Hi all,

OK I'll address the few issues here:

-the float bug: when Davout raised the question last week, my developper told me that this was not important. Now that I learned more about the issue, I can see that there's still use of floats instead of integer or decimal, so we'll organize a migration of the database and the code to get ride of float. I hope to have these done in the coming two weeks. Meanwhile, I don't think this is that big of a deal to use the platform but I'll leave this up to you guys to decide. (for those who don't know what this is, the is a precision issue in the calculation, floats aren't exactely precise (we're talking satoshis precision here).

-what's the difference with bitcoinica? Not much in the general behavior. We asked to move as much hard coded constant as possible to database for ease of maintenance. We adapted the calculation of interests rates to what we feeled was more pertinent to reflect the need in funds and attract depositors. Right now the deposit rates are higher that they will be in the future to attract more depositors. We are fully hedged (not partly as bitcoinica);  Our idea of bitfinex is simple: we lend you money to leverage your trade. That's why we match 1 to 1 your order against mtgox (or internal orders if possible). So we remunerate not much on the spread but more on the "swap". And we remunerate deposit because this is where the money comes from. We changed the withdrawal behavior and the deposit watch routine; we use an armory script that we adapted to monitor bitcoins deposits and prepare unsigned bitcoins transactions. The platform is hosted on dedicated servers which we fully control and are extremely secure, no use of cloud providers and the like. These are security features which we feel are strong, not like bitcoinica and not like many other platforms. I'am very positive that you're money is safe.

-the trust issue: yes, MPOE lady you are right, this is a big issue. At this point I don't see what I could do more than exposing my full name, address and photo, and being as transparent as I can. For those who feel this is not enough (and I understand you), maybe you can wait until we're a registered company.

-Before moving on Guruvan issue, here's a few stats: this week, 13 people registered on the site. Of the 13, 4 deposited a total of 36 bitcoins and 75 usd (plus our own reserve of bitcoins and usd). Of these 4, only 2 traded actively for several days, for a total volume of 419 bitcoins. This was enough to test the engine, but is still pathetically small.
So on friday, when bitcoin price hit a bottom, everyone got fully long on bitcoins until the usd reserves were exhausted. Then came Guruvan, who tried to open yet an other long position, and couldn't because there weren't any usd reserve left (beside the minimum required to process user USD balances). Guruvan then withdrew all his coins, and I processed his withdrawal like I should. What would you have prefered Guruvan, that we let you open all the positions you want, but then are unable to process your withdrawal because we don't hedge your orders and have no money left?

That's why we need depositors! Come on, deposit your USD and your bitcoins, rates are very attractive! Ad we need bears! And people willing to protect the USD value of their bitcoins! Come on people, don't be shy!

Anyway, I appreciate your feedbacks, your warning and your insults. I'm always available at support@bitfinex.com if you have urgent issues. We'll let the platform run as long as they are people using it. We'll try to improve it with your feedbacks. I think margin trading is a valuable service, but if this one doesn't interest any one, no big deal, I'll move on.
Thanks
Raphael