Topic: What is going on? Trading volume is so low! (Read 7069 times)

Interesting insights.

Thanks.

Yes, profitability is the incentive for turning on miners except when we have game changers like ASICS. The difficulty jumps these days are an order of magnitude higher than a year ago. Profit margins for GPU mining are so small that only when there are speculation driven price spikes does it pay to run GPUs. Still, that's a good reason to hang onto them as reserve miners.

It will be interesting to see if major firms jump into Bitcoin with dedicated mining consumer products.


I don't think it is necessarily a disposable income issue as much as the market freedom of countries. Competition amongst exchanges will provide liquidity. When the world has easy access to Bitcoins, volatility will diminish and Bitcoin price will grow steadily with market confidence and utility. Until then we will see bubbles, slow access to ASICs, and media FUD.

Do you have a theory on why price would correct to difficulty?  Logically it makes sense to me that when price rises it becomes more profitable to mine, then more miners are turned on and difficulty goes up following price.  When profitability goes down due to lower price then some miners turn off and difficulty drops, again following price.  There is probably more to the story than just that but an explanation why you think price would correct to difficulty might help me understand your point of view.

I also think increased adoption and utility could be somewhat decoupled from more hashrate since it's likely a different class of users will be attracted into the future.  Less technically savvy users will also start mining in much lower ratios to number adopted when measured against early adopters in the past.

As far as US hashrate falling vs China (and elsewhere) and a corresponding drop in BTC price, if we assume the two are correlated then my only theory there would be that possibly US miners had more disposable income and the larger percentage of coins mined outside the US now have a larger portion being sold back on the market as soon as they are mined.  Is this your thinking as well?

There's a lot of speculation that goes into price, but it usually corrects with difficulty. I expect a downward trend in price to overcome any speculative exuberance until adoption and utility grows.

The globe on blockchain.info shows that the USA has quickly diminishing hashrate in relation to the global participation. The fact that this occured as the hashrate in China boomed leaves little doubt that GPU miners in the West are shutting down and China has new ASIC miners. Price is dropping as GPU miners drop out and hashrate continues to climb.

Maybe if price drops far enough and difficulty goes high enough, we'll start seeing more ASICs in the West, after the profitability of ASICs in down.

Isn't it more the price that determines difficulty?  You could replace the hashrate of GPUs with ASICs and wouldn't the cost per bitcoin in electricity go down with the same difficulty?  When price goes up mining is more profitable and more miners enter the game, then the difficulty rises due to this not the other way around.  We are supposed to get an approximately flat rate of coin generation regardless of difficulty.

Do you have evidence of the correlation of US hashrate and USD trade?  I have no idea if this is coincidence or not as I haven't tracked both closely.

I agree with your last part that it will take considerable development to make the protocol user friendly.  I think development will continue to increase as wider and wider adoption and knowledge is spread.  It looks like more startups are focusing around bitcoins now than in the past.  Of course we all want more money and work put in to make things happen faster.

Difficulty determines the electric cost per bitcoin. Electricity is a large part of the cost of good sold. This has been the rule for most of the last four years.

The USD trade has dropped with the US hashrate. Coincidence?

The Bitcoin protocol is finished thanks to the great effort of the talented developers we have, but a few million dollars investment in a breakthrough disruptive technology is barely a start.  It will take decades of man hours of software development to make the protocol user friendly. Either we pay programmers now or educate future generations to continue development in their spare time.

Do you believe price follows difficulty and not the other way around?

Why does some other currency have to replace the dollar for buying bitcoins?  You seem to imply the hashrate is tied to this somehow?

Has the price of bitcoins, to your knowledge, ever followed the electricity cost to produce it for any reasonable length of time?

Haven't there been a handful of recent articles about more (mostly US) VC money than ever being pumped into bitcoins, most notably the $5m from Fred?

What rate of Bitcoin business development "should" we be seeing right now?

Not saying you are wrong about anything but can you connect the dots a bit better to show how you've come to the conclusions you have?

Don't forget about cost of the ASICs itself, they are far from be cheap and have no other use besides Bitcoin mining!

