Bitcoin Forum

I've had this idea for a while, but I'm probalby too lazy to implement it anyway. So I might as well put the idea out there for others to muse over.

Derivatives trading denominated in bitcoins. Futures, options, or entirely new types of contracts.

Obviously, we're not at the point where we can buy real stocks or bonds with BTC, but I don't see any reason why we cannot trade derivatives off of these instruments.

The only problem is that the market for BTC derivatives probably won't be very liquid, at least initially.

I like your idea.  Any opensource stock market tools out there?

A few people have earlier expressed interest in bitcoins futures trading.  Would help stabilize bitcoin exchange rates a bit.

The demand for bitcoin-based derivatives is secondary to the demand for bitcoins.  Bitfutures will probably emerge from a betting site like bitbet.org where proposition bets are settled futures-style into bitcoins.  Something similar to intrade or betfair will be necessary where there is no central bookmaker, just an exchange on which bettors meet other bettors.

I think bitbet.org could use some help in this regard.  maybe MtGox could lend a hand removing the bookmaker from bitcoin-based proposition betting.

I think you misunderstood the OP.
OP is not talking about bitcoin futures, but derivatives traded with BTC as the currency.

This wouldn't create any demand regarding BTC/USD and therefore also wouldn't help stabilizing the BTC/USD rate.


But on the other hand it would definitely increase the usability and also adoption of BTC. Overall this would be a step into the right direction, since BTC would finally be used as a real currency.
The liquidity is the biggest problem with this. But once this problem is solved, i can smell a lot of profits from the first one implementing this.