Intersango exchange (formerly Britcoin)

[JazzyJ]

Yep. This will be fixed by the end of the day. We got the problem fixed.

Thanks for sorting out the 13th June problem, Already bought and withdrew some bitcoins
yayy!

[Sultan]

Recently there have been unrealistic trades, apparently, shown on BitCoin Charts. Recently there were BitCoins sold for 5000 each, apparently?

Is something wrong with the site (Charts or Britcoin?) These can't be right.

[JazzyJ]

which chart are you referring to?

[dooglus]

which chart are you referring to?

This chart: http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/britcoinGBP#rg60zczsg2011-06-23zeg2011-06-23ztgOzm1g10zm2g25



See also https://britcoin.co.uk/api/getTrades.php for numerical data:

Code:

 {"date": 1308779642, "price": 10.1702, "amount": 0.94},
 {"date": 1308780181, "price": 10.2041, "amount": 0.00599566},
 {"date": 1308780782, "price": 500.0000, "amount": 0.01},
 {"date": 1308780841, "price": 5000.0000, "amount": 0.001},
 {"date": 1308781381, "price": 10.2041, "amount": 0.48400469},
 {"date": 1308781441, "price": 10.0000, "amount": 0.8},

Code:

1308780782 -> Wed Jun 22 15:13:02 2011 PST
1308780841 -> Wed Jun 22 15:14:01 2011 PST

so about 3 hours ago.

I suspect someone read my posts here about a bug that causes all trades here to happen at the rate posted by new orders rather than existing ones, and wanted to try it out.

If you attempt to buy 0.001 coins at 5000 BTC/GBP, you will be matched at that rate.  You can pay as much as you like.  That's the bug my patch fixes ( see https://gitorious.org/~dooglus/intersango/dooglus-intersango/commit/98961ecd84e6d8da2e7f4df3d15a90f4e1534dcb for the patch ).

Looking back a bit, it happened too:

Code:

 {"date": 1308743881, "price": 10.0000, "amount": 0.06},
 {"date": 1308746401, "price": 9.8000, "amount": 1},
 {"date": 1308747301, "price": 270.2703, "amount": 0.111},
 {"date": 1308747541, "price": 9.7600, "amount": 0.01},
 {"date": 1308747541, "price": 9.7600, "amount": 0.01},

Somebody paid $27 for 0.111 BTC at Wed Jun 22 05:55:01 2011 PST - because that's what they asked for.

http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/britcoinGBP#rg60zigDailyzczsg2011-06-13zeg2011-06-21ztgOzm1g10zm2g25 shows people also paid far too much for BTC on 13-Jun and 21-Jun.

[dexbot]

BTW is anyone in London and want to meet up later? We might get a pizza or something with a few other community members.

i'll be back in london next week, up for some good pizza for sure

[Sultan]

which chart are you referring to?

This chart: http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/britcoinGBP#rg60zczsg2011-06-23zeg2011-06-23ztgOzm1g10zm2g25



See also https://britcoin.co.uk/api/getTrades.php for numerical data:

Code:

 {"date": 1308779642, "price": 10.1702, "amount": 0.94},
 {"date": 1308780181, "price": 10.2041, "amount": 0.00599566},
 {"date": 1308780782, "price": 500.0000, "amount": 0.01},
 {"date": 1308780841, "price": 5000.0000, "amount": 0.001},
 {"date": 1308781381, "price": 10.2041, "amount": 0.48400469},
 {"date": 1308781441, "price": 10.0000, "amount": 0.8},

Code:

1308780782 -> Wed Jun 22 15:13:02 2011 PST
1308780841 -> Wed Jun 22 15:14:01 2011 PST

so about 3 hours ago.

I suspect someone read my posts here about a bug that causes all trades here to happen at the rate posted by new orders rather than existing ones, and wanted to try it out.

If you attempt to buy 0.001 coins at 5000 BTC/GBP, you will be matched at that rate.  You can pay as much as you like.  That's the bug my patch fixes ( see https://gitorious.org/~dooglus/intersango/dooglus-intersango/commit/98961ecd84e6d8da2e7f4df3d15a90f4e1534dcb for the patch ).

