[OFFICIAL]Bitfinex.com first Bitcoin P2P lending platform for leverage trading

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Those interest rates were a strange blip. It didn't last long. But it was there and strange to see.

No, this is no blip. Interestrates spike in the three- and four digits every other day now. Yes, you read that right, 1000% to 2000% interest on USD on Bitfinex! Normally it drops to "just" 100% to 200% again soon.
So, obviously there is quite a demand for USD.
How to make that incredible opportunity public?
"Hello, yes, more USD, please! Yes, yes, a lot! Yes, insurance is possible!" :-)

No, seriously, we need more of that stinkin' papermoney over here.

Ente

I think a lot of people withdrew their money when the rates were getting low due to low volatility, and they felt that it wasn't worth the risk anymore. 
That plus the fact that maybe some people also did the arbitrage thing with gox, leaving less cash at bitfinex.
Now there is suddenly more action in the market, and little cash in bitfinex.  As a lender, it's great for the moment, but it will change again as people bring in more money.

[superbit]

No, this is no blip. Interestrates spike in the three- and four digits every other day now. Yes, you read that right, 1000% to 2000% interest on USD on Bitfinex! Normally it drops to "just" 100% to 200% again soon.
So, obviously there is quite a demand for USD.
How to make that incredible opportunity public?
"Hello, yes, more USD, please! Yes, yes, a lot! Yes, insurance is possible!" :-)

No, seriously, we need more of that stinkin' papermoney over here.

Ente

Sound like you either do some lending or borrowing.  What is the reason people paying such rate?

Based on what I read so far, trader can only use the borrow money on margin trading. And they can't move the coin out, so arbitrage is out of question.  I never know margin trading can provide such return. What is their liquidation policy on margin trading?

Borrowing the USD is not for arbitrage; however, it is not uncommon to see BTC prices move 10 - 20% over a day or two.  Given that paying 1-2% a day to borrow funds for the short-term can be a very profitable endeavor if timed correctly.

[capoeira]

Those interest rates were a strange blip. It didn't last long. But it was there and strange to see.

up a lot again

[Ente]

No, this is no blip. Interestrates spike in the three- and four digits every other day now. Yes, you read that right, 1000% to 2000% interest on USD on Bitfinex! Normally it drops to "just" 100% to 200% again soon.
So, obviously there is quite a demand for USD.
How to make that incredible opportunity public?
"Hello, yes, more USD, please! Yes, yes, a lot! Yes, insurance is possible!" :-)

No, seriously, we need more of that stinkin' papermoney over here.

Ente

Sound like you either do some lending or borrowing.  What is the reason people paying such rate?

Based on what I read so far, trader can only use the borrow money on margin trading. And they can't move the coin out, so arbitrage is out of question.  I never know margin trading can provide such return. What is their liquidation policy on margin trading?

I borrow USD to buy Bitcoins - simple margin trading.

The question is, pf course, if someone believes the exchange rate will go up or down - then do some margin trading accordingly. Or, with zero volatility risk, drop Bitcoins or USD on Bitfinex and feed the ever hungry margin traders ;-)
Kostolany would like the latter idea - talking about goldrush and selling shovels and all..

Ente

[arbitrage001]

Is it possible to do interest rate trading using the platform?

For instance, borrow all the currently available fund and then re-list them even higher rate?


Maybe they should implement a way for people to insure the borrow fund. Then they don't have to put up a dime of their own money and still get paid on commission.

[nrd525]

Interest rate trading - low priority. Unnecessary complication and zero-sum (it wouldn't benefit users of the site - it'd just move money around and complicate the lending market which is already volatile.)

Expanding the insurance - I'm not sure why anyone would invest in it as they'd make 4-10 times more money by loaning it out and have lower risk (if 20% ofl the loans default - you lose 100% if you are doing insurance, whereas you only lose 20% if you are loaning out money.)  I don't think relying upon people to make poor investment decisions is a good long term business practice.  Note: all of my loans are insured when possible because it is a great deal for the lender and horrible deal for the insurer.

