Bitcoin Forum

Is there a comprehensive list of companies that offer shorting and BTC denominated options?

Sorry, here in bitcoin land we don't short anymore.  We tried it, but it just fucked everything up.  Your only option is long.

You can always get a loan, sell the BTC for $, and later convert back and repay the loan. Unfortunately, lending rates are very high and it will be difficult to make a profit.

If it was done correctly would a derivatives market in bitcoin (short positions, options) be a benefit?

https://icbit.se/ futures may work for what you want.

I've had a good experience trading small amounts at icbit.se

Such a blatantly misleading claim can't stand uncorrected.


Fact is, we had some more viable short selling facilities. But there was no outright obvious effect on the rates. Some were able to detect some local effects, which could be quoted to support both the "pro" and the "contra" viewpoint.

And while we're about to correct FUD, it is also not true that e.g. a platform like Bitconica is outright financial hazard and must collapse necessarily. From a financial viewpoint, that platform was constructed in a sane manner and did work indeed -- mind me, without forcing the platform to bet against its customers.

What indeed fucked everything up was the lazy attitude towards IT security and coding standards. Plus an overall unprofessional attitude towards any business best practices, like e.g. how to communicate with ones customers.


As others already pointed out, currently http://ICBIT.se is the only simple and easy to use solution allowing to take a short position without the need to actually sell your assets. Don't expect too much, the market is still rather illiquid. But personally it served me well to hedge my BTC positions partially, especially at times as right now, where corrections are imminent.



PS: I know I know, proudhon always writes with a grain of irony, but the OP asked a plain and straight question and deserves a plain ans straight answer

Bitcoinica did have some issues that would have become apparent as bitcoin grew.  But for such a small market, the slippage risks were acceptable.

Indeed.

Plus, from the leaked documents we can conclude that in the last weeks of ordinary operation, while the BTC rate was so stable sitting at $5, the platform wasn't profitable anymore, but basically a zero sum or even slightly negative. Zhou Tong considered (or even started) to play with the hedge factor, which means he started betting against the average of his customers.

For a Contract-for-Difference platform there is a very faint line separating fair minded operation from cheating and ripping off the customers. For example, if the operator notices that a large majority of the customers holds positions against the market trend, so that an avalanche of forced liquidations is imminent, it would be a good idea and actually responsible behaviour to reduce the hedge factor in advance, to prevent the platform from losses due to slippage. Yet under slightly different conditions, the same behaviour could be interpreted as an attempt to use the insider knowledge (of the actual effective positions) for elegantly pocketing some of the customer's money...

This made me LOL ;)

Proudhon makes a good zhou bitcoinica hacker.  ;D