Even with a 10% higher difficulty, the downward trend continues. The small GPU miners are shutting down and being replaced by ASICs. The USA is no longer a major contributer to the hashrate, so the ecosystem is going into unfamiliar territory. What currency will replace the dollar for buying bitcoins? VCs also look at things like infrastructure and the USA has diminishing support for Bitcoin. Until Western miners can get their hands on ASICs, there probably won't be much investment in USD to raise Bitcoin price, nor develop Bitcoin businesses at the rate they should be seeing by now. I suppose as long as the Chinese have all the ASICs and they are not buying Bitcoins, then the price of Bitcoins will drop to the cost in electricity for ASIC miners. Any idea how much that is at the current difficulty?

Depends on how you look at the market.

A low volume at this stage is a bear sign. Unless dollars can bring new bitcoins into the market, if low volumes continue we're going to see a renewed downwards movement in the price. Dollars dropped to about 3.8 mB before rebounding and after weeks of high volatility they have stabilized at about the current rate of 8.7 mB.

You are right, buyers drive markets. If the people who are holding bitcoins do not want to use them to buy dollars, then people will have to start offering more dollars to get those bitcoins.

I use this gem: https://github.com/sferik/mtgox

Usually others keep it up to date, but on occasion I've had to make some updates myself.  This is a perfect example of a situation where many eyes and users makes for much more robust software with less downtime.

I took the time to post this message so you can know you are wrong. You forget a lots of variables in your analysis.

First things first, running a bot is not so easy with bitcoin - because of the volatility. The small % money you make by essentially getting a couple of points greater than inefficient traders (ie. making a few pips on the buy/sell spread) over a period of months can be ereased in 1 day if the price moves 40%. I think with bitcoin a bot is a very difficult way to make money and an easy way to loose. Not to say it cant be done, but dont be fooled into thinking it's easy.

Now, since we're really talking about the volume here and why it's low?

Low volume is a bear signal. Why? Because buyers drive markets. And buyers drive volume. I repeat - buyers drive markets, not sellers! It means, less people are putting money into bitcoin. Sure, less people are selling also, but sellers can only have one effect on the price, to move it downwards. If the lack of buyers (as evidenced by low volumes) continues, you're going to see holders of bitcoins becoming more and more nervous and eventually selling off coins, which will cause a price downtrend, which will equally bring more sellers to market.

A low volume at this stage is a bear sign. Unless bitcoin can bring new money into the market, if low volumes continue we're going to see a continued downwards movement in the price.

Good job man! If a bunch of people did this, bitcoin would be stable as a rock!

I'm trying to be a market maker, too, just with a slightly different strategy. Best thing is, it's not charity! Market makers earn profits (buy low, sell high) as a reward for the service they do to the system (stability)!

Questing, you should look up technical analysis. A lot of bots will do this. I used to run a number of bots, one which ran arbitrage across a few brokers averaging out the price across them and others which used technical analysis. They are / can be very very successful if you know what you are doing. There is a lot of potential to make a lot of money doing this still. I turned my bots off recently to concentrate on other bitcoin projects, all funded using the profits I made bot trading.


notme: did you have to update your code recently with all the mtgox api changes? my scripts were caught out a number of times by mtgox upgrading their api. Last week it was them turning off anything sending orders to their non data.mtgox.com url.

Because price is stagnant.  People trade in high volumes when they're either exuberant that the price is going up or panicking because it's going down.  People are just adopting a "hold" position.  If the price starts fluctuating a lot again, there will be more volume.

But its winter down here in Oz. So we'll pick up the slack. I'll be rugged up warm indoors with my computer

Crash upwards! I like that  
$60? Personally I hope so. then it can run right up again.
Big money risky on the exchange. Quite right. But it hasn't stopped people before! But you make a fare point
I'll reserve the right to change my mind. But I have money on the exchange, and I'm willing to bet it all. Quadruple or nothing!! Guess that makes me a bull

I'm thinking summer time slump. Same thing happens in the stock market, everyone's too busy enjoying the sun/on holiday to trade.

My thoughts are if the price can't crash downwards it will crash upwards first

but........

I am betting that by the end of the year bitcoin will be worth just $60

(betting nothing though)

nobody is going to be willing to keep millions of dollars on the exchange if the price isn't going up adequately (and is in fact going down)

it's too risky to keep a lot of money on I think.

I'm a bear now.

