Newbie Help Requested - Thanks in advance. :-)

Tue Nov 28, 2017 11:59 pm

Hi! Okay, so this is where I'm at. I created a Coinbase account and purchased $100 in Bitcoin. I thought the smart thing to do would be to transfer the profits out to be able to spend. I created a BitPay account and Wallet and setup a transfer of $6.82 to this Wallet. There was no prompt, indicating this, but my Coinbase account went down more then the $6.82 from the transaction. I assume there was some kind of fee associated with transfers, which shame on me for not knowing. So now I have this BitPay Wallet with $4.97 in it. lol

I don't know if I should just leave that there, because when I open BitPay it tells me "Spending this balance will need significant Bitcoin network fees". I don't want to incur fees, if possible.

With that said, I'm sort of stuck no knowing what to do all together.
Sorry if this is such a newbie issue.
Any insight or positive input would be great.
Thank you!

taras · Wed Nov 29, 2017 12:04 am

Thats why I am likes BCH. It have lower fees, next time buy BCH.
According to you question, may you give transaction hash ? So we will be able to check it in blockchain browser.

Wed Nov 29, 2017 12:23 am

Hi taras - I wasn't aware of Bitcoin Cash till after I bought my initial BitCoin. Excuse my ignorance, but what does giving my transaction hash help with? Again, I'm new to this and trying to understand how some of this all works. I'd hate to post something here that would be access to my wallet. lol

Wed Nov 29, 2017 1:47 am

Hi taras - I wasn't aware of Bitcoin Cash till after I bought my initial BitCoin. Excuse my ignorance, but what does giving my transaction hash help with? Again, I'm new to this and trying to understand how some of this all works. I'd hate to post something here that would be access to my wallet. lol

Good to hear you're conscious of keeping your money safe. Ive seen one too many people with not a care in the world, ending up losing their money later down the line.

Regarding your problem with fees - Yes, transaction fees are taken out of each transaction when using Coinbase. Fees not more than a few years ago, transaction fees were less than a single cent. But now, due to Bitcoin's huge price jump and large transaction rate, the network has become more congested, hence driving up the cost to transact your Bitcoin. This is even worse when transacting a"small" amount of Bitcoin, around $10 or less at current rates.

I would encourage just sitting on your Bitcoin and not transacting it for the time being. The fees are to be honest - absurdly high. I only like to transact large amounts when using my BTC. The rest, I can just use fiat for purchases.

Wed Nov 29, 2017 4:54 pm

Hi Decoded - I appreciate your feedback. Thank you!

Okay, so I will sit back and see how things progress, leaving my investment on Coinbase.

Should I also just leave that small amount, $4.97, in my personal wallet at this point?
I wasn't sure if I should do anything with it, like spend it or transfer it back to Coinbase?
I'm guessing probably not, and that I should just sit on that was well because the fee to use it or transfer for it would not be worth it.

Thanks!

torusJKL · Mon Dec 04, 2017 5:47 pm

I don't know how BitPay or Coinbase calculate their fees but in general it is a bit cheaper on the weekends.

You can see on this site how fees go up and down during the week: https://jochen-hoenicke.de/queue/#1w

By the way if you want to buy Bitcoin Cash then I recommend to buy Litecoin or Ethereum on Coinbase and convert them immediately to Bitcoin Cash using Shapeshift.io (the quick option is the easiest)