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

[arbitrage001]

What does the new "Claim" button do? (in margin trading screen)

IF you are long BTC, I think the claim button let you claim the coin so you can transfer it out.

Wish they do the same for short.

[urwhatuknow]

What does the new "Claim" button do? (in margin trading screen)

The claim button allows traders which are in a winning position to close it and to transfer the gain without having to change coins into fiat and then back into coins. The purpose of this option is to avoid losses due to slippage.

Example: I took a long position using 400 usd of collateral for 10 BTC back at the beginning of October when the price was 100 usd each and now the price is 1000 so my P/L tell me I have a profit of 9600 minus my swap position which is 38 usd.
I want to close my position but keep my coins ( I don't want to divest into USD).
By pressing the claim button the software will change into usd only the necessary amount to cover for the loans and the swap and keep the rest into coins.
This basically have the advantage to avoid slippage caused by selling and buying coins again.
The commission applied for such service is equal to the sum of the 2 operations our customer will pay if the trades were to be executed on Bistamp ( i.e 2 x 0.35% = 0.7% ).

Please let me know if something is not clear

Have a good day

Giancarlo





 

[Progressive]

Thanks for the explation and for this new feature.

Also I want to thank you and Raphael for your communication here (and I don't mind you being "human"   ) it's the best I've seen for an operation at this level. The fact you are responding honest and quickly and the way how you handled the "black swan" event with Gox (not like a garage company) are the main reasons I trust to use your service.

[urwhatuknow]

Thanks for the explation and for this new feature.

Also I want to thank you and Raphael for your communication here (and I don't mind you being "human"   ) it's the best I've seen for an operation at this level. The fact you are responding honest and quickly and the way how you handled the "black swan" event with Gox (not like a garage company) are the main reasons I trust to use your service.

Thanks dude

posts like yours mean so much for us.

Have a good day

Giancarlo

[mccoyspace]

What does the new "Claim" button do? (in margin trading screen)

The claim button allows traders which are in a winning position to close it and to transfer the gain without having to change coins into fiat and then back into coins. The purpose of this option is to avoid losses due to slippage.

Example: I took a long position using 400 usd of collateral for 10 BTC back at the beginning of October when the price was 100 usd each and now the price is 1000 so my P/L tell me I have a profit of 9600 minus my swap position which is 38 usd.
I want to close my position but keep my coins ( I don't want to divest into USD).
By pressing the claim button the software will change into usd only the necessary amount to cover for the loans and the swap and keep the rest into coins.
This basically have the advantage to avoid slippage caused by selling and buying coins again.
The commission applied for such service is equal to the sum of the 2 operations our customer will pay if the trades were be executed on Bistamp ( i.e 2 x 0.35% = 0.7% ).

Please let me know if something is not clear


Have a good day

Giancarlo

 

This is a seriously great feature!
Thanks guys. Good work.
Now if only I had a leveraged long position at the moment. I meant to set one up back at $600 but was too busy to get to it.... Maybe the next ramp.

[unclescrooge]

Hello everyone,

Still a lot going on under the hood, but I've been asked to explain more in details the "Claim" position feature and the principles behind it.

So here it is:

When you reduce a long position on Bitfinex, you actually realize a profit (or a loss), that is kept in the unrealized P/L of the position by moving the base price.

The idea is that at some point, you will realize enough profit to cover for the loans and the pending swap of the position. When this happen, the bitcoins of the position can actually be yours, since you don't need to borrow anything to keep them.

So when this happen, you can claim the position. Which means the following:
-You will be credited the realized profit in USD (minus paid back loans).
-You will be charged the pending swap (always lower than previous USD profit).
-The position amount in BTC will be credited on your balance directly (with a fee based on the amount credited).

There is no trading involved at any time.

If you don't have enough realized profit to claim the position, when you'll click on "Claim", the system will tell you "You need to sell approximately XX bitcoins at the current price to claim the position", but it's up to you to sell those bitcoins with the type of orders you want.

Best regards
Raphael

[unclescrooge]

On another note, Bitstamp is currently unavailable via his API.

We will reenable it as soon as possible.

Thanks
Raphael

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Hey Raphy

Any word on how the migration of the system is going? 
And is this the front end or the backend that is being adapted?

Thanks

[Ichthyo]

since some people complain about bugs in Bitfinex causing losses --
I'd like to add my observation. I am using the platform since a long time, and yes, we indeed had bugs in the engine in the early days. But I am not aware of any user visible bugs in the engine today; since quite some time the engine behaves solid. I noticed some display or UI glitches from time to time, and they got fixed, before I came around to reporting them. (I can't judge the situation on the lending feature, since I used that only occasionally)

From my own experience (as developer) I know that users tend to label features they'd like to be different as "bugs". We all would totally love to go long unlimited on Bitstamp. But the fact that Bitfinex cuts the ask side when lacking liquidity is by no means a "bug". Rather, spending money that isn't there would be a bug.

Likewise, the fact that -- when money is credited at Bitstamp -- the two ask sides of both markets are re-combined again, is not a bug, but the very way this platform is constructed. So don't call that a surprise. For the trader, this situation is equivalent to a sudden market drop. This too can happen, and no one should complain when he gets a forced liquidation due to such a sudden movement. This is part of the risk management: either choose the size of your position in accordance to the maximum loss you're planning to accept, or use stop orders at the right level. Or don't if you don't want to bother or just plain want to gamble. 

[unclescrooge]

Hey Raphy

Any word on how the migration of the system is going? 
And is this the front end or the backend that is being adapted?

Thanks

Hello,

It's the backend side that is worked on. The last few days should have been better though (if you can confirm), and in the new few days it will be even better. The migration will been more progressive, and if there is any downtime you will be informed in advance by email.

