Topic: Should I switch from Bitstamp to something else? (Read 2378 times)

I am also considering switching due to the rapidly shrinking volume on Stamp, which is more and more messing with my trades there, as well as the ever-nagging feeling that I am on a sinking ship

At the very least, 19k BTC (or ~$4m at current prices) will undoubtedly be a massive drain on their resources and may lead to lower quality service for some time (or, if they haven't got the funds to pay it back now, then for a very long time, given the fleeing volume and thus less fee revenue), which could result in even more people jumping ship.
My mind goes to the (among other things) extreme trade engine lag Gox had for the last year of its existence, which at the time seemed very odd considering an exchange is basically a money printing machine and so upgrading hardware shouldn't have been a problem, but as it later turned out it was most likely due to lack of money from the hack.

I'd prefer to migrate to OKCoin but their BTCUSD pair volume is pretty low (although it does look to be growing), and Bitfinex currently dominates. As a result, at least from what I've observed the past few weeks, Finex seems to be usually leading and giving the best signals. As it stands now I'm doing most analysis on Finex charts and trying to trade how I expect Stamp will follow lol.

I'm somewhat aversive to Bitfinex though. At least OKCoin seems to have a far more dedicated and serious team behind it, and if their volume keeps growing to rival that of Finex then I'll probably switch (unless Stamp has audited by that point and regained trust and volume). Although Coinbase I suppose would be the optimal option if/when they get enough volume and open up to non-US customers.

Exactly, and their actions so far are not very convincing.

They need to PROVE they are worthy, like through an audit, or the volume going back up.


I honestly don't think -any- of the larger exchanges hold ALL the bitcoins they should. Fractional reserve isn't exactly illegal (as far as I'm aware), and for exchanges it's a pretty easy way of using funds that would otherwise be tied down.

If they are, the real question is in the case of a coin-run, can they liquidate enough to provide full customer reimbursement? I'd hope so..

I could be totally wrong but until they provide an audit from a trusted third party I'd always assume the worst.

I really like Bitfinex. No issues. So far so good.

Even with lower volume Bitstamp is still the best exchange around. Personally I don't trust Bitfinex so I don't hold much btc there.

That sounds like a bank issue rather than stamp?

which one do you prefer to? simple exchange like bitstamp is very less, you have little leeway to choose, lakebtc btc-e kraken..

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2us50p/psa_bitstamp_bank_is_rejecting_wires/

 

Thanks for the detailed analysis. I'll stick with stamp for the moment. Give them a chance to gox improve.

Meh. Difficult question, basically asking: pick the lesser of all the existing pure evils

For me, stamp is still the most trustworthy exchange that I can trade on.

Here's why: Kraken looks like a great alternative, at least as trustworthy as stamp, but volume is non-existent.

I've used Btc-e and finex, but the fact that they're outside the EU's jurisdiction makes me not trust them all that much. That, times 100, for the Chinese exchanges.

Bitstamp has two major pro arguments in favor of it: a) registered in the EU, with accounts at a EU bank. Might not mean much to you, but to me it does.
b) major outside investment (10M USD, by Panterra).

Now for the bad side: a) they were hacked (but so far there's no evidence that this led to any shortage of funds - no withdrawal delays that I know of), and b) their volume is obviously declining (possibly because of fees being a bit high).

So, I'm still considering Bitstamp my best option, but by an increasingly smaller margin. I already asked them to do another financial audit, to prove at the very least the control of the amount of coins we expect them to have (yeah, I know, that's not a 100% safe way of auditing, but e.g. mtgox would have failed even that "basic" audit).

If we can get this audit within a reasonable time (about a month I can accept) I'll stay at stamp, if they fail to do, I'll start moving away from them, if for not other reason than out of principle.

Reply to OP , yes you should switch to something else. Hold your own bitcoin on your own wallet in your own control, don't leave them on an exchange. Remember, MtGox ... Bitcoinica.. Mintpal .. I'm sure theres others too, all exchanges eventually disappear taking your coins with them. 

still - i prefer bitstamp over bittfinex

Bitstamp has the habit of harassing the customers with verification things, sometimes freezing funds for a big while.


Also they proved to be sort of sloppy with security

YW!

tarmi, Bobsurplus  - thanks.

He can't because it doesn't fit into his mindset, he just parrots whatever is considered the most "pro Bitcoin" at the time.

The risks you have with btc-e are they are in an obscure eastern European country, and Anonymous.
With bitfinex you are risking being defrauded by frontrunning from them (forcing a short/long squeeze).

On the other hand neither btc-e of bitfinex pretends to be Captains of Industry which is, imo a huge plus.

Dont be scared.. Just know your limits and play within them. Futures are a real good money making opportunity if you can predict right. Just dont be a bitch otherwise you can go broke real fast.

P.s. Use localbitcoins or a btm if you need to sell some.. never use these centralized exchanges.

because insider trading, trading on margins, front end algos/bots prevening crashes, etc.

 if they fuck up something guess who will pay.

Right, it seems out shilling masters aren't that picky. Bonus points if you get your shilling checks from a bank and an exchange!

Not at all. In fact, bitstamp is the best exchange I've ever used (I've used only two of them so far, stamp and gox ).

It's what I'm most interested in. Which risks are you referring to? Why are they higher in bitfinex and lower at btc-e? Could you elaborate?

bitstamp isn't dominant, never was.