Hmm, so the price of those futures contracts on sale at the CME just started showing - and they started out higher than the current price of bitcoin. But once the price of the futures contracts started showing, the current price of bitcoin actually started to drop!

And now the futures are too a little bit - although they're still priced higher.


Do people not think that was a high enough starting price? +$20k seems like a nice price to me!?

Was watching the enormous swongs in bitcoin the past hour - can't be sure ... but was it kind of looking like the pro traders were just letting people sell, until it was time to buy back in at $18k? $18k's the former ceiling - guess there's that rule of thumb that everybody adheres to, about how the old 'ceiling' should become the new 'floor' ... so if all the traders were happy to buy back in at $18k, they must all still very bullish about bitcoin? Maybe reason to feel optimistic about the future of bitcoin, despite today's huge swings?

Wound up selling everything this afternoon, hoping there may be some bargains to be had tonight - like was able to sell my BTC at $19.3k, LTC at $324, ETH at $719, XRP at $0.72, and pocket some profits. So *was* going to try sell high and buy low - but the velocity of that downswing kind of knocked the wind out of me! The price was dropping so fast, started to wonder if there'd wind up being enough traders to turn the tide at $18k, or even if they'd want to still? May need some time to sit on the sidelines and catch my breath?


Am disappointed that bitcoin didn't reach $20k today - it would have been great to see there be enough enthusiasm for crypto to keep things heading towards the moon ... it came super close though!

Can't be totally sure about what am seeing because am still learning - but it looks like the traders are in control of things, so things seem to look pretty solid for all the coins right now, even though there was all that carnage a couple of hours ago? Not totally sure though?


That being said, maybe this isn't a good time for me to buy back in yet, because am not sure what would happen if the price did wind up dropping below $18k - like guess there's a point where even traders might decide to sell ... but am not sure where that point would be for them?

Guess swimming with sharks has never been my thing - seem to do best when am in the company of lots of other fish


Will maybe watch and see how things go for the next day or two?

Maybe there's no need to know what would happen if the price were to drop below $18k, because the price isn't going to drop below $18k - because it's mostly pros who are buying bitcoin to start?

Isn't that always the case with most things, that the deep pockets tend to account for the bulk of the $? Like doesn't Mike Novograts have hundreds of millions of dollars invested in crypto - so there'd need to be tens of millions of people all investing $10 or $20 apiece to all equal one hedge fund manager, sort of a thing?


Maybe those big pocket pros maybe only long-term sell when there's some sort of bad news - like if there were ever a ban in the US, or something similar to that?

Kind of weird though that the futures see so little growth in the next 6 months - they're kind of acting like a wet blanket to the rally


Current prices:

ETH: US$703.60
LTC: US$306.89

Just bought some ripple:

The only thing about those other coins, is that people seem to draw confidence in them when they see bitcoin going to the moon? So not sure if there's still the chance of an independent rally for them, if those bitcoin futures keep acting like a wet blanket on bitcoin?

Maybe little danger of losing too much $ in the near-term either though?


Should maybe be investing more, if there's little apparent chance of a downturn, and there's maybe a decent possibility of a rally? Have a stop-limit set at $0.60 as well ...


Ah, not sure Will see how things go - and will wait and see if the price of litecoin and ethereum come down a little more, and will maybe buy a little bit of them as well?


Current prices:

ETH: US$704.85
LTC: US$306.93

Some wild movements happening with ETH right now - not sure if someone with deep pockets made a misclick or something??

Anyways, managed to pick up 2 ETH for a nice price - maybe it'll go down more tomorrow, but maybe it'll go up ... so who knows

Litecoin seems to have gone in the wrong direction than had hoped? Will wait for that one to hopefully come down some more tomorrow? Just my luck it'll be up $10


Current Price:

ETH: $309.30

Saw a fresh batch of crypto articles tonight during my nightly reading. Pretty wild to be seeing so many articles being written about crypto coming from mainstream publications - and it's kind of interesting to hear peoples' take who are just discovering bitcoin?

There seem to be some recurring themes - this article seems to touch on many of the points was seeing in a lot of the other articles ...

And there was this interesting article with little descriptions of all the other coins have seen listed on Bitfinex, but have never really bothered to learn more about, like NEO. Apparently Dolly Parton's a big fan of Monero - who knew??

Still have that feeling though that bitcoin will need to continue to do well for people to know that there's other coins available and for them to be willing to take a chance on them. So hope bitcoin continues to do well!

Gosh, am trying my best to adapt to West coast time, so will post these pics before turning in. Will be interesting to have the chance to compare how they celebrate the holidays in California with how things are here at home.