Yeah right. This is BTC

Everyone's finally calmed down.. Hopefully stability that we've seen over the last few days is maintained. Price needs to calm down a bit

I wouldn't rely solely on one indicator. But MACD might be a primary, and refer to others to paint a more detailed picture. I've only been learning about indicators the last few days, so have a lot to learn.
I have no idea where to start with bots. Where to get one, or how to use it. I'm curious about such things, but probably dont have enough time or money to invest in btc to make it worth while. Or is it simpler than I might think?
Thanks again for your advice. I have some work to do on my trading method, and your a big help

Fees will eat at you if you rebalance too often.  Once a week is the most often I'd recommend, once a month might even be more reasonable.  Not really a run all the time bot.  If you want to bot it, just have it run once a month.

Does this strategy work for you?

I have a collection of bot strategies that I simulate with Mt. Gox data. I manually tune the bots with "subsidies" or "taxes" depending on success, so I can discern which bot is the best. The "communist" strategy effectively does what you state (tries to maintain a 1:1 ratio of value), and it is among the bots which require the most "subsidies" to continue operating.

I'm not sure I'd trust a single signal to trade on.  If you're looking for something simple, a balancing strategy is decent.  Basically, you keep 50% of your value in bitcoin and 50% in USD and rebalance once a week or so to maintain the ratio.  Obviously, you can use any ratio you want.  Keep a little more in bitcoin when things look bullish, keep a little more in fiat when you're bearish.

That is genuinely fascinating. Thanks for telling us how your operation works. Now here's a man who knows how percentages work. Do you mind if I ask a question plz? How efficient is the following trading method? Use the MACD to mark buy and sells, and when there is uncertainly or very weak trends, go half in. Basically hedge both ways. Is this an ok method? any suggestions would be appreciated plz?
1.3% intervals is obviously a figure you've arrived at after a great deal of trial?

or, nobody wants to sell so low.

I run a market making bot.  It maintains orders on both sides of the book at 1.3% intervals.  When my buy orders are filled, it places a sell 1.3% higher.  When my sell orders are filled, it places a buy 1.3% lower.  I lose out when it trends continuously, but it stabilizes price and I turn a profit when the bulls and bears duke it out.  By keeping orders on the book, I help make it possible for companies like bitpay that need to accurately price and immediately convert bitcoins to USD and companies like bitinstant and coinbase that need to go the other way.

Why do they use these bots? Do they analyzing data, and buying and selling btc automatically?

No, when I talk about bots, I mean the scripts that are written to trade on mtgox through their API. These scripts usually trade high volume (much more volume than users using the website interface).

Chimerica! So USA have paid and owe massive sums of US dollars to china. More than can be paid back. And China have become massively dependent on the US$, as they have piles of it, and are owed piles more. They're both locked in this position, headed for a date when USA will default on its loans. So what happens next? Well, maybe Americans deserting the US dollar for btc makes the US$ worthless, and US dept to China basically evaporates. So if China see this happening, the only thing they can do other than start a war, is rush to btc also, exchange their US dollars for btc while they still can. China are already buying gold to reduce dependency on US$, so it seams they are already thinking along these lines.

Could this happen? Could governments have incentives to embrace btc as the financial systems erode and collapse? First they ignore it, then they fight it, then they embrace it whole heartily.

We assume Governments will always oppose btc because it undermines their control. But their system has become a monster, which is out of its cage and out of their control. Btc might solve some of their economic problems, and give them something great to take credit for. Help them win those all important votes

The opportunity comes with a cost, and anyhow Gox is reliable enough if you use 2FA.

And the fundamental thing is that trading paper scams is nowhere near holding the real thing

Indeed. What happens next is both exciting and terrifying at the same time. Obviously I can't know for sure what will happen, but we're headed for something big I think.

We're making conversation, and no doubt its hard to predict the market trends. You don't need to tell us. But Rampion's got a better idea than most

+1

I'd add a third option:

c) Final mini-crash of about $15-$25 or so, then a rebound to  $90-$100 followed by steady and sustainable growth. The numbers are pulled out of my ass, but you get the point I hope.

Thank you for the link. very interesting. Actually, I'm not to surprised, and it doesn't put me off really. Crypto currencies are new, so its the internet wild west right now. Part of what makes it exciting. History in the making.
And by the way, 90% of all business fail in the short term. So 45% is a pretty good average.

I'm not a stock trader. Or at least not the traditional type. I'm trading bitcoin only because I'm caught up in the intrigue. Otherwise I just invest my money in business

Im refferring to this: http://news.yahoo.com/study-shows-45-bitcoin-exchanges-end-failing-173543597.html
45% of Bitcoin trading exchanges fail, often taking customers money with them. I feel it is safer to do my trading through a FSA regulated broker and many serious traders agree with me.

