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Topic: Wall Observer BTC/USD - Bitcoin price movement tracking & discussion - page 28412. (Read 26608188 times)

hero member
Activity: 910
Merit: 1003
...

PS. The point of the plot is to show the AVERAGE gain/loss PER YEAR over the last N days, rather than the accumulated gain/loss factor.
hero member
Activity: 667
Merit: 500
You have to keep doubling and betting until you win.  It is mathematically proven at least to be a break even strategy as long as the odds are exactly 50/50 like flipping a coin or black and red on a roulette wheel... so long as there are NO betting limitations.  Your point is that a guy would run out of money sooner or later, but overall it is at least a break even strategy... and pretty unlikely that a guy or gal would lose more than 10 times in a row.

ALL bet distributions/"strategies" are mathematically "proven" to be break even under these conditions, because of the very nature of how multiplication and addition work in the first place.
legendary
Activity: 924
Merit: 1001


ascending wedge. doesnt have much time left to decide.
hero member
Activity: 910
Merit: 1003
.. just does NOT make any sense to pick such an opportunistic time to suggest that people are losers in BTC b/c they chose to start investing after or near the end of a bubble....
OK, but I am not suggesting anything, that is just data.

The sale date (Apr/01)  was not "picked"; it is basically "today", except that the datafile I had at hand was collected a few days ago.  I did this same plot a couple of months ago, and I may do it again in a month or so, in both cases using the then-current date and price.
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 250
The Martingale "system" has no sound rational basis to even be called a system in the first place, because it does not actually do anything statistically that in any way improves outcome of any arbitrary series of fixed bets.

All the Martingale system actually does is play psychological games with your perception of wins and losses, and appeals to a misguided sense that the individual bets are somehow not statistically-independent events.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure casinos love the Martingale, since it gets you betting more and more on losing bets.
full member
Activity: 192
Merit: 100

You have to keep doubling and betting until you win.  It is mathematically proven at least to be a break even strategy as long as the odds are exactly 50/50 like flipping a coin or black and red on a roulette wheel... so long as there are NO betting limitations.  Your point is that a guy would run out of money sooner or later, but overall it is at least a break even strategy... and pretty unlikely that a guy or gal would lose more than 10 times in a row.

 You incorporated a 10 time betting limit into your description.. which is NOT part of the theory.. and pretty unlikely.. less than 1 in a 1,000 chance of losing 10 times in a row (actually it is a 1 in 1,024.00262 chance of losing that many times in a row)...

Anyhow, if we use the $1 scenario, the odds are that you would have won more than a thousand by the time you lose 10 in a row.... which if you lose 10 in a row, you are invested $1,023 at that point in time.  If you lose one more time (11 times), then you are invested $2039, (1/2048.00524 chance). Anyhow.. sooner or later, you are going to win back your dollar, so long as you keep doubling your bet each time.. it's inevitable.. so long as the odds are 50/50.  

Of course, if you do reach that unlucky losing streak of 10 in a row, then you gotta find the capital from somewhere to keep betting and doubling the bet again.. otherwise you will lock in your losses.  

The problem, that I already mentioned, is that sometimes peeps will misunderstand or misread the odds or they will accept a betting limit or will deviate from the exact application of doubling the bet each time that you lose, until you win..

After you win, then you start over at $1 again.  

Of course, if you were going to start out with $10 or $100, then you would need 10x or 100x more capital, in the event you entered a long losing streak... but it is almost guaranteed that you will NOT lose 10 times in a row, unless the odds really are NOT 50/50.


Here is a spreadsheet if anyone is interested http://imgur.com/JuLDf9H. I made it back when I tried the strategy on Prime dice. After about 50,000 trials on Automated mode it had earned less than it took electricity to run it so long.  I think the most times I ever lost was 16 times in a row.

I can post the full file if anyone is interested in playing around with it.
hero member
Activity: 667
Merit: 500
The Martingale "system" has no sound rational basis to even be called a system in the first place, because it does not actually do anything statistically that in any way improves outcome of any arbitrary series of fixed bets.

All the Martingale system actually does is play psychological games with your perception of wins and losses, and appeals to a misguided sense that the individual bets are somehow not statistically-independent events.
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 250
Martingale trading is a bulletproof strat

Only if you have an infinite line, infinite time, snd a random market.  I.e. never.  But it does form an important part of a balanced algo.

