For a long time all of the trading I was doing was on Bittrex. So it was a no brainer for me to send my SBD to my Bittrex wallet, sell it for BTC, then buy what I wanted to put the money in to.
I avoided using the "Sell" function that sends you to Blocktrades because in my estimation, what I could get on the open market in BTC and then flip in to different coins was larger than what Blocktrades quoted on the Sell page.
So I got into a habit
Over time I learned about different coins that were available on different exchanges. But from force of habit, I was still sending the SBD to Bittrex, converting to BTC then sending the BTC to the other exchange. Or, probably worse yet, I was taking the BTC and buying ETH which I then sent to the other exchange. I was paying fees on like 4 different transactions.
My Four chief fees were:
SBD -> BTC
BTC -> ETH
Withdraw Fee
ETH -> Alt Coin
It was only after I realized how much I was paying to get money on and off Bittrex that I decided to take another look at Blocktrades.
When you put in your SBD on the sell and see what it says for your estimated payment out what tripped me up was that it was lower than what I could get on Bittrex at market. So if the money is still being used to buy something on Bittrex, then sending the SBD directly there may still be the better option.
But once you start figuring in the fees to get your BTC off Bittrex, not to mention the time it takes to get the currency from Steem to Bitrexx and then from Bittrex to another exchange it ends up being way easier to get your funds direct from Steem to the exchange through Blocktrades.
Blocktrades is easy, reliable, and trustworthy, which are not qualities that can be found everywhere in the industry. Don't be like me. Explore Blocktrades, compare what you will get for your SBD or STEEM against what you can expect to actually get once you move your money through several transactions. It's likely to be very comparable.
Always do your own due diligence. Sometimes the market will beat Blocktrades sometimes it won't. It is in your best interest to always open that Sell tab and put in how much SBD/STEEM you are looking to trade and do the little bit of math it takes to know what is going t give you the best return.
Finally, HODL your assets during these turbulent times! The markets are red today, don't Sell to the FUD! Hold on, don't make unnecessary trades, and give the market time to correct itself. I hve a feeling we are in for a pretty prosperous spring!!
Just watched a video on this from @joeparys
Had the same "breakthrough" on how much those little commissions are worth added up.
interesting! I was not aware of Joe, I will definitely go take a look at what he's got going on.
hmm... I always felt like the rates weren't the best via blocktrades, but when you put it that way..... I really want someone to write code to calculate the fees for me so I can make my decision on the spot... damn maths, makes me kinda wish I decided to care about math a lot sooner
Yeah I've been doing the bittrex thing for sure. One benefit is that you can send small amounts to bittrex at a time and not have to pay fees on each transaction.
Exactly! The math is a pain in the ass. I have to have about 7 tabs open just to figure out one transaction. hahaha
the short story is... "If you want to turn your SBD to ethereum or dash, maybe just use blocktrades"
What a great point and one thing I never really thought of. I just figured the fees at blocktrades where so high it wasn't worth it, but you make a very good point by the time you pay all those fee's it's probably just cheaper to use blocktrades.
I think so. Sometimes it is difficult to do the math when dealing with decimal places. But at the very least, they are competitive and convenient. And I have never had money go missing from a Blocktrades Transfer. That's not something I can say about the exchanges.
When converting SBD to Steem... do you do that through the internal market or through Bittrex?
No if you want to convert SBD to Steem the internal market is likely always going to be the best option. I certainly would not pay fees to Bittrex to do it.
Thanks Mike... I just wasn't sure if the Internal Market was skewed by whales playing the Steem->SBD side or not... I tried to work it out but the maths broke my brain.
I have pretty much ignored blocktrades mainly because I switched to using my ETH funds to buy other altcoins directly because of the insane fees with transferring BTC (ETH much cheaper!). I also don't want to cash out any steem .... I plan on keeping it here powered up! I will still take another look a blocktrades just in case. Thanks for the info!
Yeah, I think blocktrades would be best with bigger transactions.
Definitely going to check it out on my next transfer
Mmm, what a delight to read this post. Just when I'm starting to explore my options. Thank you Mikey for this educational and entertaining post!
you are very welcome. As with everything Do Your Own Research and make sure you are comfortable with the trades you are making!
Thanks @mike74 for a lesson on how to hold on to a little more money when you trade.
I hope it helps!
Now you have made me wonder...about using blocktrades to send bitcoin directly to my quadriga wallet...or if that is even possible? It would certainly save a few steps going through bittrex!
As long as you have a wallet address to send to I am sure you can send it straight to your wallet from Blocktrades. I would send a small amount first, just to be sure it goes through, before sending a larger amount.
Thank you for the idea to minimize the go between transactions...it really never occurred to me before. I will certainly try it out with a small amount first. Even if the fee savings are low or none ...or for whatever reason slightly higher...the convenience alone will be worth it. <3
That's a good idea. I'm not sure why I didn't think of sending straight to a wallet...
steem is also on binance now.
Coins mentioned in post:
yaa thanks for shere this now i do not sending drictly any sbd in bittrex.....
Really helpful post. Thanks.
I went back and forwards with this for quite a while and decided that Blocktrades was the best (for now, and for ME) just for it's simplicity and speed! Although going SBD->BTC is never great just due to BTC charges!