"Shorting" altcoins

[smoothie]

I still don't see much interest in this yet...

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[markm]

I still don't see much interest in this yet...

Maybe altcoin values aren't going down a whole lot lately or something? It seems quite possible that a lot of the interest in shorting is not really an intent to drive down the value but just to profit from the already lowering value. So maybe it is more a feature for opportunists than a feature for those who actually want to try to drive down the value of something.

Part of the interest in it on my server is from debtors. They heard that shorting can somehow sometimes drive down the price of something, which got them interested in trying to drive down the price of whatever their debts are denominated in so as to make the debts easier to pay off.

-MarkM-

[markm]

Maybe focus on shorting "altcoins" is too limited, since really what this is about is shorting assets, where assets might represent bitcoins, altcoins, bonds, shares, gold, silver, or whatever.

I guess why I thought of altcoins was I thought shorting was kind of a way to put your money where your mouth is, thus that all the people who mouth of about this that or the other altcoin being doomed could short it.

But one could just as well short bitcoins, they too are just another asset.

I think the crucial thing needed regardless of what someone wants to short is a system for collateral, so that whatever other assets they have that they are willing to put up as collateral can be evaluated as to how much of what they want to short the loaner is willing to loan them based on the assets offered as collateral.

-MarkM-