Articles on crypto trading, market making, liquidity, arbitrage

A brief guide to Litecoin

What is Litecoin and how does this differ from Bitcoin?

Since Bitcoin was established in 2009, many other blockchain assets have been released with modified versions of Bitcoin’s code, with varying levels of success. Litecoin is one such altered variant and was launched in 2011 with the essential aim of earning transactions faster. This is also one of the main differences versus Bitcoin. Litecoin is currently the seventh-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization.

The motivation behind its formation was to improve Bitcoin connection to the volume and speed of transactions. While practically speaking, Litecoin and Bitcoin work in precisely the exact same style, Litecoin differs from Bitcoin in aspects such as a quicker block generation rate and the use of a different type of algorithm called script. The block creation is four times as fast on Litecoin, which means faster transaction times, making Litecoin more appropriate for handling obligations. What’s more, Litecoin is significantly more efficient in terms of energy consumption in the mining process, and ordinary consumer-grade house computers may handle the mining.

As Litecoin retains the deflationary feature of Bitcoin by limiting the maximum amount of coins that will ever be generated (84 million), it’s often known as the ‘digital silver’ into Bitcoin’s ‘digital gold’.

Popularity, with the cost increasing fivefold in only three days into an intraday high of USD 48, as the early adopter crypto community started to look for alternatives to investing in Bitcoin. Favorable evaluation comparisons were printed with Litecoin before trading at approximately USD 3-4. The steep and surprising rally was followed by an equally steep.

Litecoin found new prominence when it became the biggest Blockchain advantage up to that point to implement a new technology that divides the number of their transaction data in the block and allows more transactions to be set on the same block. But Litecoin stole a march on Bitcoin as it proposed the implementation of this SegWit solution, and from March, it accumulated considerable support from the Litecoin community.

Because of this, Litecoin strongly outperformed Bitcoin involving when Bitcoin also progressed towards implementing the SegWit solution, the Litecoin rally stalled. Since Bitcoin continued to rally, Litecoin has lost about half of its value relative to Bitcoin at a month.

A much more directly related competitor in the kind of the recently created Bitcoin Cash. Both have features designed to make transactions quicker and easier and to allow these cryptocurrencies to act as payment mechanisms and achieve wide adoption.
There are several reasons in favor of the two crypto assets. Though Bitcoin Cash has the benefit of a larger block size, entire, Litecoin appears to be further advanced in implementing alternatives to improve transaction speed. Including testing the lightning network, an instantaneous and very affordable layer for processing trades, including microtransactions off the blockchain.

There’s also a valuation argument in favor of Litecoin, as the market capitalization of this newly created Bitcoin Cash is roughly twice that of Litecoin. At the same time, Litecoin is accepted as payment and used by many companies.

On the other hand, the name recognition of ‘Bitcoin’ and the long history of the first code may signify that, ultimately, more will embrace Bitcoin Cash.

Learn more about different types of cryptocurrencies.

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A brief guide to cryptocurrency exchanges

With a rapidly growing interest among technologist as well as trader towards cryptocurrencies, we have been writing a series of posts about them. In this post we will be covering cryptocurrency exchanges and point out their characteristics, and hopefully at the end of this post you may get an idea on which crypotocurrency exchange to do your trades.

Generally there are many doubts and question marks around how reliable cryptocurrency exchanges are. There has been a lot of rumors and news also around governments getting involved and closing down cryptocurrency exchanges, we heard that in South Korea  the governments is going to raid the cryptocurrency exchanges operating in the country and shut them down. If you are curious about that story, one of the officials from the government called that an “unrealistic move”. nevertheless in recent times we have heard numerous speculations about cryptocurrency world which never came to life.

The purpose of this post is to assess the most known and used cryptocurrency exchanges. We have chosen arguably the top rated exchanges, basing on fees applied, how safe the exchange is, if liquidity in the exchange is high or not, the possible pairs and currencies to trade with  USD, Euros or crypto with crypto and so on. The list we have gathered is narrowed with qualities indicated above.

Coinbase

Coinbase is one the most known and used exchange for Cryptocurrencies with up to 10 million users. Coinbase was founded in 2012 and is California based Crypto exchange for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litcoin, Ripple and etc. After introducing GDAX, Coinbase also aimed more sophisticated traders with a more powerful tool. Coinbase is also available for mobile users. Fees charged are around 0.25%.

