<p>You start with 90000 USD.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You have 90000 USD</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You buy 1 BTC at a rate of 90000 USD/BTC</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You have 1 BTC</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The exchange rate rises to 94000 USD/BTC.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You have 1 BTC</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You sell the 1 BTC for USD at a rate of 94000 USD/BTC.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You have 94000 USD</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The exchange rate drops to 93000 USD/BTC.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You have 94000 USD</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Unless you bought BTC again, you didn't lose anything.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-06-29T02:43:51.380Z
2024-06-29T02:43:51.380Z
Pieter Wuille
<h2>The heart of your misunderstanding is &quot;withdraw profits&quot;.</h2>
<p>Once you have the reality clear in your head, the rest is <strong>simple arithmetic</strong>, the sort of adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing you learned when you were a small child.</p>
<hr />
<p>Lets do some adding, subtracting multiplying and dividing  ...</p>
<div class="s-table-container"><table class="s-table">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Holdings</th>
<th>$ value</th>
<th>₿ value</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>$90k</td>
<td>90,000</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>₿0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Totals</td>
<td>90,000</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table></div>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>I buy a one bitcoin for 90k</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<div class="s-table-container"><table class="s-table">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Holdings</th>
<th>$ value</th>
<th>₿ value</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>$0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>₿1</td>
<td>90,000</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Totals</td>
<td>90,000</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table></div>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>it peaks at 94k</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<div class="s-table-container"><table class="s-table">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Holdings</th>
<th>$ value</th>
<th>₿ value</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>$0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>₿1</td>
<td>94,000</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Totals</td>
<td>94,000</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table></div>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>I withdraw the profit of 4K.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>When you &quot;withdraw the profit&quot; what you are doing is selling some of your Bitcoin for dollars at the current exchange rate. After you have sold some of  your Bitcoin you have $4k but <em>you now have less than 1 Bitcoin!</em></p>
<p>If the exchange rate is $94k = ₿1 then $4k = 4000 / 94000 = ₿0.042553191</p>
<p>To get the $4k you perceive as &quot;profit&quot; into your hands you have to sell ₿0.042553191 of your Bitcoin.</p>
<p>That means you now have ₿1 - ₿0.042553191 = ₿0.957446809</p>
<div class="s-table-container"><table class="s-table">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Holdings</th>
<th>$ value</th>
<th>₿ value</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>$4,000</td>
<td>4,000</td>
<td>0.042553191</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>₿0.957446809</td>
<td>90,000</td>
<td>0.957446809</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Totals</td>
<td>94,000</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table></div>
<p>In reality you also pay Bitcoin transaction fees to Bitcoin miners and probably pay conversion charges to the currency exchange. Most currency exchanges have &quot;spread&quot; or difference between their buying and selling rates. Most probably also have some other fee. It has probably been thus since people started making coins thousands of years ago. This is nothing new or special.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p><strong>if then it drops to 93k does that mean [confused stuff]</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>If the exchange rate changes to ₿1 = $93k then</p>
<ol>
<li>your ₿0.957446809 is worth 0.957446809 * 93000 = $89,042.55</li>
<li>your $4k is worth 4000 / 93000 =  ₿0.043010753</li>
</ol>
<div class="s-table-container"><table class="s-table">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Holdings</th>
<th>$ value</th>
<th>₿ value</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>$4,000</td>
<td>4,000</td>
<td>0.043010753</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>₿0.957446809</td>
<td>89,042.55</td>
<td>0.957446809</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Totals</td>
<td>93,042.55</td>
<td>1.000457562</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table></div>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Need some clarity</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>All the above is nothing to do with Bitcoin, the sums would be the same if you were were buying and selling diamonds or carrots. It is nothing to do with complex finance. There is no more to it than simple arithmetic.</p>
<p>&quot;Withdrawing Profit&quot; is not some deep mysterious magic. It just means selling some of something you own.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-06-29T09:00:37.993Z
2024-06-29T09:56:31.480Z
2024-06-29T09:56:31.480Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>Ok so let’s say I buy a one bitcoin for 90k it peaks at 94k I withdraw the profit of 4K .if then it drops to 93k does that mean I now have a profit of 3k still or do I have to wait for it to drop back to the original price I paid for it being 90k and for it to peak again to make another profit ?? Need some clarity thanks heaps</p>