I'm not sure how you could provide insurance without using your own money.  It needs to be backed up by assets that are directly controlled by BFX.

[arbitrage001]

Price discovery on interest serves important function in the market. All lending has risk and this is reflected on the lending rate.

Lending has risk, just because it is covered by the exchange doesn't mean it won't blow up and everyone end up losing most if not all of their money. By providing the facility for insuring lenders, this reduce the risk for both lenders and insurance agent (risk is splitted according to the lending rate and insurance rate). When things go bad, trader will have to eat all loss first, then any remaining fund will go to lender, if it isn't enough, it will then be covered by insurance agent. Trader has the highest risk in this process and then the lender, then the insurance agent (Warren Buffet got extremely wealthy by providing this service).

All parties will of course have their own money and asset as collateral. Trader will have to follow certain leverage rules/ratio and be forced to liquidate to protect lender. In the event things went badly, lender will be covered by insurance agent. This of course will mean the lender will need to pay for the agent service in the unlikely event that systemic crash happen. And not expecting the exchange to bail them out if they don't have insurance.

This service add value to the exchange by strengthening the system. It removes the need for the exchange to set aside any money and remove them the responsibility of monitoring the market condition.

[2586]

It would be nice if Bitfinex would publish a detailed lending data feed. Whenever a loan is taken out or repaid, include the amount, term, date/time it was lent, and date/time that it was repaid (if applicable) in the feed. This would allow us to create charts to visualize the movements of the lending market, and better target our offers and demands.

[ninjaboon]

In case somebody of you missed it:

https://community.bitfinex.com/content.php/35-New-fee-schedule-from-the-8th-of-July-2013

have a good day

Giancarlo
Bitfinex Team

Oh I missed this earlier,
and now I have to verify myself by providing ID and a recent telco bill.

[molecular]

Oh I missed this earlier,
and now I have to verify myself by providing ID and a recent telco bill.

what? verify? I thought this wasn't going to happen?!?

[ninjaboon]

Oh I missed this earlier,
and now I have to verify myself by providing ID and a recent telco bill.

what? verify? I thought this wasn't going to happen?!?

Maybe only certain users need to.?
I just got verified.

[davout]

what? verify? I thought this wasn't going to happen?!?

Some things are best kept as a hobby.

[molecular]

what? verify? I thought this wasn't going to happen?!?

Some things are best kept as a hobby.

not my fault everyone and their grandmother Mrs. Regulata got interested. Same with the internet, we should've just kept it for our geeky selves

[ninjaboon]

what? verify? I thought this wasn't going to happen?!?

Some things are best kept as a hobby.

not my fault everyone and their grandmother Mrs. Regulata got interested. Same with the internet, we should've just kept it for our geeky selves

sharing is caring.
 

[mccoyspace]

It would be nice if Bitfinex would publish a detailed lending data feed. Whenever a loan is taken out or repaid, include the amount, term, date/time it was lent, and date/time that it was repaid (if applicable) in the feed. This would allow us to create charts to visualize the movements of the lending market, and better target our offers and demands.

+1 to this idea.

[nrd525]

Current BTC lending rate is 98% APR!

[Ichthyo]

I'm having problems when trying to close a loan.

The new UI is great, but it doesn't seem to work for me. I took some new loans, then marked the ones with I wanted to close. After pushing the button, there was a confirmation, but then nothing happend.

maybe I missed something? does it work for you?

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Current BTC lending rate is 98% APR!

Yeah, it went from 5%-ish a few days ago to 98% all of a sudden.  Big player shorting bitcoins?

The rate was ridiculously low compared to USD though.

[molecular]

Current BTC lending rate is 98% APR!

Yeah, it went from 5%-ish a few days ago to 98% all of a sudden.  Big player shorting bitcoins?

The rate was ridiculously low compared to USD though.

interesting. Never seen any substantial rates in BTC lending market before.

Does this mean people are just now discovering they can go short?

[molecular]

BTC lending rate on bitfinex is 80% (annual basis). Never seen it above 5% before.

Interesting. Did people just discover they can short on bitfinex?