Read here more on our coinbase market making bot and coinbase trading bot.

Bitfinex

Bitfinex is a Hong Kong based cryptocurrency exchange, specialized for trading Bitcoin and Altcoins. About fees, Bitfinex does have very low fees of 0.2% and for those who instead place trades in the order book will pay only 0.1%. Bitfinex is also available for traders to trade using mobile app. Bitfinex offers a variety of order types. For automating the trades Bitfinex also has provided an API feature for third-party softwares to integrate.

Coinmama

Coinmama is a well-known, Israeli based Bitcoin exchanges which traders could purchase Bitcoin using creadit/debit cards. The fees in Coinmama are about 6%, relatively high among other exchanges. Though Coinmama does not require traders to provide or upload their know your customer (KYC) documents.

Kraken

Kraken known as one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges. Kraken’s users can trade Bitcoin using Canadian dollars, US dollars, British Pounds and Japanese yen. Kraken is in Euro volume and liquidity. Kraken was founded in 211 by Jesse Powel, Kraken is also known for low transaction fees ranging from 0% to 0.26% depending on the account tier and the type of the transaction(buy/sell).

Gemini

Gemini is a US based exchange mainly focused on Bitcoin, US dollars and Ethereum. Gemini was founded in 2015 by Winklevoss twins (same brothers who claimed Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea of Facebook from them). Gemini’s users can deposit Bitcoin, Ether and make bank and wire transfer free of charge. In regard to trading fee, Gemini set to charge 0.25% for sellers and buyers. Gemini is referred to as the safest cryptocurrency exchange out there.

More on cryptocurrency exchanges:

Exchange Estimated traffic users Fees Tokens traded
Coinbase 109M 10.1M 0.25% Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic
Bitterex 85M 5.6M 0.25% Bitcon, Ubiq, Litecoin, Blackcoin, Dash, Ethereum, Gambit, Gridcoin
Bitfinex 36.5M 2.9M 0.20% Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, NEO, Iota, Ethereum Classic, Monero, Dash, Zcash, OmiseGO and more
Kraken 22.6M 2.9M 0 to 0.26% Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Gnosis, EOS, Dogecoin, Tether, Melon, Zcash, Augur tokens, Iconomi, Stellar, Ethereum classic, Ripple, Monero, Dash
Okex 3.5M 350K 0.20% to 0.25% CommerceBlock, Revain, Bitcoin, Chatcoin, Gifto, Zipper, Ethereum, Zencash and more
Gdax 46M 4.5M 0.25% Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum
CEX 10.8M 1.6m 3.9% Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litcoin
Gemini 3.4M 111K 0.25% Bitcoin, Ethereum
Coinmama 999K 33.4K 6% Bitcoin, Ethereum

About empirica

We are trading software company focused on developing the potential that cryptocurrencies bring to financial markets. Empirica is offering solutions such as Algorithmic Trading System used by professional investors, tools for cryptocurrency liquidity, robo advisory software, crypto trading bots and trading software development services for companies from capital and cryptocurrency markets.

Introduction to Liquidity Metrics

This paper offers a summary of indicators which may be used to demonstrate and examine liquidity developments in financial markets. These measures are employed in foreign markets, currency, and capital markets to exemplify their usefulness. Lots of measures have to be considered since there isn’t any single theoretically appropriate and approved measure to ascertain a market’s level of liquidity and since market-specific variables and peculiarities have to be considered.

 

Read more about our tool for monitoring crypto exchange liquidity with Liquidity Analytics Dashboard

 

Liquid markets are perceived as desired due to the advantages they supply, such as allocation and data efficiency. The advantage might not be accurate for investors jointly. As Keynes noted (1936, p. 160):”For the simple fact that every individual investor selects himself that his devotion is”liquid” (although this cannot be accurate for many investors jointly ) calms his nerves and leaves him much more prepared to conduct a threat.” Consequently, recent crises in financial markets, particularly, have sparked research about the way to gauge the condition of market liquidity and to better forecast and protect against liquidity crises.

 

This paper has two functions. It offers a summary of numerous distinct theories associated with liquid financial markets.

 

Analysts motivated this job. Like Borio (2000), who reports that at the run-up to financial disasters, markets frequently seem unnaturally liquid, but through times of anxiety, liquidity will vanish.