<math>
Withdrawal profits
user153557
# Withdrawal profits

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-06-29)

Ok so let’s say I buy a one bitcoin for 90k it peaks at 94k I withdraw the profit of 4K .if then it drops to 93k does that mean I now have a profit of 3k still or do I have to wait for it to drop back to the original price I paid for it being 90k and for it to peak again to make another profit ?? Need some clarity thanks heaps

**Tags:** math


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-06-29. Score: 1

You start with 90000 USD.

> You have 90000 USD

You buy 1 BTC at a rate of 90000 USD/BTC

> You have 1 BTC

The exchange rate rises to 94000 USD/BTC.

> You have 1 BTC

You sell the 1 BTC for USD at a rate of 94000 USD/BTC.

> You have 94000 USD

The exchange rate drops to 93000 USD/BTC.

> You have 94000 USD

Unless you bought BTC again, you didn't lose anything.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2024-06-29. Score: 0

## The heart of your misunderstanding is "withdraw profits".

Once you have the reality clear in your head, the rest is **simple arithmetic**, the sort of adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing you learned when you were a small child.

---

Lets do some adding, subtracting multiplying and dividing ...

| Holdings | $ value | ₿ value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| $90k | 90,000 | 1 |
| ₿0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 90,000 | 1 |

> **I buy a one bitcoin for 90k**

| Holdings | $ value | ₿ value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| $0 | 0 | 0 |
| ₿1 | 90,000 | 1 |
| Totals | 90,000 | 1 |

> **it peaks at 94k**

| Holdings | $ value | ₿ value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| $0 | 0 | 0 |
| ₿1 | 94,000 | 1 |
| Totals | 94,000 | 1 |

> **I withdraw the profit of 4K.**

When you "withdraw the profit" what you are doing is selling some of your Bitcoin for dollars at the current exchange rate. After you have sold some of your Bitcoin you have $4k but *you now have less than 1 Bitcoin!*

If the exchange rate is $94k = ₿1 then $4k = 4000 / 94000 = ₿0.042553191

To get the $4k you perceive as "profit" into your hands you have to sell ₿0.042553191 of your Bitcoin.

That means you now have ₿1 - ₿0.042553191 = ₿0.957446809

| Holdings | $ value | ₿ value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| $4,000 | 4,000 | 0.042553191 |
| ₿0.957446809 | 90,000 | 0.957446809 |
| Totals | 94,000 | 1 |

In reality you also pay Bitcoin transaction fees to Bitcoin miners and probably pay conversion charges to the currency exchange. Most currency exchanges have "spread" or difference between their buying and selling rates. Most probably also have some other fee. It has probably been thus since people started making coins thousands of years ago. This is nothing new or special.

---

> **if then it drops to 93k does that mean [confused stuff]**

If the exchange rate changes to ₿1 = $93k then

1. your ₿0.957446809 is worth 0.957446809 \* 93000 = $89,042.55
2. your $4k is worth 4000 / 93000 = ₿0.043010753

| Holdings | $ value | ₿ value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| $4,000 | 4,000 | 0.043010753 |
| ₿0.957446809 | 89,042.55 | 0.957446809 |
| Totals | 93,042.55 | 1.000457562 |

---

> **Need some clarity**

All the above is nothing to do with Bitcoin, the sums would be the same if you were were buying and selling diamonds or carrots. It is nothing to do with complex finance. There is no more to it than simple arithmetic.

"Withdrawing Profit" is not some deep mysterious magic. It just means selling some of something you own.


---

