Re: [BETA]Bitfinex.com first Bitcoin P2P lending platform for leverage trading
Hi MrJMassey, welcome to this user community 
I'll try to answer some of your questions...
The idea was (if I understood it correct), that VIR somehow reflects the "weight center" of the currently active loans. This would make VIR attractive both for lenders not interested in actively managing their loans all the time, and for traders not willing to get ther loans manually for each trade.
In the more modest times before the last round of madness started, VIR rates were often around 120%, which is 1/3 per day. But then the Bitfinex users started to discover that you really can offer loans for 888888888.88%. At some incident, such loans were really picked up, this way "poisoning" the VIR rates. What followed were several attempts by the Bitfinex staff to improve the formula of VIR calculation. Meanwhile, they seem to have settled by a combination of damping factors and limits which works quite well. Bottom line is that we don't have any practical experiences how this new VIR formula works in more modest times.
Also, note that by default the system prefers VIR rates for opening a position (unless the trader explicitly disables using VIR). Thus, in the situation when there is a huge block of VIR offers (say $60000), then you need to offer a fixed rate below VIR explicitly, to get into business. This has also the effect of pushing down VIR over time, which is the intended behaviour (it regulates itself this way).
Indeed, the lending section is not yet as transparent than the trading section. It seems that it's a feature quite high on the wish list of most lenders: getting a more detailed reporting here. As far as I have understood, Bitfinex staff has already acknowledged that some improvements are desirable here.
While probably most of us agree that Bitfinex as a whole has way more important features in the pipeline, like adding a second exchange, getting the business and paperwork settled, also for insured loans and so on. Scaling up a development team also creates a huge overhead initially, to get new team members up to speed. And this way, there is the real danger that the Bitfinex team suffers a burn-out with all that feature wishes and development possibilities popping in.
I'll try to answer some of your questions...
I'm curious to know historically was is norm for the VIR or rate you base any of your projections on?
The idea was (if I understood it correct), that VIR somehow reflects the "weight center" of the currently active loans. This would make VIR attractive both for lenders not interested in actively managing their loans all the time, and for traders not willing to get ther loans manually for each trade.
In the more modest times before the last round of madness started, VIR rates were often around 120%, which is 1/3 per day. But then the Bitfinex users started to discover that you really can offer loans for 888888888.88%. At some incident, such loans were really picked up, this way "poisoning" the VIR rates. What followed were several attempts by the Bitfinex staff to improve the formula of VIR calculation. Meanwhile, they seem to have settled by a combination of damping factors and limits which works quite well. Bottom line is that we don't have any practical experiences how this new VIR formula works in more modest times.
Also, note that by default the system prefers VIR rates for opening a position (unless the trader explicitly disables using VIR). Thus, in the situation when there is a huge block of VIR offers (say $60000), then you need to offer a fixed rate below VIR explicitly, to get into business. This has also the effect of pushing down VIR over time, which is the intended behaviour (it regulates itself this way).
I'm finding it a challenge because I don't know exactly when it was taken and closed. And this becomes especially difficult when loans are opened and closed quickly.
Indeed, the lending section is not yet as transparent than the trading section. It seems that it's a feature quite high on the wish list of most lenders: getting a more detailed reporting here. As far as I have understood, Bitfinex staff has already acknowledged that some improvements are desirable here.
While probably most of us agree that Bitfinex as a whole has way more important features in the pipeline, like adding a second exchange, getting the business and paperwork settled, also for insured loans and so on. Scaling up a development team also creates a huge overhead initially, to get new team members up to speed. And this way, there is the real danger that the Bitfinex team suffers a burn-out with all that feature wishes and development possibilities popping in.