Quote from: Walsoraj on January 20, 2015, 09:57:40 PM

Quote from: mjr on January 20, 2015, 08:11:19 PM

This is just ridiculous...

None of us at Bitfinex take advantage of any inside information, and each of us monitors each other to make sure that we are behaving ethically. However, how would we go about obtaining bitcoin? We work hard to build a good exchange, because we believe in bitcoin, so we should go trade on another exchange? I have known Phil a long time, and he is extremely ethical. I, for one, use bitcoin in order to withdraw my paycheck. I usually place a small market order once a month, but I have no idea what the state of hidden orders are, or whether the market is going up or down, and I don't much care about those things. I need to convert a certain amount of dollars into the equivalent amount of bitcoin, so I just buy some bitcoin.

I'm not sure how this works in the "real world", but I am pretty sure that someone who works at Nasdaq can still trade stocks that are listed on Nasdaq. They aren't getting any special information, or access to a VIP service, but they still probably have a retirement account, or something along those lines, and still have investments. I don't think that because someone works at Nasdaq, they cannot own Apple shares in their retirement account. So, I am beyond annoyed that people think that someone who is interested in bitcoin enough to work in the bitcoin space, surprise, surprise, buys bitcoin...what is the alternative, that everyone interested in bitcoin enough to work in that space cannot use their own product?

Anyway, I think most people have enough experience with Bitfinex to know that we value our reputation as a fair place to trade, and specifically keep rules in place that cost us money because we think that the benefits of a fair marketplace far outweigh the small short term gains of cheating. I've been a big fan of bitfinex since before I started working here, and I haven't closed my account just because I got a job here.

Let me get this straight. You acknowledge Phil's story and admit to trading on your own exchange but maintain, "there is no insider trading, because: believe me."

I don't understand, yes, if I need to buy bitcoins, I buy them on Bitfinex...the same way anyone else who happened to need bitcoin would. All of my trades are monitored by the management team, including our head of compliance. So, to say that by working at a bitcoin exchange, you are precluded from buying and selling bitcoin is crazy. We have a system in place to avoid people abusing their position, because we value a fair market.