The martingale fallacy is based on the fact that the human brain is not easily fathoming the speed with which an exponential function increases. You have to use your left brain for that, which takes some thought work.

Edit: And you also have to understand the limit of your betting power, and the limit for bets in the casino.

Edit2: And to top it up: Your only gain in the end, if you win before the limits, is the size of your first bet. So if you start low, to be able to go on for a large number of rounds, your win is also low. If you start a martingale series with a one dollar bet, and lose many times, you could end up putting thousands on the table, and if you win in the end, your gain is one dollar, the size of the first bet.


A Martingale strategy works, so long as the win amount is equal to the bet and the odds are 50/50.  With a 1 dollar bet, you are very likely to win your 1 back dollar bet back before you get anywhere near $1000.  If the odds are 50/50, then you would have to lose 7 times in a row, to reach into the $100 arena... highly unlikely if the odds truly are 50/50.. the trick in that regard is making sure that you do NOT miscalculate the odds.

A Martingale strategy does NOT work. If you do the math, you will find you will lose money long-term unless you have infinite funds and no betting limits. Yes, it's unlikely that you will lose 10 times in a row or whatever, but when you do you are wiped out for an enormous amount of money, and it's that scenario which makes you lose money on the strategy long-term.


You have to keep doubling and betting until you win.  It is mathematically proven at least to be a break even strategy as long as the odds are exactly 50/50 like flipping a coin or black and red on a roulette wheel... so long as there are NO betting limitations.  Your point is that a guy would run out of money sooner or later, but overall it is at least a break even strategy... and pretty unlikely that a guy or gal would lose more than 10 times in a row.

 You incorporated a 10 time betting limit into your description.. which is NOT part of the theory.. and pretty unlikely.. less than 1 in a 1,000 chance of losing 10 times in a row (actually it is a 1 in 1,024.00262 chance of losing that many times in a row)...

Anyhow, if we use the $1 scenario, the odds are that you would have won more than a thousand by the time you lose 10 in a row.... which if you lose 10 in a row, you are invested $1,023 at that point in time.  If you lose one more time (11 times), then you are invested $2039, (1/2048.00524 chance). Anyhow.. sooner or later, you are going to win back your dollar, so long as you keep doubling your bet each time.. it's inevitable.. so long as the odds are 50/50.  

Of course, if you do reach that unlucky losing streak of 10 in a row, then you gotta find the capital from somewhere to keep betting and doubling the bet again.. otherwise you will lock in your losses.  

The problem, that I already mentioned, is that sometimes peeps will misunderstand or misread the odds or they will accept a betting limit or will deviate from the exact application of doubling the bet each time that you lose, until you win..

After you win, then you start over at $1 again.  

Of course, if you were going to start out with $10 or $100, then you would need 10x or 100x more capital, in the event you entered a long losing streak... but it is almost guaranteed that you will NOT lose 10 times in a row, unless the odds really are NOT 50/50.


Well I am assuming you are talking about in a casino, since nobody in their right mind is going to let you keep doubling your bet on something until you win when the bet is break even. Martingales used in casinos lose just as much as any other strategy, but a lot quicker because you are often risking a lot more money per bet by the end of it. I said 10x because, starting at $1 (which most casinos won't even let you do), after about 8-10 losses you will hit the betting limit.

Assuming you are playing true 50-50's, with infinite bankroll and no betting limits, yes you will break even. But you will also break even betting $5 each time in that scenario, so why go bonkers with doubling your bet?

As for roulette, you DO realize that that is not a 50-50, right? The 0 (and sometimes 00) screw your odds and give the casino their edge on that bet. It has to be a TRUE 50-50 to break even, and if it's a true 50-50 (and even money bets as well), you will break even long term no matter what.
legendary
Activity: 3920
Merit: 11299
Self-Custody is a right. Say no to"Non-custodial"
sure you mean would have realized a loss if they sold during q1 and early q2 2014? I'll perhaps sell this coin I bought in nov if the price is right.
The sale date is fixed (April 01, 2014) and the price too (480 USD/BTC for the red line).  The horizontal axis is when the coins were bought.  

By selling at that price and date, one would have made a profit only if one bought before mid-November.

However, the plot considers only mean (L+H)/2 daily prices.  There were a few "golden windows of opportunity" when the price momentarily went lower than 480 USD/BTC. (For example, 400 on Feb/25, and ~435 on Mar/30--31).  People who bought at those prices and sold on Apr/01 at 480 USD would have achieved a fairly large ROI per year.