There's a Christmas market in town that's so popular, they've even started to charge admission. So it's always very busy, but quite lovely - they have a big decorated tree set up, and there's carolers, and bonfires, with vendors selling small gifts and ornaments ...

Business was very brisk at the hot beverage stand, where they had special holiday-themed drinks like mulled wine and cider ...

Was surprised to see people dining alfresco in -4C weather! Those chandeliers are actually heat lamps, and that's a condo in the top right-hand corner!

And there were indoor shops as well - there's a small business that's been around for years, that sells all sorts of gourmet condiments like marinades and chutneys. And this year they up a pop-up store to sell prepared foods like hot sandwiches that feature their products?

This is about the only interesting thing happening in my city at this time of the year - so it was like the entire city was there all at the same time


Looks like litecoin's still $308.80 - gosh, will maybe take a chance and see if am able to get it tomorrow for a little cheaper? Have that sinking feeling though, that will wake up and see it all the way up at $324

Ahhh, got impatient last night and bought the litecoin

Hopefully the price turns out to be *okay* - it kind of looks like litecoin's a bit lacking in direction ... so maybe this is one of those times where the momentum indicators can't help? Like how sometimes a HUD won't be of much help with what to do on the river?

Oh hey - also bought back into the stock market with AAPL and AMZN, because everybody's been saying there's finally enough votes to pass the tax bill sometimes this week before the holidays. And guess people are also saying that they're two of the companies who stand to benefit the most, especially AAPl?

Also, this is the busiest time of the year for both of them - even my parents are planning on upgrading to the iPhone X! That always seems to be the sign of a hot quarter, when even peoples' parents are getting in on a trend They have yet to buy bitcoin though, so maybe a sign that there's still lots of room for bitcoin to grow? haha!


Quite a change to go back to stocks, after following crypto for the last little while - guess the gains in stocks don't rise as quickly, but there seem to be far fewer big drops as well? So far, investing in stocks has felt like rather easy $ - although maybe things will feel quite different if the market ever starts to feel much more rocky?


Anyways, it looks like everybody who sold their bitcoin yesterday decided to all pile into bitcoin cash today, instead of any of the coins am holding right now Hopefully the time for my coins will come soon ...

Was going to buy and hold my ETH, but decided to sell at $757.82, since was in front of the computer - and will see if am able to buy it back a little lower, like around $720 to $730?

Ahh, will see what happens ...


Current Price:

ETH: $753.90

Oh dear - that may have been a misread ... wound up buying back in at $758.24

Oh well, it was a chance to double my holdings - it looks like may have finally managed to catch a big rally?

Ahhh - it looks like this *may* be a time to sell ... but it's not super clear?

Am just going to hodl, and not worry about that extra $50 or whatever that buying and selling might add up to ... or cost me!


Will just hodl

Was going to request a withdrawal of the bulk of my funds from Bitfinex. Although one of the crypto bears in the bitcoin thread posted that there's been a ton of complaints about the slowness of their service in processing withdrawals. Actually had that same problem at my old exchange, Quadriga - really don't see why payment processing should be so slow everywhere. Because the longer they take, won't that mean the more backlog they'll have? If they don't speed up their processing, how will they ever get up to speed??

Anyways, so guess will have a chance first-hand to see how fast/slow Bitfinex is with their withdrawals - and from the sounds of things, this may also be an exercise in patience?


Will have to see how long it takes for the funds to reach my account - hopefully they'll arrive in time for earnings season for stocks ... in late January

It looks like ETH is set to possibly have one last rally, if people are able to get things going?

Have already made over US$400 since last night - which in Canadian dollars means am practically a millionaire!

Looks like ethereum may need to cool down a little bit for a couple of hours/days - but it also looks like the interest is unwavering!

Initially bought less of ETH because of it's larger market cap - it seemed like it may have less room to grow than some of the other coins? But even though it's got the larger market cap, it looks like it's still very popular with people, maybe because of those corporate partnerships?

Now my ripple's on the move - am already up US$200 more ...

All the coins are heating up so fast, and have to make pull-backs - but have already made another US$100.

Not sure, but it seems like maybe people are taking a break from bitcoin, to give some of the other top 5 a try today?

Note to Self ...


LESSON: The rally won't be over until either ...

1. the rsi and volume start to dwindle
2. or the rsi hits ~80 across all the timelines, not just the more recent ones

Ripple seems to go on these massive heaters, and then crash back down to a much lower equilbrium point - people really, really seem to like ripple!!

