nrd525
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July 05, 2014, 10:42:33 PM

bfxdata.com shows USD swaps just jumped by 1.5 million to 30.5 million
best swap offer now 0.4475 %/day

Beginner question: does this mean that it's now expensive to go long?


Yes. And it means that a lot of traders on Finex are either a crazy gamblers or super bullish on BTC. Or more likely both.

BTC swap rate demand is at 0.0016% (for going short on BTC)

USD swap rate demand is at 0.175% (for going long on BTC)

That's a hundred fold difference in interest rates. Incredible. Has it always been like this?


It's almost always been like this.  There have been a couple times that BTC rates went up enough to be worthwhile lending.  I have no clue why people are lending money out at 2% APR on Bitfinex - as that assumes a very low risk of hacking/fraud/regulation/bankruptcy.  I'd estimate this risk at least at 5% or more.