Good idea? Forum precious metals sales/trades using Crypto's

[Paul]

I have posted it in 'General Discussion' so it it read by a wider audience/response rather than the 'Crypto' sub-forum

 

Now i have finally got around to fully learning about Crypto Currencys (should have done it years ago), how they work and what behind it. 

I can only see them being more embraced as the technology becomes more mainstream and easier for 'Joe Public' to understand and use

• I cant recall it being mentioned on here before now but is there any demand now for any of the following here for things like the following ?
• Want to realise some profits on the Sales of Cryptos - offer them for sale here ?
• Purchase of precious metals using Cryptos between other forum members
• In need of some specific Cryptos,  post a {example}  "'0.00005 BTC wanted - will pay £X current market rate"

 

There are current big pain points within the buying and selling process, namely with the large spread % in commission you loose when converting back to fiat debt tokens.  Although i can see this lowering as time progresses

Just today for example, i am nicely positive on ETH today nearly +20% up for the day, if i wished to take a little profit, say sell £15 of ETH profits for a milky maple from a forum member, it would nice to have this option there

We are all always looking to cut where we overpay, we are generally 90% of us tight as fishes

Is there any demand for this folks ? 

I think to fully embrace this new Crypto world that WILL become our reality in the years to come it,  the early adaptors need to be using it to do the tasks that fiat previously did

 

Is there any mileage or value with incorporating something like this into the forum here ?

Any discussion would be interesting what people think  

[KDave]

It's a trust based forum so I would think such trades would be possible already unless I'm missing something? Im thinking on the lines of I send you my ether wallet address, you send me ether, I post you a maple. (For example).

You could use the existing platform for this I would have thought 

[Paul]

9 minutes ago, KDave said:

It's a trust based forum so I would think such trades would be possible already unless I'm missing something? Im thinking on the lines of I send you my ether wallet address, you send me ether, I post you a maple. (For example).

You could use the existing platform for this I would have thought 

Yeah that is line of thinking @KDave as its person to person (no middle man) you wouldn't be paying unnecessary commissions/fees you would to an exchange converting to fiat

[KDave]

Sounds like a good idea to me, I should have thought of it before buying from sharps, 0.5% extra to pay in bitcoin not to mention the fees. I suppose the fees can't be gotten around and are quite high at the moment so it may be costly to trade this way. Perhaps with alts it might work I have only used bitcoin. 

[Paul]

I think the preferred payments types of choice emerging seem to be BTC  Ethereum Litecoin Dash Ripple & Dash

A hot wallet like Exodus holds these popular alt coins apart from Ripple

Using a hot wallet to park a limited amount a fiat cash could be useful if anything ever develops here with buying/selling/trading crytpos for PM here

 

 

[swAgger]

Absolutely. Personally, i would like to experiment a bit with crypto but i'm finding the process of getting going is off-putting, from what i'm hearing and reading. Finding an exchange to convert the fiat first. Can't do sepa transfer without passport id, proof of address, then either a selfie or skype holding these items. ffs. And that's before the initial restrictions, extreme delays and problems for new customers they all seem to having. Both in verifying and the receipt of funds, then the execution itself.

So yes, i would like the option to sepa or paypal f&f with a trusted forum member in exchange for ltc, eth, or dash. I can then use these as a base to exchange for other alt coins, yes? (or transfer to an exchange for any alt coins exodus might not do). I have exodus wallet waiting, that was the easy part. Now it keeps throwing me sad disappointed looks from the screen every day It's not angry with me..... just disappointed.

Would people only be interested in exchange for PM ? (wasn't really planning selling my PM, tbh.... but wouldn't rule it out).

[sovereignsteve]

All these problems just emphasise why I don't think these cryptos will ever be anything other than a speculative vehicle. They are just too difficult to use as mainstream "currency".

Enjoy the ride while it lasts.

[FlorinCollector]

1 hour ago, sovereignsteve said:

All these problems just emphasise why I don't think these cryptos will ever be anything other than a speculative vehicle. They are just too difficult to use as mainstream "currency".

Enjoy the ride while it lasts.

I agree here right now yes

but the person that makes these user friendly and covers everyones addresses into simple transactions. That person will be very rich and it will make it mainstream. Right now i think the market is still just discovering value.

Id say on here ltc (litecoin) is probably the fastest and cheapest currently for doing transactions with. But I suppose you could list the cryptos you accept on a sales thread?

[Scuzzle]

I think it's a good idea, I have 10x 2013 far from pristine silver Britannias I would happily sell for payment in crypto.  I'm looking for some funds to invest once Coinbase list their new coins, basically I think whatever one is cheapest will see the most "what the hell" money.

[KDave]

Agreed as a currency they are too clunky and expensive. It needs to be cheaper, quicker and easier to transact. We are a long way from them being competitive with existing fiat currencies, except for speculation of course, at which they currently excel. It's all fiat, and the old stuff does it better than the new ledger stuff for the time being. 

But, if you already have a load of them and want to exchange them in barter then it's not too difficult to do. Saves getting hit by fees and spread to convert back to fiat. 

[PansPurse]

1 hour ago, swAgger said:

Absolutely. Personally, i would like to experiment a bit with crypto but i'm finding the process of getting going is off-putting, from what i'm hearing and reading. Finding an exchange to convert the fiat first. Can't do sepa transfer without passport id, proof of address, then either a selfie or skype holding these items. ffs. And that's before the initial restrictions, extreme delays and problems for new customers they all seem to having. Both in verifying and the receipt of funds, then the execution itself

These restrictions are in part because of how cryptocurrencies are inherently irreversible. So exchanges need to make as sure as they can that they're not being defrauded before making an irreversible bitcoin (et al) transaction.

