Topic: This Bitfinex Credit Bubble cannot end well - page 17. (Read 62102 times)

Yeah, I thought for a moment there will be lasting decrease - but as newbie says, it seems that bulls confidence remain unshaken. What bout the cost of holding such positions  - it is still >30% per year, should also start to be painful soon?

I am afraid we have a chicken and egg problem here - potential buyers are waiting for 'Finex longs to substantially decrease while 'Finex longs are waiting for potential buyers  to become actual buyers. Wondering who would win  But looks like such a stalemate can last a long time

Saw it went down to 27M and then back to 28.9M.

Saw it went down to 27M and then back to 28.9M.

29.5 million.

couldn't that mean that everyone chooses 2.5:1 -- it was an option in user settings -- but not necessarily takes out a full margin position? i set mine to 2.5:1 but never did more than 1 or 1.5:1.

According to Bitfinex, almost everyone uses MAX leverage:

"
1.We have decided to eliminate the “Choose your leverage” feature, i.e., 1:1, 2:1 & 2.5:1. Instead of this, we are implementing a “per-pair” leverage allowance. This will allow us to tailor the exposure based on the assets volatility. Virtually all users maximize this value, and since it is self-selected anyway, we have chosen to simplify our product by eliminating it."

someone has guesstimated the "real cascade" would start at $450.

They backpedaled on their 1.5:1  max leverage initiative..Now its 3.33:1 leverage, giving more ammo to buyers to absorb more btc and hopefully prevent a flash crash. This is the latest move to prevent disaster..

They backpedaled on their 1.5:1  max leverage initiative which was meant to reduce swap growth..
Now its back to 3.33:1 leverage, giving more ammo to buyers to absorb more btc and hopefully prevent a flash crash. This is the latest move to prevent disaster..

Max leverage is only 1.5:1 now right? You people focus too much on something totally insignificant, USD swaps will rather go up than down when the price moves further down because of increased USD demand. You're dreaming if you think a 1.5:1 max leverage will lead to a massive cascade of margin calls lol.

Bitfinex leverage will not be decreased as much as announced 4 weeks earlier:

Hello,
In our ongoing effort to deliver the very best in crytocurrency trading, Bitfinex is pleased to announce several changes and enhancements to our margin system that will pave the way for better risk management, product-based margin requirements, and future trading products. We have also decided to streamline some of the associated margin features, updating and harmonizing margin terminology

1.We have decided to eliminate the “Choose your leverage” feature, i.e., 1:1, 2:1 & 2.5:1. Instead of this, we are implementing a “per-pair” leverage allowance. This will allow us to tailor the exposure based on the assets volatility. Virtually all users maximize this value, and since it is self-selected anyway, we have chosen to simplify our product by eliminating it.
2.We are also changing the way that we calculate “Tradeable Balance”. Currently, we do not consider the nature of a traders collateral when trading swaps, but that has lead to a loophole that allows a trader to effectively achieve 3.5:1 leverage by using BTC as collateral for a long BTC swap (most common example). While we are not particularly concerned about the effective leverage per se (see #3 below), we do, nonetheless want to harmonize risk management by considering any other collateral besides the one indicated by the pair (USD in the case of BTCUSD) as part of the allowing leverage for that position.
3.While we understand that #2 may impact some traders used to the “extra” leverage, we are counteracting its effects by increasing initial allowable leverage to 3.33:1. We are making this change in the context of making the following changes the margin terminology and parameters.
1.We will be changing any mention of “Leverage” to “Initial Margin” and representing it as a percentage instead of a ratio, which means that leverage of 2.5:1 would be represented as 40%. The new leverage of 3.33:1 will be shown as an Initial Margin of 30%.
2.Maintenance Margin will be increased slightly to 15% and will be fixed to be always be half of the Initial Margin for any giving swaps product.
3.These changes will allow us to easily adjust the margin parameters for a given swap pair to reflect marketplace realities as well as give us the ability to introduce future products that, for example, may be substantially less volatile, requiring less margin to trade. For the time being, 30%/15% margin parameters will be the same for all swap products.
The net effect of trader behavior and existing positions will be negligible and we look forward to delivering on the possibilities and new opportunities created by these changes. These changes will go into effect on Monday, August 18, 2014 at 00:00 UTC.

Thank you for choosing Bitfinex. We take the trust you place in us seriously, and are always striving to provide the fairest, and most cutting-edge platform in order to enable our customers trading needs.

Regards,
The Bitfinex Team
https://www.bitfinex.com/

The only thing holding me back from getting fiat ready on finex is the fact that they might roll back the trades in case of chain-reaction event.

Practically no change, while the price went down from about $630 to $525.

29.5 million.

the price on bitfinex, sure, but how about the swaps? that is what this thread is about.