Congratulations! You’ve decided to sell some Bitcoin. Here at Coin Sutra, we write about Bitcoin, wallet management, online security, making money from Bitcoin & another cryptocurrency, and various related topics.

Is this the right time or not? We need to know before we start selling them as there is a definite way of doing things to maximize profits and/or minimize losses.

Well…before we actually go ahead and sell them, let’s understand some basics first:

1. What is my current situation with respect to Bitcoin holdings? How much BTC do I already have? Do I have any altcoins (ETH / XRP / LTC etc.) with me as well? Have I made any profits/losses with respect to the same?

2. What is my current situation with respect to FIAT holdings? How much FIAT do I already have in my bank account or wallet? Have I made any profits/losses with respect to the same?

3. How long do I want to keep these Bitcoins before selling them again? A few days / a week / a month / more than a year?

4. What would be the transaction charges for transferring my Bitcoin from one place to another? Exchange fees etc.?

5. What would be the amount of Profit or Loss that I will make after selling these coins at different rates (higher/lower/stable)? Do remember this very important point as we’ll come back to it later.

6. What are the possible ways of selling these coins? We have various options available to us including direct sales, swap-based platforms, etc. 

Let’s look at all the possibilities in detail below:

1. Direct Sales – 

This is where you sell Bitcoins directly to other people online for FIAT currency i.e., USD / INR / GBP, etc. For example, BitBargain UK has a “Find Sellers” section which provides an excellent starting point for any Bitcoin seller looking for potential buyers.(On Bitbargain, sellers post ads with bank transfer details and buyers deposit their payment within 1 hour.) There are also some other services like Local Bitcoins, Bittylicious, BtctradeIndia, and so on.

Here, your biggest concern is dealing with scammers who can potentially ruin your reputation as a seller over multiple transactions says Brian Colombana.

Since we are selling Bitcoins through direct sales, we’d need to do it in relatively smaller amounts (1 BTC or less). This is because of the fact that if you sell such large amounts at once, your bank may decline it saying “Unusual activity”. And no matter how hard you try, you’ll not be able to convince them that this is perfectly normal!

2. Over-the-Counter Trading – 

It’s a slightly complicated process but quite popular among those looking for larger volume trades. OTC trading works well when both the buyer and the seller have a good amount of “trust” in each other.

With OTC trading, a seller needs to find a buyer first and negotiate a good rate over an extended period of time. To help facilitate these deals, traders have set up various websites where both parties can communicate with each other privately before agreeing to meet for the trade. Here are some popular OTC marketplaces: 1. Local Bitcoins 2. Paxful 3. CoinCola 4. Bittylicious 5. BitBargain UK 6. BtctradeIndia 7. TheRockTrading 8. CoinsPeek 9. MonetaGo and so on…

3a. Swap-based Platforms –

Rather than buying directly from sellers as we’ve seen above, here you borrow the coins from the platform and sell them. The return is in the form of a fixed FIAT amount, which you can transfer to your bank account directly.

3b. Bond-based Platforms – 

It works almost like a Peer-to-peer OTC but here you need to deposit some Bitcoins as “Bond” with the platform so that they know you’re good for it! Once the trade has been completed successfully, your money is unlocked and returned safely into your wallet. Here are a few popular platforms: 1. Poloniex 2. Shape Shift 3. Coin secure 4. Bit stamp and a lot more… Of course, there are many other options available as well such as LocalBitcoins, Paxful etc.

4. Automatic Trading Platforms – 

There are several trading bots in the market which help you automatically sell your Bitcoins for a fixed rate in FIAT per day. Some of these platforms include:

1. BTC Robot 2. Bitcoin Trader 3. Haasbot 4. Gekko 5. ZenBot 6. Crypto trader and more…

5. P2P Lending Platforms – 

If you’ve successfully built up some reputation as an “Authority” over the years, you can consider lending out your Bitcoins to others for a fixed return on investment at regular intervals. Not surprisingly, most of these platforms work with bitcoins only here are a few popular ones: 1. BT Panda 2. Bit bond 3. BTCJam 4. Loan base and more…

All these options are great but one has to be careful while choosing which platform will work best for them amidst so many choices! While direct sales require the traders themselves to do all the legwork, other services come with their own benefits and drawbacks.

Conclusion by Brian Colombana: – 

The bottom line is that there’s no one-size-fits-all option in the Bitcoin marketplace; it totally depends on your needs and goals.

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Also see : https://www.toptal.com/finance/blockchain/what-is-bitcoin-mining