If you are not in the US see my signature for more info on how to get some nice bonuses 

Wow, $121.50!!! I've been to cautious. missed the action. Was about to invest half my purse at $13 dollars, but didn't get there in time. To bad

Thank you for your word of caution Rampion. Having read your posts I respect your opinion. I'm just checking stuff out. Satisfying my curiosity

What it might be intended =/= what it is used for

Wrong. Bitcoin is about freedom.

But bitcoin was never used differently.
Speculate or illegal stuff are the 2 only interests that bitcoin has ever had, huh.

The crazy thing is, nobody can say with certainty that your not right. I love the idea of moving toward btc, and away from gov and bank controls. But I cannot see such a dramatic shift as you propose, without some massive pain. There might even be some extreme and undesirable consequences.
Like the Chinese proverb " may you live in interesting times". Yay, like the potato famine, or world wars. Lets hope things dont get too interesting, to quickly.

Not it is not. Do not fell for financial scams aka derivatives. Bitcoin was meant to fight that.

http://www.plus500.co.uk/Instruments/BTCUSD ?

Thank you for posting this. Do you have a link for plus500 plz? Sounds interesting

I'll be curious to hear your opinion plz? Are you suggesting btc trading has a 45% fail rate?

Operatr! Thank you. I've learnt a lot from your post. Maybe I'm being ridiculous, but I feel a loyalty to Bitcoin. I want to see btc succeed beyond other coins. But I'm going to check out these other coins you speak of, and who knows. Might even have a dabble. Day trading! my new sport

Unfortunately when the alternative is playing with the real thing on exchanges that has a 45% fail rate, it's not much of a decision for some players  

Only fools play with paper and not the real thing.

Anyhow:

A lot of the big traders moved their action over to plus500 to trade on a FSA regulated site with 4:1 leverage, option to short and instant credit card deposits. Like everything else, most of the action always ends up in "paper" derivatives.

I think a lot of it has to do with the emergence of several new coins as well, traders have shifted their attention to these as BTC continues it's overall rise beyond comfort level for many weekend warriors. Altcoins are dirt cheap and are much more volatile, many are making a killing riding those waves, but it is a lot more dangerous (as I know with FTC bottoming out...)

If anything it is a good thing to see this volatility find a new home which keeps BTC and LTC more stable overall and less prone to run ups/downs because it is being taken to altcoin exchanges instead. The price has remained as BTC is being diverted to these other coins as well. This extends to mining botnets as well that are targeting the altcoins with BTC difficulties exploding (severely in the coming months with ASICs finally hitting the streets en masse).

I look at the larger picture though beyond the day trade. Simply holding your BTC could make you a very rich person as governments and banks continue to implode. We have already seen an example of people flocking to Bitcoin with the Cyprus mess, and now Argentinians are getting on board as the Peso crumbles at 25% inflation per year (!!!). The exodus from fiat has only just begun, thanks to the news people are waking up to the fact there is a way out that never existed until now.

The buy in is higher now, but the eventual end game will make that $100/BTC look like nothing when it crests $1000s as banking exiles find a new home in crypto-currency as trust in the fiat system continues its epic decline to irrelevance.

We are the pioneers of the most massive paradigm shift the world has ever seen. Hold on to your butts when the fiat stock markets go straight into the ground a little later this year probably taking the rest of the world with it, and that is happening right now as it reaches the level it did right before the 2002 and 2008 crashes. Real economists not controlled by NewsCorp see it coming, as the stock trade is booming, while real world economics paint a whole different picture of what is really going on. Several nations are on the brink of total collapse, any market quiver will spell the end at this point, and it cannot simply be "fixed" by Bernake's magic money press this time.

I truly believe Bitcoin may very well be the last working economies left, and soon.

Wow, hows that little run up to $19!!! then quiet again

Plz forgive my ignorance. Are the bots hostile toward Mtgox?

A balanced portfolio is definitely the best bet.

Since the DDOS yesterday, MtGox turned off API support for anything calling the older https://mtgox.com/api pages and is now only allowing orders to be placed through their data.mtgox.com url calls.

I haven't looked on the forum much but didnt see this announced anywhere. Over the next few days I imagine others who run bots will pick up on this, fix their code and re-start their bots.

*edit* To clarify, I believe the API functions to query order response / account data were changed.

