[Open Letter] Altcoin exchanges have to be public or die. Updated List Inside

[coinnext]

Yesterday history repeat itself once more. The exchange ShareXcoin went abruptly offline and the owner went MIA, resulting in potential theft of hundreds of coins.. again. We had this before, Vircurex, Cryptorush, coinEX, and recently CoinOpend to just name a few.

And everytime the same reaction, a witch hunt for the alleged owner of said exchange. Apparently this community only cares about who safeguards their coins after that person scams you, this is logic 101 upside down.

This has to stop. No matter which coins you have allegiance with, no matter which exchange you use to trade on, this has to stop now.

If we want cryptocurrencies to move forward and thrive, its foundation has to be firm. Being able to trade your coin, any coin, in a secure and reliable way is a basic need that we can no longer take for granted.

The fact that we accept to trade our coins on exchanges that completely hide their identity behind a nickname on a public message board is undermining the professional growth the cryptocurrency world needs to thrive past this point.
Scamming exchanges are one most damaging things happening to cryptocurrencies. As long as we as a community keep supporting anonymous exchanges, run by some nicknames (no matter their "seniority" cfr. Tradefortress), we allow them the option to simply close down their exchange and run with all our coins.

For this I want to call upon the altcoin community, and DEMAND from your exchange to out themselves in public or CEASE TRADING at their exchange.
This will result in having overall good (with at least the intention to run it professionally) exchanges left, while weeding out the bad ones, the ones that simply do not care about anything but profit, and have zero inclination to help altcoins and this community forward.

Now, some of those anonymous exchanges have some liquidity in certain markets, so I realise the challenge for abandoning those. Yet please understand that we are often times supporting a ticking time-bomb, which potentially will blow up both our coins as the community's reputation.

A list of altcoin exchanges that are currently run by nicknames, and where the community should either demand public outing from or avoid trading on.
If an exchange is listed here, it means it's unclear who operates the exchange, either the people or the company behind it. If this is unintentional, take this as a wake-up call to add proper reference of this information on your site.

- Mcxnow - This exchange has scammed its users before, by pumping its own shares and then suddenly close down out of nowhere. This is just one of the many incidents their anonymous owner gets away with by just being a nickname.

- AllCrypt - No information found.

- BTC-E - People have traced them back to a bunch of holding companies in UK/Europe, but it's setup like a maze and unknown who is behind BTC-E.

- Poloniex - For the well informed it is known a certain "Tristan D’Agosta" is behind the nickname "busoni". Still there is no information on their site. I believe his intentions are good, but his current transparency efforts are just insufficient.

- C-CEX - No information found.

- DGex - Part of a company incorporated in Panama, no further info. This is just insufficient.

- AllCoin - Mention that they are a company, but no further details.

- EuropEx - No information found.

- UseCryptos - No information found.

- Comkort - No information found.

- Coins-e - No information found.

- Swisscex - No information found.

- Palth - No information found.

- Kingcoiny - No information found.


And last but not least, a list of exchanges who operate in a transparent matter, we should only trade on those exchanges:

- Mintpal - Company registration on /about page.

- Bittrex - Founder bios on the /about page

- Coinnext - Founder bios on the /about page

- Atomic-Trade - Company info clearly on their website

- Bleutrade - Founder bios on the /about page

- Swaphole - Company info on their site

- Bter - Company info on their site

- Cryptsy - Company info/Founder info clearly on their website

If I missed an exchange, send me a message and I will update the list accordingly.

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[CoinManiac]

A list of those involved, including their credentials should be posted in the website. It will bring more transparency.

Finally, a good post from being scammed

[KimNam]

Agree with this
no more support for anonymous exchange who don't provide detail information about them
we need more transparency, since we put our coins there
very risky to trade in non-transparent exchanges

[TheKoziTwo]

It's not like knowing the name and face of Mark Karpeles prevented his exchange from becoming the biggest fraud in history of bitcoin.

BTC-E is pretty anonymous is it not?

[ChuckOne]

Better using a decentralized exchange like the one in Nxt.

[gorillajam]

Better using a decentralized exchange like the one in Nxt.

Or one that doesn't need a PHd like Qora. 

[gorillajam]

Yesterday history repeat itself once more. The exchange ShareXcoin went abruptly offline and the owner went MIA, resulting in potential theft of hundreds of coins.. again. We had this before, Vircurex, Cryptorush, coinEX, and recently CoinOpend to just name a few.

