Consider the fact that, just a few years ago, bitcoin was still trading below USD 1 cent, and today it is worth more than USD 1,700 per coin.

Actually, it is also possible to send it to your physical pocket wallet too, if you print out the private keys into paper wallets.
Technically possible, although I wouldn't do it.

USD 4 entry is an incredible profit, good for you!
I got in too late......but my average cost is still below USD 10......so, still not too shabby I suppose.

For the long term, my bet is still on BTC and ETH.
Many people say bitcoin is so expensive now, but remember that when BTC surged from USD 0.01 to USD 1, many people were saying the same, and look where we are now.
Just accumulate slowly and methodically, and don't let the fluctuations scare you.
To a lesser degree, I also have some LTC and XMR, which I believe will slowly and steadily rise up, though maybe not with any exponential meteoric rise.
I also have a few others, but I wouldn't count on them achieving the same scale of profits.

WTF......I sent some bitcoin on the morning of 2nd May 2017, did not get any confirmations for more than 48 hours, and then when I looked up the transaction ID on blockchain, I discovered that it was "previously accepted but later pruned from the database"......so basically rejected due to congestion and probably too low transaction fee.
The bitcoin was subsequently returned to my hardware wallet (or more accurately, it never left)......so, all good.

BUT apparently the transaction was still floating around in limbo somewhere, because just 30 minutes ago today, PRESTO! the bitcoin magically appeared in my Poloniex account!

So, all in all, it took my bitcoin transaction a freaking total of 9 days (about 216 hours) to get confirmed.

I probably won't be buying any Starbucks coffee with bitcoin anytime soon......

Sorry mate, I can't advise you as I have not done any lending before.
Better to ask kmarc and jack2, as they are experienced "loan sharks" here.

I unloaded some BTC earlier today to load up on some ETH.
Should have waited a few more hours......would have gotten a better deal.

I don't think cryptocurrency is in a bubble now......at least not yet.
Corrections will happen now and then, but not a full fledged bubble.

As a store of value, I think it's great, which is why I believe in BTC and hold it.
As a digital currency, though, I'm sure you also agree there's still a long way to go before it can actually be used practically in daily life.
I do not think it is greedy or unreasonable to expect quick confirmation times.

If I buy a cup of coffee with bitcoin, I expect to be able to drink my coffee then, not several days later.
And if I buy a USD 2 cup of coffee, I do not want to be paying another USD 1 for the transaction fee either.
I'm sure these hiccups will be somehow addressed in future, though......I just hope that day comes soon.

Seems like just yesterday when I was buying them at around RM 3550.
Ah, those were good times.

Looks good to me, I can't think of anything more to add at this moment.
Actually, looking back at it, I think the first and second posts have become too long, keep this one on post #4, it looks neater that way.
As usual, kudos for making these guides!

My personal experience was anything from 10 minutes to 9 days.
OK, the 9 days one was probably one of the most extreme ones.
Mostly I got confirmations within the hour, usually less than 30 minutes.

It is always advisable to minimise the number of transactions (both for saving time and saving transaction fees), so yes, it is better to ask the seller to transfer directly to your Polo account.

Sweet.
How long did it take from order to arrival?

Have you tried XBit Asia?
It also has relatively low liquidity (nothing we can do about that in Malaysia) but in my experience, the buy price is usually not too far from the global average.
But my last purchase there was many weeks ago, so things might have changed since the latest spike.

Why not?
I was thinking about the same thing, sell altcoins at a high now and get BTC on the cheap.
When the dust settles on BTC, it will probably be a sea of red again for altcoins. Discount mega sale time!
Or maybe wait till next Monday and see how is the situation first.

Do you guys think it is really that bad...?
I'm still somewhat cautiously skeptical......I can probably live with a 15% plunge, as I still think the overall trend is upwards.
To be honest, if ETH drops by more than 15%, I'll probably load up more.


Yes, if you buy order price is higher than the lower sell order, the lowest sell order will be fulfilled first, then moving up to the next lowest, etc.
Means your actual buy price could be lower than your placed order price.

Done!