Just don't forget this is experimental software. It could go south in one second. And sooner or later, governments will fight against it: the status quo will never give up its power, based on controlling the monetary supply, without a big fight.

Bitcoin may well be the cheapest way to get wealthier, if it keeps succeeding; but also the quickest way to lose everything you have invested in it.

A lot of guys bought BTC for $200-$260, now they are waiting when the price touches $200 to start selling even with a little loss. Other guys know that and don't buy coz believe it's very hard to move the price over $250.

The system in which we live today, is heavily stacked against the up and comer, and stacked in favor of those already established in business and wealth. And myself operating a business in a heavily regulated industry with short capital, I am qualified to say this. But I can be philosophical about this state of affairs. I'm not saying they dont deserve their wealth, as many have worked hard to achieve it. And I'm honest enough to admit, I probably wouldn't be complain if it was me that was already well established.
Dont take me wrong, as I'm perfectly willing to work for my dues. But if Bitcoin represents a free elevator ride up for the early adopters, then I'm going to do what I can to be aboard. Bing!!! This is your elevator attendant speaking, going up sir?
Not all, but btc might redistribute some of that horded wealth. And I think that's great. Reshuffle the decks a little, so to speak.

And banks represent a multi Billion dollar inefficiency in the system. Do we really need armies of well paid people just to move money around the place, from me to you?  The answer is a resounding no, thanks to bitcoin! And they're not even particularly good at it, considering how long it takes them to transfer electronic money. Typically 3 days, but I can wait up to 6 days sometimes for international transfers to arrive with me, if a weekend falls in the way. We'll still need banks for stuff, but I'll be happy to see them tighten their belt straps a little.

I use it for both reasons. I love the ideological reasons, and how btc might charge the world for  better. But I'll shamelessly chase earnings, and tell the people I told about it "I told you so" you should have listened.
It seems to me, the system has been stacked against us. And now the systems currencies are slipping through their fingers like water, and there might be very little they can do about it. The early adopters "trail blazers" are going to see a considerable upside. Perhaps btc is a get rich quick scheme for some.
Next time a bubble happens, I have the buy and sell indicators needed to make good. I'm not missing the next oppertunity

Yes, I love the excitement of wildly fluctuating prices. But I also understand the need for a stable currency if businesses are to adopt btc in the long run. I suggest we need the excitement, the roller coaster ride for a while longer, as this is what gets media attention. Which brings in the new users. Hopefully its the natural progression for btc to stabilize once there is a large number of users.
I've only been day trading a couple days, and as soon as I feel I'm getting a handle on it, the price flat lines. lol

Nice graph.

Also remember that the bitcoin inflation is now less than half what it was in 2011, so all things being equal, one would expect the downtrend to be less steep after the run-up.

You forgot the third option: once price stabilizes for a bit and people see it is not going down anymore, they will start buying hard again and the price will bubble up over 500.

No one wants to sell so low. Price will rise.

Hopefully it is a get rich "at some point" scheme.  I know many people are into BTC for ideological reasons.  I am shamelessly in it primarily for the fact that I can make some money (or have money that will hold it's value better).  Of course, there is something heartwarming about bypassing the banks too.

Rush won't start anytime soon. And this is good. Bitcoin is not a get rich quick scheme.

This is true.  However, it has been very boring lately!  Perhaps I like it a little more exciting?  It was a huge adrenalin rush when the price was going up like crazy!     I think if there is a day where it starts to jump really fast people will panic and start buying again.  I think there are many people just waiting it out, with so low buy orders, to see if it goes down again but will buy when a new rush begins.  Just my thoughts.

Volume tends to build on itself.  Given the Gox commision structure (flat % regardless of order size).  There is little incentive to trade unless the market is volitile.  Overall, stability is good, low volume should lead to stability in exchange rate, which should lead to more businesses accepting BTC, which should lead to slowly increasing exchange rate.  Be happy that we have low volume on the exchanges.   

