Idea for exchange feature: public profile trade tracking

[amencon]

Had an idea that I thought would be interesting.  What if an exchange allowed customers to set certain accounts as publicly view-able, where if turned on a link would be generated that would allow anyone to follow the accounts activity.  In this way traders could declare trading strategies, create a public account and let followers see how profitable (or not) they are over time with it.

For bonus points they could even allow notes to be attached to each trade where the trader could briefly explain the thought process behind each trade.  This way a trader could deviate from a stated strategy and explain what circumstances changed to cause them to make this decision.

I could see some some people try to game this, create lots of accounts and trade small amounts then public post the profiles with successful histories.  However once publicly displayed people could continue to track the progress and see if the success holds up over time.

Not sure if there would be enough incentive for an exchange to code this but I imagine they could put some ads and generate income on popular and widely followed accounts.  Plus if lots of new traders followed these and they were only offered by one exchange it would likely push many to use them instead of a competitor.

Here's a quick, horrible image of how I think it might look:



Think there would be interest in this?  Did I not think something obvious through?

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[wobber]

You would end up with almost everyone following #1 and #2.

Trading is meant to be personal, intimate. Like sex.

[amencon]

You would end up with almost everyone following #1 and #2.

Sorry I'm not sure what #1 and #2 you are referring to.

[bitcon]

You would end up with almost everyone following #1 and #2.

Sorry I'm not sure what #1 and #2 you are referring to.

the top two accounts with the best prediction record

[amencon]

Trading is meant to be personal, intimate. Like sex.

Actually fitting.  This could be like trade porn.

[amencon]

You would end up with almost everyone following #1 and #2.

Sorry I'm not sure what #1 and #2 you are referring to.

the top two accounts with the best prediction record

Oh probably.  Wouldn't that be awesome though to weed through all the junk and see what strategies actually worked which ones didn't?

Plus it seems likely that over time #1 and #2 would not stay the same accounts.  Maybe some strategies better in a bear market over a bull market etc.

Edit: In fact they could even open up commenting and the most popular pages could have discussions dissecting why something was working or not.  I would think this would lead to collaboration on even more efficient strategies for the future.

[keewee]

eToro seems to be doing this already

[dataphile]

What incentive is there for one to share their trading strategy?

[amencon]

eToro seems to be doing this already

Thanks I'll check it out.

What incentive is there for one to share their trading strategy?

Well none really I suppose, excellent point.  Very good reason to think this idea would never be that popular actually.

I'd be willing to trade publicly and test out strategies for fun, but then again I don't know what the hell I'm doing and don't have any trading secrets that would be worth guarding.

[amencon]

This will never work, it would drive people like me away from the exchange. I work hard on my bot and I don't want the trade logic put out in the open like that, it would hurt my bot in the long run.

Well the idea was to make this option voluntary.  Not to expose everyone's account to be publicly view-able. 

However point taken that most would have no incentive to share their strategies if they were successful over the long term.  I was thinking of it more as means to collectively discover what works and what doesn't.  Since it's money I should have realized everyone with any knowledge will want to guard it closely in order to maximize the benefit from it.

It was not a well thought out idea, frankly I forgot trading was about capturing Alpha and that it is a zero-sum game.  I don't do much trading and am more interested in the technical aspects of it than trying to get rich.  Mostly I'm just content to buy and hold for Beta.

[antimattercrusader]

Trading is meant to be personal, intimate. Like sex.

My wife and I have replaced the work sex/fuck with "Gox" She walks in, Gox me baby.

Now, getting goxxed is a good thing!

[blackreplica]

Trading is meant to be personal, intimate. Like sex.

My wife and I have replaced the work sex/fuck with "Gox" She walks in, Gox me baby.

Now, getting goxxed is a good thing!

No need to change the words. As a bitcoin user, Gox is fucking you over every other day

[wonkytonky]

eToro seems to be doing this already

and etoro is going to add bitcoins to play with (well if they are actualy going to do it)
. so that could be interesting

[ManBearPig]

You would need to implement at this at client level. There's no way MtGox is going to be receptive to this.

For instance this is possible with Thinkswim my "normal" brokers: your trades can be passed to your profile on a third-party site where it's publicly viewable with league tables etc.

[amencon]

You would need to implement at this at client level. There's no way MtGox is going to be receptive to this.

For instance this is possible with Thinkswim my "normal" brokers: your trades can be passed to your profile on a third-party site where it's publicly viewable with league tables etc.

Other than not thinking the development time was worth it, why do you think MtGox would be against this?  Not that I think you're wrong, I'm just not seeing a downside for them unless maybe you think this would stigmatize them due to angry traders that don't want this kind of information easily and widely shared?

Also yes I'm sure they could have an API share these accounts' trade data, then anyone could build another site to generate the pages for public viewing.  Hell in that case I could probably create something roughly similar to what I sketched out after some more practice/experience with charting in MVC.  It would be a fun project to experiment with and I'm sure fairly trivial for an experienced developer.

[zoolander]

My friend is a founder of a startup called TradeHero (http://www.tradehero.mobi/)

I've recently suggested they should find a place for Bitcoins in their eco-system.

[amencon]

My friend is a founder of a startup called TradeHero (http://www.tradehero.mobi/)

I've recently suggested they should find a place for Bitcoins in their eco-system.

Nice! Let me know if they do, looks like a fun app. 

Do they plan on keeping it exclusively an "app".  Any reason not to make it a web app with a responsive theme or at least a web app / mobile app pair?  I find myself at most times with access to a full computer with all the advantages that go with it over a smartphone.  I just can't imagine I'll do much trading while at the bar or driving to and from work.

[zoolander]

Nice! Let me know if they do, looks like a fun app. 

Do they plan on keeping it exclusively an "app".  Any reason not to make it a web app with a responsive theme or at least a web app / mobile app pair?  I find myself at most times with access to a full computer with all the advantages that go with it over a smartphone.  I just can't imagine I'll do much trading while at the bar or driving to and from work.

Yep, it's certainly planned, however not until they secure their next round of funding.

[ManBearPig]

You would need to implement at this at client level. There's no way MtGox is going to be receptive to this.

For instance this is possible with Thinkswim my "normal" brokers: your trades can be passed to your profile on a third-party site where it's publicly viewable with league tables etc.

Simply that it's not needed and they have other infrastructure problems at the moment!

I mean specifically the collating and hosting of the league tables etc. - until Mt Gox has the robustness of other exchanges this is just fluff IMO.

Mt Gox need a desktop client not a webpage, the client could get confirmation the trade was made and pass the data on.

Although it could be done on a daily basis for those who opt-in I suppose but I don't see Mt Gox spending time or money on this in the foreseeable future.

I am all for it in principle though as would Mt Gox be I imagine WHEN and IF they can spend time on bells and whistles