I would NOT be so foolish as to have bet in December 2013 during an exorbitant price increase and to expect to cash out in the next few months or even in the next year or two at a profit... .. just does NOT make any sense to pick such an opportunistic time to suggest that people are losers in BTC b/c they chose to start investing after or near the end of a bubble.... Yes there are people who invest without foresight and lose money... but that is NOT a very logical investment strategy to begin at the end of a exorbitant price rise and to expect profits in the short term.
legendary
Activity: 3920
Merit: 11299
Self-Custody is a right. Say no to"Non-custodial"
Martingale trading is a bulletproof strat

Only if you have an infinite line, infinite time, snd a random market.  I.e. never.  But it does form an important part of a balanced algo.

The martingale fallacy is based on the fact that the human brain is not easily fathoming the speed with which an exponential function increases. You have to use your left brain for that, which takes some thought work.

Edit: And you also have to understand the limit of your betting power, and the limit for bets in the casino.

Edit2: And to top it up: Your only gain in the end, if you win before the limits, is the size of your first bet. So if you start low, to be able to go on for a large number of rounds, your win is also low. If you start a martingale series with a one dollar bet, and lose many times, you could end up putting thousands on the table, and if you win in the end, your gain is one dollar, the size of the first bet.


A Martingale strategy works, so long as the win amount is equal to the bet and the odds are 50/50.  With a 1 dollar bet, you are very likely to win your 1 back dollar bet back before you get anywhere near $1000.  If the odds are 50/50, then you would have to lose 7 times in a row, to reach into the $100 arena... highly unlikely if the odds truly are 50/50.. the trick in that regard is making sure that you do NOT miscalculate the odds.

A Martingale strategy does NOT work. If you do the math, you will find you will lose money long-term unless you have infinite funds and no betting limits. Yes, it's unlikely that you will lose 10 times in a row or whatever, but when you do you are wiped out for an enormous amount of money, and it's that scenario which makes you lose money on the strategy long-term.


You have to keep doubling and betting until you win.  It is mathematically proven at least to be a break even strategy as long as the odds are exactly 50/50 like flipping a coin or black and red on a roulette wheel... so long as there are NO betting limitations.  Your point is that a guy would run out of money sooner or later, but overall it is at least a break even strategy... and pretty unlikely that a guy or gal would lose more than 10 times in a row.

 You incorporated a 10 time betting limit into your description.. which is NOT part of the theory.. and pretty unlikely.. less than 1 in a 1,000 chance of losing 10 times in a row (actually it is a 1 in 1,024.00262 chance of losing that many times in a row)...

Anyhow, if we use the $1 scenario, the odds are that you would have won more than a thousand by the time you lose 10 in a row.... which if you lose 10 in a row, you are invested $1,023 at that point in time.  If you lose one more time (11 times), then you are invested $2039, (1/2048.00524 chance). Anyhow.. sooner or later, you are going to win back your dollar, so long as you keep doubling your bet each time.. it's inevitable.. so long as the odds are 50/50. 

Of course, if you do reach that unlucky losing streak of 10 in a row, then you gotta find the capital from somewhere to keep betting and doubling the bet again.. otherwise you will lock in your losses. 

The problem, that I already mentioned, is that sometimes peeps will misunderstand or misread the odds or they will accept a betting limit or will deviate from the exact application of doubling the bet each time that you lose, until you win..

After you win, then you start over at $1 again. 

Of course, if you were going to start out with $10 or $100, then you would need 10x or 100x more capital, in the event you entered a long losing streak... but it is almost guaranteed that you will NOT lose 10 times in a row, unless the odds really are NOT 50/50.







legendary
Activity: 2156
Merit: 1070
TERA - any reason you think if we go back down again it is most likely to 435?
legendary
Activity: 2156
Merit: 1070
USD exchanges have not followed Huobi up all the way and have no volume. I wonder if the rally on Huobi is due to people leaving to get out before banking is frozen and they think it's already too late/risky to submit a withdrawal when the bank account could be shut down at any time.

It could also be short covering.
full member
Activity: 171
Merit: 100
USD exchanges have not followed Huobi up all the way and have no volume. I wonder if the rally on Huobi is due to people leaving to get out before banking is frozen and they think it's already too late/risky to submit a withdrawal when the bank account could be shut down at any time.

