Silk Road forums

Discussion => Newbie discussion => Topic started by: icebaby101 on March 25, 2013, 03:57 am

Title: New to bitcoins - help
Post by: icebaby101 on March 25, 2013, 03:57 am
I get that people may sell for different prices but how much should ONE bitcoin be worth on average? i have tried to research but it is very confusing. When i've looked up sellers they all give a price in currency say 40 USD/GBP etc but they don't say for how many Bitcoins and that's why i am confused. If anyone can clear this up for me i would be grateful, thanks.
Title: Re: New to bitcoins - help
Post by: Breach on March 25, 2013, 05:18 am
warning, clearnet: mtgox.com
shows updated price of bitcoin right now. it's sitting at about 70usd/ea.
bitcoin is volatile and can change by 5 or more dollars in just small periods of time. by the time you purchase your coin they will probably already be worth something else.
hope this helps :)
Title: Re: New to bitcoins - help
Post by: icebaby101 on March 25, 2013, 02:03 pm
When you say bitcoin is worth 70 usd.. are you talking about a single bitcoin? do you buy bitcoins in bunches or do you usually just buy single bitcoins from vendors?

also.. when you say the worth of them goes up.. does it just keep going up or does it ever fluctuate back down? does the fluctuation ever affect what you want to purchase.. like say you wanted to purchase soemthing at 0.69 bitcoins... as long as you have that amount of bitcoin and it stays at that price does it not matter?
Title: Re: New to bitcoins - help
Post by: ladyjane on March 25, 2013, 02:22 pm
Yes the $70 BREACH was referring to was for 1 bitcoin. You buy as many as you want / need to / can afford to. If you wanted to buy something that costs $140 on SR you would need 2 bitcoins. You may need to buy more than $140 worth to cover the commission cost a vendor / company will charge for the transaction. The commission amount can vary, assuming it's 10% you may need an extra $14 to make sure you have your $140 in your SR wallet.

Yes the dollar amount of a bitcoin will fluctuate. For example some people bought coins when they were $5 per coin, and now they have gone up to be valued at $70 a coin. A few days ago the rate dropped a little bit to $60 a coin, and now it's gone up again. It fluctuates constantly and is not considered a stable currency. The best thing to do is goto the clearnet site mtgox and there you see how it's fluctuate over the last few months.

Most vendors have the price of their products pegged to the dollar, so the price of the product will always cost $140 regardless if 1 bitcoin is worth $70, or $140. Once you have made a purchase, it will not matter as a buyer if the rate of a bitcoin goes up or down, as your price is locked in. However, if you have the bitcoins sitting in your account, and the 1 bitcoin previously worth $70, dropped to $50, you would only have $100 in your account.  On the other hand, if the price of that 1 bitcoin rose to $105, you would only need to give the vendor 1.5 bitcoins, and you would still have 0.5 left in your account. The item would still cost $140.

So yes the rate can go up or down and you may have extra cash in your account, or find out you are a bit short. If you are worried about losing money, the best thing you could do is just buy the bitcoins you need for a product and then purchase it straight away.
Title: Re: New to bitcoins - help
Post by: hopoffporfavor on March 25, 2013, 02:36 pm
Very nice explanation, I would give you a + karma but I'm a noob   :-\