Topic: Bitfuture - trade options on USD/BTC (Read 2158 times)

Hello everyone!  Long time forum lurker here, I finally have something worth sharing: www.bitfuture.com

We've built an options trading platform for Bitcoin called Bitfuture.  We are well aware of several predecessors in the derivatives space but we feel like our platform rectifies many of the insufficiencies of those early efforts.  We aim to operate a smoothly functioning market with a simple interface, contracts that are suitable for either hedging of exchange risk or calculated speculation, and an accounting system that will allow the maximum level of external transparency while maintaining the privacy of individual customer accounts.  We are not serving as a counterparty to any trades; we wish to focus on building the strongest platform possible and not place ourselves in an adversarial position to our customers.  

The options we are offering on the platform are similar to traditional puts and calls, except that the payouts on contract exercise are transmitted in Bitcoin.  All deposits are in Bitcoin, all contract payments and settlements are in Bitcoin, and withdrawals are in Bitcoin.  We are currently engaging regulators in both the EU and the US about gaining the proper licensure in those jurisdictions; consequently we are not now serving customers in those locales.  Visitors to the main site will be redirected to our paper trading site www.paper-trade-bitfuture.com and credited BTC100 in play money to try out the system.  We plan on offering free trades at the main site to the top traders on the paper trading site once we are able to expand our operations, so there is a great incentive to try it out!

We are currently charging 1% of the contract size as a fee upon order fulfillment (no cost at order creation or contract expiration).  We think this is an improvement on other leveraged forms of Bitcoin trading that effectively charge up to 1300% APR on the underlying contract size.  Our contracts are also resalable, so that it is not necessary to hold until expiration to benefit from changes in price or gain protection against such moves.  

This post is the first public notice we've made about either site so don't be surprised if there are few open orders when you visit.  We are working on bringing in volume partners such as payment operators, ATM operators, and larger holders of Bitcoin who would like to be able to protect themselves from short and long term exchange risk.  At this stage we are mainly concerned with demonstrating the security and stability of the interface and underlying accounting systems. We truly appreciate any and all feedback.

Since our goal is to build a market with quick execution and alleviate counterparty risk we are not placing orders and contracts on the blockchain, operating instead on a deposit and accounting model congruent to a traditional brokerage/exchange.  This is obviously not a trustless system, so we need to earn that trust.  My name is Jake Boggan and I'm the founder and engineer behind Bitfuture - and I'll be happy to answer any and all questions about our platform, team, design decisions, tech stack, history, and whatever other concerns you might have.  

Cheers!

Edit: my partner (and general counsel) wanted me to specify that all call contracts are completely covered and all put contracts are covered up to a 50% drop from the strike price.  Since we are launching with 24-hour contracts we feel this is more than adequate to maintain delivery of contract terms in current market conditions.  We will adjust the coverage % in the future as we add contracts of different duration.