Bitcoinica

Finance and crypto

bitcoin trading platform

SHOW HN2011

129points
93comments
#75of 1,097 in 2011
Top 7%of 2011 by points

How HN took it

MixedNo clear lean

6 positive, 16 neutral or asking, 4 mixed, 21 critical, out of 47 comments about the project. Thread score -0.22.

Idea: 0 for, 10 againstExecution: 0 for, 9 againstDesign: 3 for, 0 againstDocs: 1 for, 0 againstPricing: 0 for, 1 against

The thread, comment by comment

Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.

positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker

What HN said

What people liked

  • Site looks slick and well designed

    From 3 comments
    • This seems far more advanced than usual for Bitcoin. Nice! I have little insight into the security of your software, but I hope you have also considered the peculiarities of…
      JoachimSchipper on HN
    • Very very cool! The idea is great and the interface looks slick! However, what do you do in terms of protecting people's accounts? You say that the money is stored in your…
      steve8918 on HN
    • Question for @zhoutong ... When did you start working on this project and have the negative events (guy losing 500K, MtGox hacking, etc) of the last few months affected your…
      dclaysmith on HN
  • Impressive for a teenager's project

    From 1 comment
    • I'm the creator of Bitcoinica. I'm not so established here. To be honest, I'm only 17. You're 17 and you've already created something like this? I see a very bright future ahead…
      mootothemax on HN
  • Useful for trading practice without real money risk

    From 1 comment
    • That's a great site and will help people that haven't got any trading experience to 'play' a little bit without having to do all sorts of things in the 'real' money market A…
      rb2k_ on HN

Objections

  • Maker is 17, so commenters doubt competence to handle customer money

    From 3 comments
    • This is true, I expect him (or her?) to go far! Unfortunately, seeing his age put me off depositing money into the account I just created. When dealing with my money, I want a…
      dkersten on HN
    • To be honest, your age isn't a problem, because the average above-average developer is still not competent to write this sort of software. If you had been doing security and…
      jerf on HN
    • A brand new financial trading platform written by a lone teenager in China? Here let me give you lots of my money! Not. :-) Somewhat tongue in cheek. I wish you luck and admire…
      mkramlich on HN
  • Customer funds are held in one pooled account; no segregated funds

    From 2 comments
    • I already mentioned below that I thought your site was nicely done. But you didn't answer my questions directly which makes me a bit wary. My questions aren't site security…
      steve8918 on HN
    • Very very cool! The idea is great and the interface looks slick! However, what do you do in terms of protecting people's accounts? You say that the money is stored in your…
      steve8918 on HN
  • Security is a major concern for a money-handling site

    From 3 comments
    • Without meaning to put a damper on your technical work, you should keep in mind a few things: -- systems that work with money are attacked hard and often, by intelligent skilled…
      jellicle on HN
    • Considering all the security issues with the Bitcoin ecosystem and the resulting mistrust, I think you need to be very explicit about your security.
      arkitaip on HN
    • I like the site. A few notes: - Running on Heroku is not really an asset security wise. I would put something more significant to ensure users that your site is secure. - Make…
      ByteMuse on HN
  • No margin call policy was visible on the site

    From 1 comment
    • Sadly, I have to agree with this. You're very smart, zhoutong, and your eager and polite acceptance of feedback does you great credit. But I would not attempt what you're doing,…
      ScottBurson on HN
  • Spread seems high

    From 1 comment

Requests

  • Allow bitcoin withdrawals

    From 1 comment
    • why don't you allow to withdraw bitcoins? Isn't bitcoin built because it's easy to make transactions? Why withdrawal can be done only through mtgox redeemable codes in US dollars?
      ithkuil on HN
  • Add a tour page and screenshots

    From 1 comment
    • It looks great. It's good to see more things appear in the Bitcoin space. I would add a tour page, perhaps with screenshots so people can see how it works without signing up.
      ianpurton on HN
  • Add a security section and terms or privacy policy

    From 1 comment
    • Looks pretty cool. I dislike the random pink highlighting, it's noisy. Avoid smiles, as cool as it is, you must look professional in business ;) That said, maybe a security…
      Joakal on HN
  • Support PayPal deposits

    From 1 comment
  • Add tooltips and a visible logout button

    From 2 comments
    • That's a great site and will help people that haven't got any trading experience to 'play' a little bit without having to do all sorts of things in the 'real' money market A…
      rb2k_ on HN
    • How do I logout without a logout button?
      ArchD on HN

Questions

  • How is margin liquidation and margin call handled?

    From 2 comments
    • Sadly, I have to agree with this. You're very smart, zhoutong, and your eager and polite acceptance of feedback does you great credit. But I would not attempt what you're doing,…
      ScottBurson on HN
    • Can you explain your margin fees somewhere on the site? Thanks!
      vessenes on HN
  • How can users trust the operator with their money?

    From 1 comment
    • I already mentioned below that I thought your site was nicely done. But you didn't answer my questions directly which makes me a bit wary. My questions aren't site security…
      steve8918 on HN
  • How are the margin accounts funded?

    From 1 comment
    • I already mentioned below that I thought your site was nicely done. But you didn't answer my questions directly which makes me a bit wary. My questions aren't site security…
      steve8918 on HN
  • What is a Mt. Gox redeemable code?

    From 1 comment
    • I like the site. A few notes: - Running on Heroku is not really an asset security wise. I would put something more significant to ensure users that your site is secure. - Make…
      ByteMuse on HN

Alternatives named

  • Mt. Gox

    From 2 comments
    • I don't want to use mt.gox, I moved all my money out of them because the way they treated me and other customers, blocking my account and my money for a lot of time; that's why…
      ithkuil on HN
    • Yeah, I understand your concern. Bitcoinica has several features/characteristics that make itself like no other: - There's no Bitcoin wallet. Most incidents happen with stolen or…
      zhoutong on HN
  • Tradehill

    From 1 comment
    • I think only alternative is tradehill, and their interface/features suck.
      jerguismi on HN
  • Intersango

    From 1 comment
    • i run intersango.com we have a solid platform that is rapidly advancing sign up and give it a try
      phantomcircuit on HN
  • Ruxum

    From 1 comment
    • http://ruxum.com (also http://campbx.com). Fwiw, I've seen one or two posts over on reddit.com/r/bitcoin offering invite codes to Ruxum in the past few weeks.
      SkyMarshal on HN
  • CampBX

    From 1 comment
    • http://ruxum.com (also http://campbx.com). Fwiw, I've seen one or two posts over on reddit.com/r/bitcoin offering invite codes to Ruxum in the past few weeks.
      SkyMarshal on HN

Category, keywords, summaries and labels on this page were made by AI (Thread Reader v2) and not checked by hand. Each point links to the comments it came from.

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