Guys,
Even if there was enough BTC on our Bitstamp account, trading would have been halted. Why? Because we would also have "wiped out" Bitstamp orderbook with the cascade of liquidations that were just about to happened. So it's not a matter of having enough funds where or whatever, it's a matter of an illiquid market that became very volatile, and millions of dollars of leveraged positions that would either evaporate or be preserved by calming things down.
If you think you have undue losses because of the halting of trading, please write to
support@bitfinex.com and your case will be examined within a few DAYS.
Thank you for your comprehension,
Raphael
Bitfinex team
BTC-e went down to 102, Bitstamp to 530. No doubt with the selling from BFX, price at Bitstamp would have been lower. Look at the price at BTC-e now: 600 - 650. So, does it really matter? In any case, it is not the exchange owner's responsibility to affect price. The responsibility is to ensure the exchange works at all times.
And for the "millions of dollars of leveraged positions that would either evaporate", this is not a risk the exchange owner should manage for the margin traders. This is a risk the margin trader themselves should know and own.
It is not about profit and loss. It is about the philosophy and the principles of running exchanges.
I understand what you're saying, and if it was only the money of traders at risks, we would have no issues. But we are also talking about the money of all the liquidity providers that would have disappeared in a blink of an eye (because the drop to 100 USD was only the beginning).
I know that liquidity swaps are not insured and CAN be lost, this is very clear in our TOS. However I do think that avoiding millions of dollars of losses for a few seconds of panic can be a good choice. We're not trying to play God, we're just trying to act in the best interest of all of our users, which is why, I repeat, if you think you had undue loss on shorts because of our halting, please write to us on
support@bitfinex.com (and be a bit patient).
We are not taking side for lenders, or for long traders, or anyone, we really try to act in the best interest of everyone.
Raphael
Bitfinex team