Cryptocurrency webinar 08/12/17

[JamesIG]

Hi all 

 

I will be running a webinar on cryptocurrency tomorrow at 12.30pm (GMT). You can sign up via Academy and if you are unable to attend live, you'll be sent a video link. It's really aimed at new clients and those who have never traded with IG before. You can sign up at Academy > Live Sessions > Friday > Trading Cryptocurrencies with IG

 

We will go through some basics, as well as talk about setting up a platform, where to find crypto news etc. We'll also have a Q&A session at the end. 

 

[Guest Savvyscot]

A welcome move James. Is there any info/webinar material on how to use ig charts? Id be interested in learning more about charts.

[JamesIG]

Hi all - I hope you liked the webinar. You will be able to see this here shortly, and we'll also make sure we send it around to anyone who signed up. It was more of a beginning webinar to understand blockchain and how to trade bitcoin and ether with IG, however we ran out of time for questions. Please find a list of all questions below and some replies. Please add to this if you wish by leaving a comment and I'll get back to you. 

 

I shall also write up an article on the bitcoin CME futures next week and you'll see that on IG.com, and probably in the MyIG section.

 

Questions

 

Will this webinar be recorded in case I have to dash off? 

Yes! All webinars are recorded in real time and you will be sent a link (if you've signed up) via email, as well as being able to browse via the IG Academy. 

 

What is the recommended amount to start trading crypto with IG? 

This one really depends on a number of things and it unique to each individuals circumstance, so it wouldn't be something I can answer directly... however I can give some broad strokes. You first need to take into account the margin required to open the position. At the time of writing the first tier is 20%, which means you need 20% of the notional value of the trade to open a deal. (i.e. if you are trading 50p a point and the market is $15,000 you'll need 20% x 0.5 x 15000 = £1500 to open the position).

 

This may seem like a lot however this is due to the significant volatility in the underlying market and the significant rise it has had recently. In other markets on IG it wouldn't be this large. 

 

Can we please get a copy of the deck? 

I'll see what I can do. 

 

So is the blockchain the decentralized ledger?

A blockchain is a chain of blocks of data (as the name suggests) which is stored on each individuals computer, or 'node'. This is basically the ledger, which is decentralised because it is spread over all of these different nodes. This means that you can cut out the middle man (the banks and governments) and allow the people to have their decentralized consensus on each others spending. It's in the whole communities interest to not invalidate the chain, and if one specific actor wants to try and 'double spend' then the community will vote against them and stop the 'attack'. 

 

Why do people race to validate a transaction on the blockchain?

Whoever manages to validate the block first will receive additional bitcoin. Only the first will receive the reward. At the moment if you are receiving 12.5 bitcoin and the price is $15,000 you'll be receiving $187,500 for coming first.

 

Can I buy bitcoin or ether through you?

You can not buy the underlying cryptocurrency through IG. With IG you are placing a speculative bet on the price of the asset and via a leverage trade. You can therefore not withdraw or deposit the underlying cryptocurrency either. 

 

Is IG thinking of taking on more cryptocurrencies in the future? Anything likely from the top 10 or 20? 

We are reviewing this at the moment, however I don't have a specific road map or timing of when these will be released. 

 

Are you likely to reduce the minimum bet size. 

We recently reduced this minimum bet size by half, however given the meteoric rise in BTC this margin requirement has increased again. We are constantly reviewing this, however we won't be reducing it today. 

 

Thanks all

Any further questions just note them below. 

James