Looking back a bit, it happened too:

Code:

 {"date": 1308743881, "price": 10.0000, "amount": 0.06},
 {"date": 1308746401, "price": 9.8000, "amount": 1},
 {"date": 1308747301, "price": 270.2703, "amount": 0.111},
 {"date": 1308747541, "price": 9.7600, "amount": 0.01},
 {"date": 1308747541, "price": 9.7600, "amount": 0.01},

Somebody paid $27 for 0.111 BTC at Wed Jun 22 05:55:01 2011 PST - because that's what they asked for.

http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/britcoinGBP#rg60zigDailyzczsg2011-06-13zeg2011-06-21ztgOzm1g10zm2g25 shows people also paid far too much for BTC on 13-Jun and 21-Jun.

This is exactly what I refer to. Is genjix aware of this?

[dooglus]

This is exactly what I refer to. Is genjix aware of this?

I don't know but he's posted on this thread since I've been pointing the problem out.

I just noticed another bug.  https://britcoin.co.uk/api/ticker.php shows

Code:

{"ticker": {"vol": 682.0541134, "buy": 10.61, "sell": 10.79, "last": 0.5}}

where 'last' is meant to the be price of the last trade made.  It's been stuck at 0.5 for hours now while trades have been made all between 10.6 and 10.8 GBP/BTC.

It turns out that the SQL query is wrong, and it's really showing the price of the first transaction not the last one.

Fix here: https://gitorious.org/~dooglus/intersango/dooglus-intersango/commit/26f2cfa89affcc60cb4de92479e96847cc1afe52

[realnowhereman]

Quick question about Britcoin BTC deposits.

Britcoin issues a new deposit address whenever it detects a transfer to that address.  Which is good.

What happens if I use that address twice; i.e. I fund it from two sources?  Will Britcoin accept multiple transfers to that one address, or do I have to use the newly issued address?

[scribe]

BTW is anyone in London and want to meet up later? We might get a pizza or something with a few other community members.

Would love to meet up one day, but split between Brighton and being somewhat nomadic currently.

[genjix]

Thanks dooglus for your help. We sent you 10 BC for your help

After some testing, we're going to pull that change.

Did you get my email dooglus?

[Caesium]

Good work dooglus!

[seeARMS @ Bit-Bank]

Yeah Dooglus, nicely done.

I've been thinking of creating a Canadian-only exchange. This looks like quite an interesting project to help me do so.

[dooglus]

Thanks dooglus for your help. We sent you 10 BC for your help

After some testing, we're going to pull that change.

Did you get my email dooglus?

Thanks a bunch. 

I did - and will reply right now.

Is there any kind of bug tracker for your exchange code?  If not, I think it would be good to have one.

[BitMofo]

Quick question...

I know it takes 3-5 working days for money to be deposited, but if it's deposited by cash directly into the account at a branch, does this speed up the process?

Thanks!

[dooglus]

Quick question...

I know it takes 3-5 working days for money to be deposited, but if it's deposited by cash directly into the account at a branch, does this speed up the process?

Thanks!

I deposited a few days ago using Nat West online banking into Britcoin's Lloyds TSB account and it took about 24 hours for the money to show up in my Britcoin account.

I can't imagine that using cash would make it much faster.  Also using cash you take a risk that the cashier might transcribe the reference code wrongly, and then there will be a delay while the guys at Britcoin try to match up the payment with your account.

[BitMofo]

Quick question...

I know it takes 3-5 working days for money to be deposited, but if it's deposited by cash directly into the account at a branch, does this speed up the process?

Thanks!

I deposited a few days ago using Nat West online banking into Britcoin's Lloyds TSB account and it took about 24 hours for the money to show up in my Britcoin account.

I can't imagine that using cash would make it much faster.  Also using cash you take a risk that the cashier might transcribe the reference code wrongly, and then there will be a delay while the guys at Britcoin try to match up the payment with your account.

My intention was to use online banking but I left my stupid card reader thing at my other home!
This is why I'm such a big supporter of these bitcoins because regular payment methods are an absolute joke.
Still no sign of it yet. Yes that is a risk, but I was insistent with the cashier to ensure he inputed it correctly! I had the reference printed out for him to copy down etc... So fingers crossed nothing went wrong! The only reason I was wondering if it's faster is because cash instantly processes into the chosen bank account. There is no admin/ waiting period at all. But of course, if payments are getting manually authorised then it's not going to make much difference. Can't wait to buy some bitcoins!