At the end of the day, it all boils down to supply and demand.
Yes you're right, cryptocurrencies will still function regardless of the fiat value. However, in order to use that cryptocurrency, you need to actually own it first.
So, for example. with only 16 million BTC available and a total of USD 29 billion being invested in it by people around the world, simple math will come to the figure of approximately USD 1770 per BTC.
As more and more people realise the inherent capability and use of cryptocurrency, they want to start owning it, and with that demand comes a natural increase in value, as people are willing to pay more to own it.
The same goes for any other cryptocurrency.

This post has been edited by wengherng: May 15 2017, 03:26 PM

I think you misunderstood his statement.
Basically, what he is saying is that he could explain that the BTC was received a long time ago, when the price was maybe USD 100, and it has appreciated until now (whatever the amount is when he wants to cash it out to buy stuff, like for example when 1 BTC = RM 1 million).
The government cannot ask you to prove where you got the BTC from originally, and there is no legislation to declare such "income" like angpao, donations, etc. so effectively, LHDN can query you, but there is legally nothing they can do to tax this money.
Also, most importantly, there is currently no legislation or legal regulation by BNM or any other Malaysian government department, regarding the buying, holding or usage of cryptocurrency.
It is not recognised as legal tender, nor is it recognised as a property/asset, so it falls through the crack and is not considered as something that can be taxed.
Unless the government or BNM changes the ruling in future (and they probably will), at the moment you will not be taxed, even if you sold all your bitcoin and converted them to your millions of ringgit.

This post has been edited by wengherng: May 15 2017, 03:46 PM

There are actually a few countries where you could do all those......but unfortunately for us, Malaysia is always slow to catch up.
It will probably take another couple of years before we can start to do any of that.

Oh? This is something new for me.
I know in the income tax declaration form, when you do your filing, you have to fill in the dividends received from the stocks you own. I've done this in the past, but then over the past few years, most companies have already switched to single tier system, meaning they will withhold the tax for the dividend on their side, so the stockholders do not need to separately declare their dividends received anymore (no double taxation).
I read from LHDN that if the source of profit is a realisation of capital investment, then it is exempt from tax, but if it was from the nature of trade, then it is subject to taxation.
In this case, I would say that it depends on how you argue with the authorities on the nature of the profit.

But, in order to do that, the first question to ask is, is cryptocurrency considered a legal tender or an asset?
Then, the hardest part will be to determine, what is the amount of profit? How would the authorities be able to determine at which point I bought the BTC, since they are almost always bought in fractions and there would have been thousands of transactions, both in and out, amongst the thousands of fractions of BTC that I own?
Not saying that it is impossible to do, just that I think LHDN would have a hell of a time working out the details of the regulations and legislation, before they can even think about issuing it, never mind trying to enforce it.

Meanwhile, I could just as easily sell my BTC at an international exchange for USD and TT the money back in multiple smaller transactions, or whatever.

One more Malaysian exchange that I know is XBit Asia, but I am not sure whether the price is any cheaper than Luno.
When you say it is expensive, how many percent more expensive from the global average are we talking about here?

Woah, you're right!
I was busy the whole day and just managed to check the prices now.
What a shocker.
Do you know why? Has there been any news?

Depends on how much you are invested in it.
Your "small player" may be different to the definition of others.

Normally, if you are just starting out, with let's say a few hundred ringgit invested, then don't bother getting a hardware wallet yet.
You can use any of the various online secure wallets for now.
You only need one when your stash gets significant enough and you have decided that you are serious in this investment.

I have mentioned my "Rule of 5" to others before (and this is purely my own recommendation), if your investment in cryptocurrencies exceed 5 times the cost of a hardware wallet, then it makes sense to go and get one.
Currently, a Ledger Nano S is going for slightly less than RM400, so if your investment in cryptocurrencies exceed RM2k, you should get one.

Hope this helps, and welcome to the exciting world of cryptocurrency.

In your case, need at least 2 hardware wallets.
I just tracked my shipping order, and it seems that I should be getting my Ledger Nano S either today or tomorrow.
But it took 17 days.

I actually forgot about Humaniq totally.
But I got in during the original ICO, so I got in relatively cheaper.
It's now coming down near to my original buy price, though.
But oh well, I invested because I liked the idea and wanted to support their idea.
It might go huge once their expansion project to India and South Africa proves successful, or it might just tank and never recover......who knows.
I started with the expectation that I will never see my investment capital again......so anything else will be a plus, I guess.