Thanks


Ichthyo,

Thanks for your comment, it's always appreciated especially from such a long term user as you

Raphael

[Wassupia]

1)issue

3224735   BTCUSD   Market   -1.0   -1.0   $0.0000   $561.0000   BFX   4 minutes ago   Executed @ 561.0(-1.0)
3224728   BTCUSD   Market   1.0   1.0   $0.0000   $588.5000   BSTP   5 minutes ago   Executed @ 588.5(1.0)
What is this? The rates should be switched at time of writing? i dont get it.
Edit: now all bitstamp asks are gone. I lost 30 bucks here. Was is my fault?

Another batch of USD arrived to bitstamp and was immediately used to buy bitcoins. Traders at bitfinex are bullish so the price at bitfinex's inner exchange is higher.

you don't get it, I sold at bfx and bought at stamp.

I lost 0.05btc, still want an answer. It occured right after bfx went back online that day.

2)Liquidity
If you'd slightly decrease/ (increase) the fees for selling/ (buying) on stamp, the funds on bitstamp might not get depleted as fast. No idea though how big the increase/ decrease has to be for a noticable difference.

3)claim feature
Shouldn't it be in the fee table?
Why 2 x 0.35% and not 2 x 0.15%? Sometimes the spread on BFX is small enough so that 'keeping your coins' is cheaper when closing the position and buying again. Or if you have the cash you can buy your own long position buy placing a buy on exchange and a sell on trading with the same price.

Thanks.

[LOADING.READY.RUN]

My margin position is between 5-10% profit and I keep receiving them every half hour.

Just for sake of completeness (you are probably aware of that): the margin warning / margin calls are not directly linked to the possible unrealised profit for your position. Rather, they are related to the current value of your collateral (your "margin balance") in relation to the amount of money you actually need to keep your position covered. Of course there is an indirect connection (insofar you need more money to keep an loosing position alive).
[...]
Bottom line: if you think these warning mails are false alarm, I'd recommend that you just check the current numbers in your account manually to verify that you have actually more than the minimum reserve (which is 10% for 1:1 and 13% for 1:2.5) above what is necessary to cover your position

Ok, thanks for the long explanations. Yes, I still think it's a false alarm: Bitfinex showed me even a positive tradable balance larger than my margin balance, so yes, enough safety here.

[wilfried]

plz, dont forget to put that claim button on the classic interface, as i will never voluntarily switch to the new interface. anyone else?

[nrd525]

Renaming buy/sell to short/long is a great idea!

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Hey Raphy

Any word on how the migration of the system is going? 
And is this the front end or the backend that is being adapted?

Thanks

Hello,

It's the backend side that is worked on. The last few days should have been better though (if you can confirm), and in the new few days it will be even better. The migration will been more progressive, and if there is any downtime you will be informed in advance by email.

Thanks for the update

[xeverse]

The current implementation of the stop orders
doesn't allow to protect profit?

Is this correct?

[Ichthyo]

The current implementation of the stop orders
doesn't allow to protect profit?

typically you'd either use a limit order above current market spread, at the point where you plan to take profit, or you use a "trailing stop" with a given relative distance. The trailing stop will be pulled upwards when the market rises, but remain at a fixed level, when the market falls, so it becomes a stop order eventually. Note: the value entered for trailing stops is a relative value, e.g. 3 means 3$ below current selling price.

Be forewarned though, trailing stops are especially hard to set right.
Either they trigger too early (caused by a small jerk downwards, before a huuuuge rise upwards), or they cause losses when set too far away.


P.S: obviously everything in reversed direction when you're short

[nrd525]

Small fixes:
The margin-trade liquidation price has ** and p/l has *.  My guess is this indicates a footnote. It would be nice to get the footnote/explanation when I mouse
over the item. Use the title tag!

Or have a link to the more information. Otherwise they are random clutter.

The P/L value in My Active Positions updates at a different time than the value in Account Overview.  

The Trading Balance number in "Your Balance" is inaccurate as it doesn't include trading losses.  The only thing it represents is the value of your original position which doesn't tell you anything about your leverage ratio, margin required, or actual position.

[xeverse]

typically you'd either use a limit order above current market spread, or you use a "trailing stop" with a given relative distance.

Thanks for the explanation. Right.

But i'm asking about something completely different.
I believe they called -- Market if Touched Orders (MIT).

Market if touched orders are identical to stop orders,
except that they are used when the market price has already traded past the stop price,
and the trader only wants the order to be processed if the market price comes back to the stop price.

For example, if the market price is 1.3010, and the trader places a buy market if touched order with a price of 1.3001,
the order will only be processed if the market trades at or below 1.3001. If the order is processed,
it will be processed as a market order, and will get filled at the current best price.
Market if touched orders will trigger the opposite way than a stop order, so for a buy order,
the trigger price must be below the current price, and for a sell order,
the trigger price must be above the current price.

We could put these to good use!

[wilfried]

Small fixes:
The margin-trade liquidation price has ** and p/l has *.  My guess is this indicates a footnote. It would be nice to get the footnote/explanation when I mouse
over the item. Use the title tag!

Or have a link to the more information. Otherwise they are random clutter.

The P/L value in My Active Positions updates at a different time than the value in Account Overview.  

The Trading Balance number in "Your Balance" is inaccurate as it doesn't include trading losses.  The only thing it represents is the value of your original position which doesn't tell you anything about your leverage ratio, margin required, or actual position.

not quite either. as soon as you open a position some bucks are subtracted from "your balance". how much and why, couldnt quite figure out until now.
"liquidation price" is a riddle to me 2.