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Main => Technical Support => Topic started by: unreadPostsSinceLastVisit on September 09, 2015, 04:26:11 pm

Title: Stupid questions about shorting
Post by: unreadPostsSinceLastVisit on September 09, 2015, 04:26:11 pm
It's been almost a year since I shorted any BTS.

I know the rules changed a while after the merger, and they're about to change again before 2.0 drops, so I'm having some trouble figuring out if I should be shorting right now or not.

I think we're at the bottom, and only going to go up again from here.
Given that, conventional wisdom says I should short bitUSD, right?

With bitUSD trading at 1.10-1.25, is there a risk of arbitrage straightening that out and undoing some of the gains from my shorts?

If I short, do I have to time it so that I'm prepared to cover in less than a month? If so I may want to wait a couple weeks before shorting.
What about the upcoming fork, will that screw up my shorts if I short now?

What else should I know? Can anyone bring me up to speed? Is this even a good idea right now?
Title: Re: Stupid questions about shorting
Post by: Shentist on September 09, 2015, 04:43:40 pm
its not really clear!

in BTS 2.0 a bitUSD holder can settle within 1 hour at the feed price. It will change the function, but what will happen to the market is unclear. At the moment not many people want to short because you have to cover within 30 days. In BTS 2.0 the short will not expire.

https://bitshares.org/technology/price-stable-cryptocurrencies/

Title: Re: Stupid questions about shorting
Post by: unreadPostsSinceLastVisit on September 09, 2015, 04:46:18 pm
Sounds like the safest course of action would just be to wait until launch.
Title: Re: Stupid questions about shorting
Post by: maqifrnswa on September 09, 2015, 04:47:41 pm
With bitUSD trading at 1.10-1.25, is there a risk of arbitrage straightening that out and undoing some of the gains from my shorts?

Arbitrage would help you in that case, you would gain 10-25% instantly if someone successfully removed that offset. (You sold a BitUSD for $1.10 worth of BTS and will later buy a BitUSD for $1 worth of BTS: buy low sell high). Your concern should be if it runs away even higher.
Title: Re: Stupid questions about shorting
Post by: unreadPostsSinceLastVisit on September 09, 2015, 04:49:43 pm
With bitUSD trading at 1.10-1.25, is there a risk of arbitrage straightening that out and undoing some of the gains from my shorts?

Arbitrage would help you in that case, you would gain 10-25% instantly if someone successfully removed that offset. (You sold a BitUSD for $1.10 worth of BTS and will later buy a BitUSD for $1 worth of BTS: buy low sell high). Your concern should be if it runs away even higher.

I see now. Kinda went dyslexic on that. How likely is a runaway bitUSD to happen again before launch? Kind of moot because I think I've decided to wait until launch, but others might benefit from this thread.
Title: Re: Stupid questions about shorting
Post by: maqifrnswa on September 09, 2015, 05:00:04 pm
I see now. Kinda went dyslexic on that. How likely is a runaway bitUSD to happen again before launch? Kind of moot because I think I've decided to wait until launch, but others might benefit from this thread.

Well, not too likely - but it is probably a good idea to play it safe until launch. If there is a rush of people trying to close out their shorts, and no new shorts being generated -- that could cause it to run away since there already is an undersupply of BitUSD. That will most likely be temporary until the 2.0 features are implemented
Title: Re: Stupid questions about shorting
Post by: EstefanTT on September 09, 2015, 05:14:49 pm
I shorted BitUSD at 1500 and rolled them over ever since. That's kind of easy when you do it properly.

The thing is, if you wait, you won't probably short that cheap.

In the other hand, there is some unknowns with shorts when 2.0 will come to light.

I kinda think that from now to the 2.0 release, the price will go up significantly, so I'm not risking too much. Even if I get slightly screwed with the new rules, it's gonna make me a profit anyway.

This thtead is one of plenty about the same subject. The community is in the dark about how to effectively short, cover and prepare for the 2.0 release with short positions.

That's the main reason why we have a gigantic wall of margin and expired shorts. Nobody shorts because they don't have enough information to do it safely.
Someone (not me, too dumb) should resume the rules and explain it in a easy way. Maybe some devs could approve that there is no mistake. It could have a very beneficial effect on the actual BitUSD market. It looks scary when you know what is happenning but if you are an outsider, it looks that BitShares is just no working correctly.

Title: Re: Stupid questions about shorting
Post by: unreadPostsSinceLastVisit on September 09, 2015, 05:19:32 pm
I shorted BitUSD at 1500 and rolled them over ever since. That's kind of easy when you do it properly.

The thing is, if you wait, you won't probably short that cheap.

In the other hand, there is some unknowns with shorts when 2.0 will come to light.

I kinda think that from now to the 2.0 release, the price will go up significantly, so I'm not risking too much. Even if I get slightly screwed with the new rules, it's gonna make me a profit anyway.

This thtead is one of plenty about the same subject. The community is in the dark about how to effectively short, cover and prepare for the 2.0 release with short positions.

That's the main reason why we have a gigantic wall of margin and expired shorts. Nobody shorts because they don't have enough information to do it safely.
Someone (not me, too dumb) should resume the rules and explain it in a easy way. Maybe some devs could approve that there is no mistake. It could have a very beneficial effect on the actual BitUSD market. It looks scary when you know what is happenning but if you are an outsider, it looks that BitShares is just no working correctly.

That's good to know! I was a bit self-conscious making this post because that seems like the kind of information I should have gathered while normally satiating my curiosity about bitshares. Glad to see I'm not the only one in the dark.