Looks like everything died down about half an hour ago - may tuck back into bed for a short bit, and have a little rest?

Won't fall asleep! Will just unwind for a bit

More notes to self ...

EDIT:

1. the rsi and volume start to dwindle - across all timelines as well??

Notes:

1. LTC - looked like was still in cooldown, so took a nap. Missed the sell point of $362 while sleeping. Now down to $356 and holding. Rally seems to be over?
2. XRP - situation unknown. Ready for another rally, but appears to have stalled? Seems to be holding steady at $0.75?
3. ETH - rally continued while sleeping, but price now seems to be holding at $784. See below ...

IDEA: Was hoping to buy ETH back at $740 - but maybe the interest in these coins is so strong, there's little sell-off after rallies and they just start going sideways until the next one? So there's very little to be gained by trying to sell high and buy low due to overheating? Maybe they only tend to go down when bitcoin is on a heater?

LESSON: Hodl

Gosh - have a bunch of 'stuff' to do, that's not going to be super fun or anything like that, but have to get done ... like doing a load of laundry, packing my suitcase, taking out the garbage, etc.




Am still scanning photos for the photo book present for my brother too!

May not even have time to watch my usual cheesy tv shows like The Bachelor lol


Have really kind of put myself in a bit of a pickle here by selling my ETH at $790. Am sort of finding myself in no man's land, with the indicators not really giving a clear sign if things are going to be going up or down - so don't know what to do?? Thankfully heaters are very forgiving - guess it's impossible to go wrong when the price is $785 and rising. Even if things wind up going back down, guess they'll be going back up soon enough. And if prices only continue to go up from here, will have saved myself a whopping $20 of losses?

Looks like will have to continue on with the studying and practice of watching these indicators - sometimes they clearly help. And then there's been other times where am not sure if the indicators just aren't showing a clear sign ... or if if they're showing something clearly, but it's not clear in my head?? lol




Will have to hope (?) ETH drops back down to ~$770, and will try to buy back around then? And then will have to keep practicing reading those indicators - guess learning takes time

Okay, bought back 3 ETH at $788.21 - so that was a savings of something something, minus the transaction costs ...




Oh well - had the chance to practice, so that's always worth something ...


Am going to try to whip through the photos, so there may still be time left to catch a bit of some shows!

For any bitcoin hodlers not heavily into any of the other coins - are people experiencing a bit of fomo? Had some of that myself, after selling bitcoin at $10k ... and probably everybody has at some point ...

Not sure what to say about if the rally of the other coins will continue or not, if anyone's experiencing fomo? Litecoin looks like it's ready to pop some more - but am just a beginner at chart reading, so who knows??

Ahh - now that an hour's passed, it's looking a bit more like maybe everybody's poured their last $ into the market, so the rally's completely spent? Or is that just me??




Have been waiting for a big 'other' coin rally all week - but guess that was a mistake to hope for one before bitcoin had it's big day yesterday, with the start of futures trading at the CME?

Wonder if today was extra large for all the other coins because there was a bit of a pull-back yesterday from bitcoin - like if a decent number of people held on to some of their money, to possibly spend on other coins? Was the rally for all the other coins today maybe a little extra large because there was all the usual fresh money pouring into the crypto market, along with maybe that litlte extra something something from some of the money that may have just come out of bitcoin?


Guess if everybody decides they've had enough of the other coins tomorrow and decides to go back into bitcoin, probably half the gains made today will wind up getting wiped out? None of these other coins feel like they're able to make the gains that they have without bitcoin, so it's kind of weird to see all of them rally while bitcoin stays flat - guess it's to be expected that some of today's profits will wind up going back into bitcoin, so maybe not a good idea for me to get too attached to todays gains just yet


The nicest thing about the gains is that having something extra in the bank seems to put me at ease about hodling Got kind of sentimental looking through all the old family photos, taking a journey back through a lifetime of milestone moments - nice to not to have to worry about my crypto roll for a change.


Am dying to hit the sack! Do enjoy my sleep Will try to stay up for a couple more hours though ...

Have my ad blocker turned off on 2+2, so Mr. Malmuth can get the ad revenue for this site that's providing all of with such a lovely gathering spot for all things poker, crypto, and other fun stuff ...

99% of the time, the ads will see from Google are for these super dodgy looking ICO offerings, with a couple of poker things thrown in every once in a while. But today for some reason, am seeing this ...

Am still collecting ads that catch my eye - kind of an outside the box approach to try to sell plane tickets, using a singing racoon in a snappy outfit, yes?