[dooglus]

My intention was to use online banking but I left my stupid card reader thing at my other home!
This is why I'm such a big supporter of these bitcoins because regular payment methods are an absolute joke.

I quite like the card-reader thing.  Seems like a great solution to preventing fraud.  People can guess my password, but without my plastic card they can't transfer funds.  If MtGox had such a scheme in place they wouldn't have had the problems they're having.  (But they'd probably have different ones...)

Can't wait to buy some bitcoins!

I have a special limited edition bitcoin available for just 5000 GBP if you would like to buy it.

[BitMofo]

I have a special limited edition bitcoin available for just 5000 GBP if you would like to buy it.

Sure sounds good! Monopoly money ok? 

[dooglus]

I have a special limited edition bitcoin available for just 5000 GBP if you would like to buy it.

Sure sounds good! Monopoly money ok? 

Whatever you can convince Britcoin to accept is fine with me.

[genjix]

    ...
    Order 14: We are offering 10 GBP for 1 BC
    ...
    Order 18: They are offering 2.5 BC for 5 GBP
    ...

We need to calculate how much of our order will be chipped off, while
preserving their exchange rate.

    ...
    Order 14-1: We are offering 5 GBP for 2.5 BC
    Order 14-2: We are offering 5 GBP for 2.5 BC
    ...

We fulfill our order and close their order.

    ...
    Order 14-2: We are offering 5 GBP for 2.5 BC
    ...

A new transaction is created for record keeping purposes and the users funds are
updated accordingly.

I'm not sure this is a good way of doing it.

Suppose I'm trying to buy 1,000 BTC at 10 GBP each.  The sellers are wanting 12 GBP each at the moment, so no trade happens.  I'm waiting for a seller to ask for less.  Then some joker comes along and offers to sell 1 BTC for 1 GBP.  His offer matches my request to buy, and so, working the example as before:

    ...
    Order 14: We are offering 10,000 GBP for 1,000 BC
    ...
    Order 18: They are offering 1 BC for 1 GBP
    ...

We need to calculate how much of our order will be chipped off, while
preserving their exchange rate.

    ...
    Order 14-1: We are offering 1 GBP for 1 BC
    Order 14-2: We are offering 9,999 GBP for 9,999 BC
    ...

We fulfill our order and close their order.

    ...
    Order 14-2: We are offering 9,999 GBP for 9,999 BC
    ...

A new transaction is created for record keeping purposes and the users funds are
updated accordingly.

After buying the joker's 1 BTC for 1 GBP, the rest of out order is now changed, offering only 1 GBP per BTC.  Unless someone else comes along with a very cheap sale, our buy order will never get matched.  Even if some 2nd guy comes and offers 1 BTC for 2 GBP, we won't get to buy it, because we're now only offering 1 GBP per BTC.  What's the reasoning for changing the rate in "Order 14-2" above?  I think it should either keep the GBP spend and rate the same, and buy more BTC with the saving we made from the joker, so if the 2nd part is matched at the rate we requested we end up getting a total of 1,000.9 BTC for 10,000 GBP:

    ...
    Order 14-1: We are offering 1 GBP for 1 BC
    Order 14-2: We are offering 9,999 GBP for 999.9 BC
    ...

or keep the rate and BTC requested the same, and spend less GBP, so if the 2nd part is matched at the requested rate we end up getting 1,000 BTC for a total of 9991 GBP:

    ...
    Order 14-1: We are offering 1 GBP for 1 BC
    Order 14-2: We are offering 9,990 GBP for 999 BC
    ...

Did I misunderstand something?  Was the example I quoted wrong?  Or is the current implementation kind of weird?  Notice this is what happened to Caesium.  He offered to sell BTC at a low price when someone was already trying to buy at a higher price and the trade was carried out at his low price.

This is wrong since it uses the initial_amount and initial_want_amount to calculate the exchange rate you set. The amount left that you want is more for display purposes and isn't used internally.