Bootstrapping Bitshares DEX Liquidity

[abit]

You're keep saying "what to do".
I'm saying "how to do", "who to do the work", "at what cost", "who pays for the work".

You say "you ..."
I can say "you ..." too.
But who are "we"?
What do "we" do?

[Emily]

The cost of decentralization / trustlessness is high.

WRONG: A decentralized, trust-less DEX could run far more efficiently than the compliance costs of CEX, and the counter-party risk it introduces.

[Emily]

It is possible that some random no brainers earn some easy money at some time.
It is not possible that every no brainer earns easy money forever. Because there are unavoidable costs to build and run a system. Someone has to pay.

You utterly fail to see how arbitrage really works.  And/or the purpose for the arbitrage.

...Market forces that power arbitrage are unstoppable.

So long as there is a price differential outside the system vs inside, and there is a free-flowing pipe between them, it is impossible to stop them from coming to equilibrium. IE: Siphoning volume from CEX, into DEX.

There is an inherent demand for DEX.

That creates the differential over CEX.

The problem is not demand.

The problem is there are no pipes to service that demand.

Make the pipes between CEX and DEX.  Make them cheap enough for arbitrage....

...With every $1 captured from CEX, DEX utility grows.  Increased DEX utility begets increased DEX demand...

That starts the feed-forward loop that finally supplants CEX.

(The same way Bitfinex supplanted Gox... by exploiting their order book in a pass-thru order book, then incentivising their own order book.)

And that is the purpose for arbitrage... bootstrap volume to supplant CEX... making CEX unnecessary.

You've made a system almost good enough.

You haven't made a system good enough.

All the reward is found in finishing.

None of the reward is found in building.

Bitshares dies without the cheap pipe to service arbitrage between CEX and DEX.

All that building is for nothing. 

Or...

You could finish... and create an actual viable DEX solution.

[abit]

Good dream. But I don't think the path you described would work. Or say, it's very very hard. We need to do this, we must do that, etc.
It is possible that some random no brainers earn some easy money at some time.
It is not possible that every no brainer earns easy money forever. Because there are unavoidable costs to build and run a system. Someone has to pay.
The cost of decentralization / trustlessness is high.
bitBTC, at least in its current form, doesn't work like what you talked about.
Atomic swap is not viable practically.
Arbitrage is always there and it really helps connect different systems. But a fact is arbitrage consumes liquidity. Liquidity providers bear the risk.

[Emily]

The dream:

An uncensorable DEX with more liquidity than Binance or any current CEX.

Getting there from here:

The only way Bitshares breaks into network effect is if it can tap the most powerful, unstoppable force the free market enables... and that is...

Arbitrage!

Building the arbitrage pipes:

Bitshares removes the counter party risk of CEX.

Bitshares if fast an performant.

Bitshares removes the censorship.

Bitshares can serve a market segment CEX cannot.

Why then aren't we seeing arbitrage loops from CEX to Bitshares form?

It's because the pipes aren't built.

How to break Bitshares into network effect, feed forward snowball...

....There must be a liquid, fast, trustless, uncensorable pipe between bitBTC <-> BTC, and the major cryptos with current network effect.

It must be cheap.

It must be fast.

Without that arbitrage is impossible.

Atomic swap technology has made these pipes possible.

An intermediary that batches bitBTC<->BTC atomic swaps could bring the cost down enough so that arbitrage is now possible.

The intermediary would be a trusted 3rd party.  But anyone could be the intermediary, making a small cut by maintaining a liquid bitBTC<->BTC pipe.  The free market would keep the intermediary fees low.

What is preventing these intermediaries from forming now?

Too much risk... that's what.

BTS doesn't have enough base level liquidity right now.

But... if liquidity could be bootstrapped, with every $1 added to volume the risk drops...

Getting there from here:

Bitshares has to capture the small fish... and bootstrap that volume.

How?

By making arbitrage as steamlined, and easy as possible, for the small fish to setup loops, and atomic swap bridges to the underlying asset.

Step #1:

Build atomic swap gateways from BTC<->bitBTC and all major cryptos right into the app.

Step #2:

Build arbitrage bots right into the app.

Anyone with a CEX account, should be able to plug CEX API keys into the app, and setup arbitrage loops for any/all assets they have on CEX.

This needs to be made stupid simple.  

It needs to be plug and play.

It needs to be so simple that it is a no brainer for anyone with a CEX account to make some exctra cash by simple setting up arbitrage loops with a few clicks of a mouse.

Bitshares was ahead of its time.

A few things needed to be developed first to make it viable.

With atomic swaps now becoming viable, Bitshares can now become the DEX it was meant to be.

Without liquidity DEX is worthless.  Another feature will not change that.  Don't waste anymore time and resources on anything that doesn't directly pump volume into the DEX.

ARBITRAGE is the solution to the liquidity problem.

Bitshares team... you can let this project die, and watch the world be enslaved by CEX, KYC, and gatekeepers... or you can give it a hope of resurrection by tapping the most powerful force in the free market... ARBITRAGE!

So long as we have central gatekeepers controlling the flows of wealth the world can never be free. 

The time is now.  Do it!