And everytime the same reaction, a witch hunt for the alleged owner of said exchange. Apparently this community only cares about who safeguards their coins after that person scams you, this is logic 101 upside down.

This has to stop. No matter which coins you have allegiance with, no matter which exchange you use to trade on, this has to stop now.

If we want cryptocurrencies to move forward and thrive, its foundation has to be firm. Being able to trade your coin, any coin, in a secure and reliable way is a basic need that we can no longer take for granted.

The fact that we accept to trade our coins on exchanges that completely hide their identity behind a nickname on a public message board is undermining the professional growth the cryptocurrency world needs to thrive past this point.
Scamming exchanges are one most damaging things happening to cryptocurrencies. As long as we as a community keep supporting anonymous exchanges, run by some nicknames (no matter their "seniority" cfr. Tradefortress), we allow them the option to simply close down their exchange and run with all our coins.

For this I want to call upon the altcoin community, and DEMAND from your exchange to out themselves in public or CEASE TRADING at their exchange.
This will result in having overall good (with at least the intention to run it professionally) exchanges left, while weeding out the bad ones, the ones that simply do not care about anything but profit, and have zero inclination to help altcoins and this community forward.

Now, some of those anonymous exchanges have some liquidity in certain markets, so I realise the challenge for abandoning those. Yet please understand that we are often times supporting a ticking time-bomb, which potentially will blow up both our coins as the community's reputation.

A list of altcoin exchanges that are currently run by nicknames, and where the community should either demand public outing from or avoid trading on.
If an exchange is listed here, it means it's unclear who operates the exchange, either the people or the company behind it. If this is unintentional, take this as a wake-up call to add proper reference of this information on your site.

- Mcxnow - This exchange has scammed its users before, by pumping its own shares and then suddenly close down out of nowhere. This is just one of the many incidents their anonymous owner gets away with by just being a nickname.

- AllCrypt - No information found.

- Poloniex - For the well informed it is known a certain "Tristan D’Agosta" is behind the nickname "busoni". Still there is no information on their site. I believe his intentions are good, but his current transparency efforts are just insufficient.

- C-CEX - No information found.

- DGex - Part of a company incorporated in Panama, no further info. This is just insufficient.

- AllCoin - Mention that they are a company, but no further details.

- EuropEx - No information found.

- Comkort - No information found.

- Coins-e - No information found.

- Swisscex - No information found.

- Palth - No information found.


And last but not least, a list of exchanges who operate in a transparent matter, we should only trade on those exchanges:

- Mintpal - Company registration on /about page.

- Bittrex - Founder bios on the /about page

- Coinnext - Founder bios on the /about page

- Atomic-Trade - Company info clearly on their website

- Bleutrade - Founder bios on the /about page

- Swaphole - Company info on their site

- Bter - Company info on their site

- Cryptsy - Company info/Founder info clearly on their website

If I missed an exchange, send me a message and I will update the list accordingly.

useful list coinnext! I always thought only Cryptsy had an actual name behind it. Maybe we need to work out how liable these sites are. I mean being a registered company? can that be checked out?

I am a big believer in letting people do what they want and letting the market work things out but ai also believe in free open information in a perfect market too. maybe this list can be made more official and people can see what the current status and reputation each exchanges have. I think it's fair for exchanges to run anonymously but people should know and make a choice themselves. Maybe a sticky or even a simple website. You know a basic review and scores in areas of security, usability, liability etc.. Stick a donation address on it you got yourself a business.

[joefox]

No discussion yet of DECENTRALIZED exchanges?

The Nxt Asset Exchange can never run away with your money because nobody controls the exchange.

It's not perfect, of course: we're still waiting for features that help broker trades between blockchains (so you can trade other cryptos trustlessly) but these are in the works.

http://Http://Nxt.org

[ChuckOne]

@coinnext
I would like to see BTC-E and Nxt Exchange in your list.

@gorillajam
Where is there a decentralized exchange?

[gorillajam]

@coinnext
I would like to see BTC-E and Nxt Exchange in your list.

@gorillajam
Where is there a decentralized exchange?

Qora relatively soon should be implementing a decentralised exchange, even cross chain training and anomonity if all things work out. At the rate the guy works I have a hunch it's gonna overtake NXT soon in terms of function.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=522102.0

[coinnext]

It's not like knowing the name and face of Mark Karpeles prevented his exchange from becoming the biggest fraud in history of bitcoin.

Oh yes, it makes a huge difference. First of all, it's not that Mark Karpeles got away with committing fraud. The fact that you won't get away with it because people know who you are, makes it a very unlikely that one would start an exchange to intentionally scam.

