Buying and Selling Bitcoin - Going Long or Going Short

When it comes to trading Bitcoin online, traders can make profits by buying Bitcoin contracts or selling Bitcoin contracts depending on the direction of Bitcoin prices. If Bitcoin prices are moving upwards then a trader will buy Bitcoin contracts so as to make a profit. If prices are moving down then a trader will sell Bitcoin contracts so as to make a profit.

The prices of Bitcoin at any particular moment are either moving upwards or downwards in what is known as a trend. The trend is the general direction of the Bitcoin prices. Therefore, if the price of Bitcoin is moving in a general upward direction, the trend is upwards and a trader should buy Bitcoin, if the price of Bitcoin is moving in a general downward direction, the trend is downwards and a trader should sell Bitcoin.

Going Long or Going Short

Going Long - When a trader buys Bitcoin this is known as Going LongGoing Short - When a trader sells Bitcoin this is known as Going Short

Long - long is another term used to refer to buying, when a Bitcoin trader goes long it means that they have bought the BTCUSD cryptocurrency that is heading upwards in a bullish trend. When the prices of Bitcoin are moving in a general market trend that is upwards then the market is said to be bullish.

Short - short is another term used to refer to selling, when a trader shorts Bitcoin, it means that they have sold the BTCUSD cryptocurrency that is heading downwards in a bearish trend. When the prices of Bitcoin are moving in a general market trend that is downwards then the market is said to be bearish.

Buy/Long

Basically the term, "buy long" can be used refer to buying cryptocurrencies in the online Bitcoin trading exchange market. Buy long is used to transact when the prices of Bitcoin are predicted to appreciate in value compared to the USD, when the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, BTCUSD is bought then it is the same as holding value in Bitcoin and instead of holding value in USD - Holding Value in Bitcoin after selling USD.

If the price of Bitcoin is going up we buy, this is referred to as going long, therefore long is just another name for buy. When the BTCUSD price trend is going up it is referred to as a bullish, this is when a buy order is placed. A bullish trend is identified by plotting an upward trend line on a BTCUSD chart. The example below shows a long/buysignal.

Buy Trade/Going Long - Bitcoin Price Upward Trending Market

Sell/Short

Basically the term, "sell short" can be used refer to selling cryptocurrencies in the online Bitcoin trading exchange market. Sell short is used to transact when the prices of Bitcoin are predicted to depreciate in value compared to the USD, when the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, BTCUSD is sold then it is the same as holding value in USD and instead of holding value in Bitcoin - Holding Value in USD after selling Bitcoin.

If the price of Bitcoin is going down we sell, this is referred to as going short, therefore short is just another name for sell. When the BTCUSD price trend is going down it is referred to as a bearish, this is when a sell order is placed. A bearish trend is identified by plotting a downward trend line on a BTCUSD chart. The example below shows a short/sell signal.

Sell Trade/Going Short - Bitcoin Price Downward Trending Market

Bitcoin Trading Platform

This is the software that is provided by an online broker to help traders make place their transactions of buying and selling Bitcoin. Bitcoin is now one of the currencies provided for trading by traditional currency brokers. The traditional currency broker offer currencies such as EURUSD - EURO traded against the US Dollar and GBPUSD - Great Britain Pound traded against the US Dollar. These brokers now provide Bitcoin trading against the US Dollar - This Cryptocurrency is denoted as BTCUSD. Traders can now trade BTCUSD alongside EURUSD and GBPUSD and other major forex currency pairs. BTCUSD is now provided for trading by these traditional currency brokers because Bitcoin is becoming the most popular cryptocurrency traded internationally and this means that Bitcoin is liquid enough to be offered for online trading. This is because at any one time in the online financial markets there are many people wanting to buy and also many people wanting to sell this cryptocurrency - this is why this cryptocurrency is now liquid enough to be offered for trading alongside traditional currency pairs such as EURUSD and GBPUSD.

Once you download and install this MetaTrader 5 software on your computer you can then begin to trade Bitcoin contracts online. All transactions are executed through this Bitcoin trading platform. If you want to learn a the MetaTrader 5 platform, Learn MetaTrader 5 Platform Lesson is a good place to start with.

To set these buy and sell orders, open MetaTrader 5, open a "Bitcoin chart", right click on the "chart ", select "New Order ", then select the order either sell or buy as shown below. (Short Cut Keys - Press F9 Key)

In the example below we have used the cryptocurrency pair BTCUSD, if you want to trade Bitcoin - the symbol is BTCUSD and you can then use the buttons shown below to either go long or go short when trading Bitcoin BTCUSD cryptocurrency.

Alternatively you can first open the BTCUSD chart and place a Bitcoin trading order directly from the chart.

Going Long and Going Short on the MetaTrader 5 Platform