Hmm so bitfinex has a unique way of performing margin calls. First they add it on the ask side, if nobody buys after a certain time it gets dumped.
Yes, it's very interesting that they're essentially speculating on their own with user funds instead of liquidating @market.
I've also noticed that before a margin call sometimes an opposing order with the exact amount come out,
by magic.
This happened to me, when there is not enough liquidity available near the margin call price (
perhaps).
Lets not forget that the owner of bitfinex (Raphael Nicolle) was a huge supporter of pirateat40 and not long after offered a similar service.
Also questionable is the founder, Raphael Nicolle, himself. Fortunately, this is not another attempt at an anonymously run financial service; Nicolle has provided a LinkedIn profile which confirms his involvement in BitFinex, and has plans to register the company when they settle on the best jurisdiction to locate their service. However, he was also involved in the Bitcoin investment scheme craze that had reached its peak in the Bitcoin community this summer, strongly supporting the (then only suspected) Bitcoin Ponzi scheme operator Pirateat40 in August, stating “now that Pirateat40 closed down his operatations thanks to all the fud that was going on and growing on the forum, I expect everyone that spreads this fud, accused and insulted Pirate and the people that supported him to apologize.” He even tried to open a 2%-per-week investment scheme of his own in September.
http://bitcoinmagazine.com/2830/bitfinex-bitcoinica-rises-from-the-grave/Just to add to the margin call theory, after they dump they seem to instigate a mini pump to trick traders into buying the asks (which makes sense). It's fascinating to watch..