Doesnt huobi have 0% exchange fees so they could just be trading the same volume?
hero member
Activity: 728
Merit: 500
USD exchanges have not followed Huobi up all the way and have no volume. I wonder if the rally on Huobi is due to people leaving to get out before banking is frozen and they think it's already too late/risky to submit a withdrawal when the bank account could be shut down at any time.
hero member
Activity: 910
Merit: 1003
sure you mean would have realized a loss if they sold during q1 and early q2 2014? I'll perhaps sell this coin I bought in nov if the price is right.
The sale date is fixed (April 01, 2014) and the price too (480 USD/BTC for the red line).  The horizontal axis is when the coins were bought

By selling at that price and date, one would have made a profit only if one bought before mid-November.

However, the plot considers only mean (L+H)/2 daily prices.  There were a few "golden windows of opportunity" when the price momentarily went lower than 480 USD/BTC. (For example, 400 on Feb/25, and ~435 on Mar/30--31).  People who bought at those prices and sold on Apr/01 at 480 USD would have achieved a fairly large ROI per year.
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 250
Martingale trading is a bulletproof strat

Only if you have an infinite line, infinite time, snd a random market.  I.e. never.  But it does form an important part of a balanced algo.

The martingale fallacy is based on the fact that the human brain is not easily fathoming the speed with which an exponential function increases. You have to use your left brain for that, which takes some thought work.

Edit: And you also have to understand the limit of your betting power, and the limit for bets in the casino.

Edit2: And to top it up: Your only gain in the end, if you win before the limits, is the size of your first bet. So if you start low, to be able to go on for a large number of rounds, your win is also low. If you start a martingale series with a one dollar bet, and lose many times, you could end up putting thousands on the table, and if you win in the end, your gain is one dollar, the size of the first bet.


A Martingale strategy works, so long as the win amount is equal to the bet and the odds are 50/50.  With a 1 dollar bet, you are very likely to win your 1 back dollar bet back before you get anywhere near $1000.  If the odds are 50/50, then you would have to lose 7 times in a row, to reach into the $100 arena... highly unlikely if the odds truly are 50/50.. the trick in that regard is making sure that you do NOT miscalculate the odds.

A Martingale strategy does NOT work. If you do the math, you will find you will lose money long-term unless you have infinite funds and no betting limits. Yes, it's unlikely that you will lose 10 times in a row or whatever, but when you do you are wiped out for an enormous amount of money, and it's that scenario which makes you lose money on the strategy long-term.
hero member
Activity: 574
Merit: 500
This plot may be of interest:

The red line shows how much one's investment would have been multiplied, on a yearly basis, if one had bought bitcoins at various dates in the past on Bitstamp and sold them on April 01, 2014.  

Thus, for example, if one bought bitcoins at almost any time between December 2011 and November 2013, and sold them on April 01 at 480 USD/BTC (the approximate price on that date), one's  investment would have grown by about a factor of 10 each year, ie., at 900% return over investment per year on the average.

(Unless one bought at the April 2013 peak, in which case the average return rate would have been "only" 200% per year)

On the other hand, if one bought bitcoins in December 2013 or later, and sold on April 01 at 480,  one's investment would have shrunk by a factor of 10 or more per year, that is, at least 90%  loss per year on the average.

(Unless one bought in the last half of December or within a short interval in February, in which case one would have almost recovered one's investment.)

The other two plots show what would have happened if the price on April 01 was 300 USD/BTC (lower line) or 600 USD/BTC (upper line).

Note that, in all three scenarios, the yearly appreciation rate would be almost the same for early investors (about 900% per year), and the lucky/unlucky break date would be nearly the same (second half of November).   If the Apr/01 price had been 600, someone who bought at the right time during the February crash would have made a profit, but otherwise the late (post-November) investors would still have lost ~80% per year.

surely you mean would have realized a loss if they sold during q1 and early q2 2014? I'll perhaps sell this coin I bought in nov if the price is right.
hero member
Activity: 910
Merit: 1003
This plot may be of interest:

The red line shows how much one's investment would have been multiplied, on a yearly basis, if one had bought bitcoins at various dates in the past on Bitstamp and sold them on April 01, 2014.  