Good article here:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/12/how-bitcoin-works/

[metallica73]

It's a good idea, though as stated it can probably already be done using the standard trading section - just by stating you only accept cryptos or something?

I have basically been sodding about with cryptos using money i'd have thrown at a can of coke, nothing major but LTC has seen a nice little increase and XVG Verge - my £4 punt is now worth about £120! I've been thinking about selling for a 1/4oz gold and looking at options.

So far bitgild, sharps pixley & silvergoldbull seem the best bet but a forum option to buy would be good too

[Paul]

BTC they’re “first” at something. As they should — what’s the point of a new company that adds nothing new to the world?

On the surface being “first” sounds impressive, implying innovation and leadership. But upon reflection, it’s not.

Google wasn’t the first search engine, the iPod wasn’t the first mp3 player,

DropBox wasn’t the first cloud file system,

Dell wasn’t the first PC manufacturer

Friends Reunited/Myspace were not the best social networks.  Facebook took over

Yet market leaders. Indeed, their market’s greatest innovators.

Being first does imply innovation, but also faults and weakness.

The first electric car, while impressively innovative, was pretty bad by most standards — short-range, sluggish, unattractive, and constantly in the repair shop.

Now, the Tesla car has 1000,000s of loyal followers/buyers

Those are tangible competitive advantages; being “first” isn’t.

In fact, being first is a shackle because you’re stuck with legacy support — features you thought were important but aren’t now, grandfathered customers who are no longer profitable, and a reputation that’s hard to revamp even if your company has in fact changed.

Worse, being first means you make all the mistakes in public, for all to see.

New competitors get to swoop in afterwards with the hindsight that you created — in pricing, positioning, marketing, features, design, … anything.

They get the running start without all the first to market baggage like BTC has.

Of course there are situations where being first is indeed a massive advantage. This exception arises when you’re not only first, but able to expand fast and continue innovate. Early mp3 players didn’t do this — they didn’t get huge traction and weren’t creative in hardware or design, which meant Apple had the space to innovate in design while the market was still largely available.

These cryptos have SO MUCH potential to improve the very internet as we know it 

[HawkHybrid]

how do people agree on a price using a fluctuating form of

payment?

 

HH

[metallica73]

10 minutes ago, HawkHybrid said:

how do people agree on a price using a fluctuating form of

payment?

 

HH

I guess you agree a price in £ and pay the equivalent agreed in whatever crypto within a specified timeframe.

[PansPurse]

21 minutes ago, HawkHybrid said:

how do people agree on a price using a fluctuating form of

payment?

Quickly?

Actually I think this problem is why Steam stopped accepting Bitcoin

[KDave]

I guess here you would need to agree or state in your selling/buying terms which crypto exchanges price to use as there are often huge differences between them, but once that is sorted, it's no different to swapping any other commodity with a fluctuating price. Such as swapping silver for gold as is done on occasion here. 

[sovereignsteve]

Again, a form of payment whose value fluctuates so wildly and which nobody can agree on is frankly, useless for that task.

[metallica73]

4 hours ago, sovereignsteve said:

Again, a form of payment whose value fluctuates so wildly and which nobody can agree on is frankly, useless for that task.

I don't know.... we're all used to trading with fluctuating metals prices and if buying bullion having to complete a payment within a certain timeframe.

Likewise, if you're comfortable taking payment in BTC or say LTC you know full well the value you just got paid could go up and down. I'd be interested to know how a dealer like Sharps Pixley or Silvergoldbull deal with the fluctuations. I wonder if they take back their wholesale price into $ or £ asap and take a punt on their profit by leaving the rest in their bitcoin account.

[MikeOxlong]

Use Litecoin . Faster lower fees

[KDave]

The times I've transacted in bitcoin for bullion there has been a 15 minute window to pay on the agreed price or the order must be made again. Not sure if this was merchant driven, middleman driven (they used bitpay) or technology driven - perhaps something to do with the way the transaction is verified on the block chain? No idea, but it works as a way to get around fluctuations, we agree spot gold and spot bitcoin and fix the price for 15 minutes while the transaction is made.

It's no different to any other commodity. A currency these things are not, but people give them value and so they trade like a commodity. Still no idea why people want them except because the price keeps going up. They have no record of being a store of value and they are rather rubbish compared to existing payment systems we have available that are cheaper faster and just as secure. They have a good it's different this time story though I'll give it that and it's early days. 

[sovereignsteve]

3 hours ago, KDave said:

They have a good it's different this time story though I'll give it that and it's early days.

They also have a certain romantic quality as it's cutting edge and cocking a snoot at the authorities.

[HawkHybrid]

12 hours ago, metallica73 said:

I don't know.... we're all used to trading with fluctuating metals prices and if buying bullion having to complete a payment within a certain timeframe.

Likewise, if you're comfortable taking payment in BTC or say LTC you know full well the value you just got paid could go up and down. I'd be interested to know how a dealer like Sharps Pixley or Silvergoldbull deal with the fluctuations. I wonder if they take back their wholesale price into $ or £ asap and take a punt on their profit by leaving the rest in their bitcoin account.

 

it's about magnitude of fluctuation. silver dropping recently

~6% over 2 weeks would be a nuisance that is not too frequent.

bitcoin moves 10% or more in a day is much more difficult to

handle, especially if your margins are 10% or less.

 

HH