Is crypto that volatile where day trading is lucrative or does it have to be matched with a large position like penny day trading?