Thus, for example, if one bought bitcoins at almost any time between December 2011 and November 2013, and sold them on April 01 at 480 USD/BTC (the approximate price on that date), one's  investment would have grown by about a factor of 10 each year, ie., at 900% return over investment per year on the average.

(Unless one bought at the April 2013 peak, in which case the average return rate would have been "only" 200% per year)

On the other hand, if one bought bitcoins in December 2013 or later, and sold on April 01 at 480,  one's investment would have shrunk by a factor of 10 or more per year, that is, at least 90%  loss per year on the average.

(Unless one bought in the last half of December or within a short interval in February, in which case one would have almost recovered one's investment.)

The other two plots show what would have happened if the price on April 01 was 300 USD/BTC (lower line) or 600 USD/BTC (upper line).

Note that, in all three scenarios, the yearly appreciation rate would be almost the same for early investors (about 900% per year), and the lucky/unlucky break date would be nearly the same (second half of November).   If the Apr/01 price had been 600, someone who bought at the right time during the February crash would have made a profit, but otherwise the late (post-November) investors would still have lost ~80% per year.

EDIT: Fixed a 6-day error on the sale date, affecting mainly the final days of March/2014.
legendary
Activity: 2772
Merit: 1028
Duelbits.com
He doesn't know what he is saying or doing anymore... the catalog example of emotional trading, he lost a plot completely.
legendary
Activity: 3920
Merit: 11299
Self-Custody is a right. Say no to"Non-custodial"
the next dump could be brutal

For the dumper yes. Who would dump at these prices?

I just market sold 3 BTC @ $465.  If this shit continues, I'll double that and then double it again. Then I'll leverage short.

You risk losing all your gains. With leverage, you risk going underwater. Your whole bitcoin experience could be a drain on your wealth. It could turn to a liability. To a total fiasco.

Why this risky behaviour?



Yeah, but if he is saying that he bought in at $10 per BTC.. and in another post he said that his average is below $40  er BTC... He should have a whole hell of a lot of room for playing around and taking risks....   if that is 1,000 or more BTC, which I kind of doubt it to be that much.... but who knows?  working with incomplete information, here... and that is why it is difficult to judge another persons investment strategy without knowing some particulars.

And we all gotta admit that BTC is very much up and down... even though sometimes it seems fucked like we are on our way in one direction, we get the returns back down to some extent.. and if we get a sudden shoot up.. and then who the hell wants to wait 2 months or even 6 months for a flash crash to recover from that?


He could, obviously, conceptually divide his bitcoin stash into two parts, holding one part and speculating with the other part. That would ease his risk a bit. Regardless, shorting the risk part with leverage, it could eat into his hold part, and even erase it, he could still go underwater, both parts taken as a whole.

Edit: He also says he has used credit to buy coins, that means he is leveraged also on his longs, which could take hime out also on the long part if he is unlucky. So that pretty much nullifies my argument, I guess.

In the end, it depends on the price going up. Which I happen to think is a safe bet, but I understand everybody does not agree on that.

The VAST majority of my coins are in cold storage. I am betting my trading stash that the market is going down, but if I am wrong, I win more than I lose.

Fair enough, but that means your shorts work against your cold storage. Why leverage both? Why not just do one of the things, and rightsize your holdings? Give the kids some food and have ease of mind.


Because I want to learn how to day trade. If I am successful, I will help soak up excess liquidity when the market doesn't need it and I will provide liquidity when the market needs it and in so doing, help stabilize the price which is good for merchants and the general bitcoin using public. If I am an unsuccessful trader, I will be giving money to the people who stabilize bitcoin.  One has to appreciate the genius of Satoshi for getting the incentives right.

What you are saying kind of sounds like bullshit b/c you can learn day trading by using 1 BTC or less....  

However, I suppose that if you are using 100BTC or more, then the dynamics may be a little bit different... possibly?  

You are NOT really going to make any dents on the bitcoin ecosystem with 100BTC - though yeah, you may be working with a bit more than that; however, I really would think that a guy would need more than 1000 BTC to be a baby whale.. or maybe like a big fish... and maybe whales are generally in the 2,500 BTC and above category?   You do NOT really claim to be any kind of whale or even a big fish.. only one that is contributing in some way to the BTC ecosystem...     Yeah.. right.. maybe?   Huh

What a saga... !!!!  Probably, you are getting tired of some of us attempting to analyze your situation.. and maybe you will be having another meltdown, soon?   Tongue    Tongue    Tongue
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