This is great. For anybody how hasent seen the Billy Joel re-mix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG1qooBzE2w

You're welcome, it's certainly stolen a lot of my time but it's been profitable and fun! Congrats on owning your first share of the pie

Thank you for weighing in your opinion. You make a good point

Yes, good advice everybody needs to know. Sounds like banks are starting to work against btc. And it spells trouble for some btc exchanges. USA is turning into a no go zone

You make a good point.
As a usefull currency, it would be handy if the speculation would fall off. But it looks like day trading is unavoidable, and going to be part of its evolution. My guess is it will smooth out when more people climb aboard the bitcoin train. When btc's equals the GDP of a small country, the ride might get a little smoother

Yes I agree, and thanks again.
I like the idea of day trading and increasing the size of my btc stash. At the moment, my bet is on btc for the longer term.
I run my parents business, and am fed up with banks and gov bureaucracy. They are draining the life blood out of my parents business, and my parents are to unwell to fight against them. So its been left up to me, and I'm fed up with their indifference. And banks and gov are not even aware of the trouble they cause. 
btc in my mind, is a big step towards making the world a more honest place. Take the fate of my parents, and myself out of their hands please.

What do you think of the MACD graph? Shore bet to increase my btc holdings? the graphs look consistent?

Welcome to the club. Its great to have you aboard

I think people got carried away with trading.

Past month we've been doing 100 kBTC / day volumes. That's ~1% total bitcoin supply traded each day. This is not low volume, it's crazy high volume!

We should come back to 20 kBTC/day volumes and it would be ok.

Thank you for the chart, and for sharing your opinion. Personally, I think your spot on the money. I cant help but be excited by the prospects of btc. Might just keep growing and change the world. I think btc have become my hoby 

Bought my first Bitcoin today, only 0.2BTC but it's still a contribution

This is good advice - although I would also recommend being careful about just how much cash/BTC you leave on any exchange (too many have crashed and burned).

I can give you a personal advice which has nothing to do with daytrading or technical analysis.

In this game you get the big prize if you have strong hands - hold on your BTC. If you are sure that you can increase both your fiat profits and your BTC stash daytrading, go ahead and do it. But most of people is delusional, they see their fiat growing and they think they are excellent daytraders, but the truth is that they are slowly decreasing their BTC stash. If BTC develops at its full potential, they just missed the real thing.

Then, bare in mind that BTC is a high risk asset, thus invest only what you can afford to lose. Otherwise you will make mistakes driven by emotions.

My personal strategy is the following: build you BTC stash with the spare cash you have. Have some fiat hanging around at the exchange so you can buy more coins in flash crahses, dips and dumps. And go for the long run.

Is you are more interested in daytrading, only advice is to plan your strategy in advance and stick to it. Don't panic, don't be greedy. Respect what you have established as entry and exit points. Emotions are your worst enemy.

Yes it certainly has dropped off but the fact the price is settling just about in 3 figures is broadly positive as I see it.

A slow fall from here on in would not spell disaster but would certainly expedite the next wave of speculation.

Take a look at the big picture, here on the all-time weekly chart (close prices, log scale).



A few things to note about 2013 with 2011: the run-up was less steep, the sell-off was less intense, and we've settled into a mid-term price quicker at a point relatively higher.

This guy knows what he's talking about! I'm new to day trading, but I know enough to agree with you. Any tips for beginners? Letting the rest of us know about it can only make Bitcoin stronger?

When volumes are low, manipulators can draw whatever price they like. Why don't they do it? It's boring...

The MtGox API has also been having issues this morning, was down for hours.

Thank you. Glad I asked the question. I had no idea Europe was on holiday, myself being in Oz. I assume it wasn't just the banks on holiday?
And by the way, you have beautiful eyes. Smart and gorgeous. 

Low volume is because we are reaching a tipping point. Both buyers and sellers are on hold. There are two options:

a) consolidation phase, plus steady and sustainable growth (no more bubbling for now)
b) bear market, slow and deep decline (as per 2011)

Anyhow, depth on both sides of the order book is big and healthy. ATM sellers are placing asks and not dumping, buyers are placing bids and not making market orders.

We will see where we are heading at very soon. I say give 70% chances to consolidation phase; 30% chances for bear market.

Hope that you are right and that is the reason. But I think that you are wrong...

I'll pass the joint around!
But seriously, how do you guys decide when to buy or sell?

Yes, I understand your feeling, and I concur. I'd rather buy Bitcoin at $50. But in very recent history, stacks of people spent plus US$120 on bitcoin, and not long before that US$160. So now its US$110, why is volume so low?

so high? hahaha

No one wants to buy so high. Price will drop. Unfortunatelly I am a bull at higher levels...

What is going on? Trading volume is so low!
And by the way, the Australian government has announced it is thinking about printing more AUS dollars, to devalue its currency. But that's off topic. Please let us know your opinion, why is trading volume at an all time low?