But like I mentioned in OP, it differentiates the with ones with at least the intention to run it professionally exchanges. Of course that intention is not always sufficient. But it's already a big differentiator if the exchange is transparent.

[TheKoziTwo]

It's not like knowing the name and face of Mark Karpeles prevented his exchange from becoming the biggest fraud in history of bitcoin.

But like I mentioned in OP, it differentiates the with ones with at least the intention to run it professionally exchanges. Of course that intention is not always sufficient. But it's already a big differentiator if the exchange is transparent.

Not necessarily. If you are a public figure you also make yourself a target of extortion.

[dbshck]

You should add BTC-e. I don't think they have a clear operators name, it's shady.

[crimi]

@coinnext
I would like to see BTC-E and Nxt Exchange in your list.

@gorillajam
Where is there a decentralized exchange?

Qora relatively soon should be implementing a decentralised exchange, even cross chain training and anomonity if all things work out. At the rate the guy works I have a hunch it's gonna overtake NXT soon in terms of function.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=522102.0

Yeah right .... Nxt is 6 month ahead of you guys ... bring it on....

[HYPERfuture]

This is a great list. We were recently listed on Bittrex and I was pleasantly surprised by the transparency of the exchange.

We were also listed by sharexcoin before they scammed

[kelsey]

Bittrex ad and delist on a weekly whim is pretty much the dumbest shortsighted strategy I've seen in an exchange. More supports short term pump n dump, start a new rinse and repeat then adding any longterm value to a real decent coins.

[leptoon]

Bittrex ad and delist on a weekly whim is pretty much the dumbest shortsighted strategy I've seen in an exchange. More supports short term pump n dump, start a new rinse and repeat then adding any longterm value to a real decent coins.

That may be true, but I have no reason to believe that Bittrex will delist HYPER in the near or far future. When they continue to see HYPER progress and gain market volume, they'll keep it listed.

[kelsey]

Bittrex ad and delist on a weekly whim is pretty much the dumbest shortsighted strategy I've seen in an exchange. More supports short term pump n dump, start a new rinse and repeat then adding any longterm value to a real decent coins.

That may be true, but I have no reason to believe that Bittrex will delist HYPER in the near or far future. When they continue to see HYPER progress and gain market volume, they'll keep it listed.

Sorry that wasn't an opening for you to promote your shitcoin 

[HYPERfuture]

Bittrex ad and delist on a weekly whim is pretty much the dumbest shortsighted strategy I've seen in an exchange. More supports short term pump n dump, start a new rinse and repeat then adding any longterm value to a real decent coins.

That may be true, but I have no reason to believe that Bittrex will delist HYPER in the near or far future. When they continue to see HYPER progress and gain market volume, they'll keep it listed.

Sorry that wasn't an opening for you to promote your shitcoin  

leptoon probably should start his own thread about how awesome HYPER is. But it is by no means a shitcoin. See you when we launch the MMO Alpha which uses HYPER as an in-game currency (the development of which is being funded by HYPER). Or maybe even the HYPER arcade which will be up in a week or so There ARE a lot of shitcoins, but not all alt coins are by definition shit. There's a big difference.

EDIT: The HYPER team has so much planned and is so driven to achieve our key objectives, I can't wait to see you swallow your words when the time is right In the meantime, try and enjoy yourself.

[leptoon]

Bittrex ad and delist on a weekly whim is pretty much the dumbest shortsighted strategy I've seen in an exchange. More supports short term pump n dump, start a new rinse and repeat then adding any longterm value to a real decent coins.

That may be true, but I have no reason to believe that Bittrex will delist HYPER in the near or far future. When they continue to see HYPER progress and gain market volume, they'll keep it listed.

Sorry that wasn't an opening for you to promote your shitcoin 

It's not a shitcoin and I don't appriciate your arrogance. I have no patients left for those who believe the HYPER is anything but genuine, think whatever you want. It's pretty sad that there's so many scams in the crypto world that every alt coin is considered guilty until proven innocent. The fact that you would just assume it's a scam (nice try deleting your post btw) just lends credence to the idea that anonymity is bad for the crypto community. Forced transparency, not by some regulatory commission, but by the people, is what will keep cryptocurrencies relevent in the professional world. Arrogance, assumptions based on nothing more than a bad taste left by some of the scams in recent history, is not acceptable in a civilized discussion on the potential ramifications of complete transparency of cryptocurrency exchanges. Thanks for wasting five minutes of my life...