I would say lenders benefit from this, as going forward it provides BFX with more granular control over leverage ratios - in particular, them being able to manage separate max leverage per currency is great. For traders it is probably a small negative or neutral.
It is also a slight reduction in the max effective leverage - 3.33 vs 3.5, though I doubt that this is an active constraint or BFX wouldn't have chosen that number. Going forward they may choose to reduce that number further, especially eg for LTC. That would be bad for traders that like a lot of leverage, and good for lenders. Also good for the ecosystem / reducing systemic risk.
Indeed the idea of moving toward per pair/leverage is done on purpose, and you'll soon discover why.
Other than that we tried to be neutral for traders, with a positive effect for people who are USD only and want to short (more effective leverage). Nobody short anyway so it doesnt change much.
Also today was a good test for the new trading engine to handle liquidations, and while I give you that it lagged a bit, it behaved as it should (ie no loss for lenders, or Bitfinex).
Steve, I dont see any issue on my side, if it persists could you contact us to support to see where it can come from?
Have a good day all, and good luck for your trades
Raphael
Bitfinex team