 

Market participants comprehend a financial advantage liquid, should they can sell considerable quantities of the advantage without impacting its price. Liquid financial assets are characterized by having trade costs; simple timely and trading payoff; and trades with limited effect on the market price. The significance of a few of the qualities of liquid markets can alter over time. During times of equilibrium, for example, the perception of the asset’s liquidity could reflect trade costs. During times of anxiety and principles that are changing, instantaneous price detection and adjustment to a new balance becomes more significant.

 

Liquid markets often display five attributes:

  • tightness
  • immediacy
  • depth
  • breadth
  • resiliency

 

Tightness refers to trade costs, like the gap between buy and sell prices, such as the bid-ask spreads in markets, as well as costs. Immediacy signifies the rate with which orders could be implemented and, within this context too, settled, and consequently reflects, among other items, the efficacy of their trading, clearing, and settlement systems. Breadth implies that orders are big and numerous in bulk with minimal effect on prices. Resiliency is a feature of markets in which orders flow to fix order imbalances, which are inclined to move prices away from what fundamentals warrant. Depth refers to the existence of abundant orders, either actual or easily uncovered of potential buyers and sellers, both above and below the price at which a security now trades. 

 

These conditions reflect various measurements of the degree to which an asset immediately and with no costs can be changed into legal tender.

 

In these conditions are to some degree overlapping. The majority of the available data do not correspond with those measurements, which disrupts their measurement. A variety of aspects have to be considered, because they influence the measurements of liquidity. They vary in the microstructure of this market, the bank’s implementation of its policy.

 

Knowing the microstructure of this market is crucial, when proxies, such as bid-ask spreads and turnover ratios, are utilized as liquidity signs. A market may be a platform which enables sellers and buyers to interact, a physical place. Professors have a world in your mind using a Walrasian auctioneer performing a price tätonnement procedure ensuring trading in market clearing prices. In summary, prices are a statistic. In the professional’s world, however, trading can occur in a variety of platforms (as an example, trader or auction markets) in non market clearing prices due to factors like market illiquidity.

 

It is contended that traders offer liquidity, because they offer a market. But because traders usually attempt to square their positions maintain a predetermined structural position prior to the close of the day they just “supply” liquidity by taking stock positions provided that they presume sellers and buyers will continue to emerge. In an auction market, sellers and prospective buyers distribute orders, and a digital system or agents will suit them. Auction markets are order or price could be continuous if there are trades and driven. Market intermediaries in auction systems can additionally take stock rankings in order to ease liquidity (e.g., so-called experts in broadly traded securities). Trading systems make it possible for participants to submit limit-orders, which enhance the liquidity. The intermediaries having access to the trading strategies can cover their costs by charging a commission or else they quote ask and bid prices to be paid by the sellers and buyers.

 

A distinction is made between the market, in which problems are offered, and also the market, where individuals who’ve Purchased the problems at the market can resell them. The market consequently provides liquidity.

 

It’s very important to comprehend the reporting demands of trades in markets prior to trading volumes may be utilized as a liquidity index.

 

An advantage is liquid if it can be converted to legal tender, which each definition is liquid. Some financial statements, such as require deposits, are almost perfectly liquid–provided that the credit institution is liquid as they may be converted without cost or delay to cash during regular conditions, while the conversion of different claims to legal tender can involve agents’ commissions, settlement delays, etc.. The emphasis is on trade costs and immediacy. It’s regarding the ease by which, in the lack of info changing an asset’s fundamental price quantities of this asset could be disposed of quickly at a sensible price.

 

A financial market’s liquidity is dependent upon the substitutability among the assets traded in a market, and the way liquid every one of those assets are. Whether there are issuers in the bond markets and equities markets, credit risk could protect against substitutability and result in segmentation of this market. Regardless of having the exact same issuer, human assets might nevertheless have distinct attributes, for example different maturities on the market for government securities, distinct voting rights for preference stocks, etc.. This aggregation problem leaves difficult an effort to employ measures with the goal of measuring a market’s liquidity.

 

This paper explains measures to judge an asset’s market liquidity with a view to evaluate whether a financial market, or in minimum a few of its sections, can be distinguished as liquid.

 

Our next article will classify liquidity measures in line with this size they greatest measure. Additionally, it discusses factors that might impact capability and their interpretation to catch a specified facet of liquidity. Issues related to assemble the measures will be also discussed. Section Ill uses the liquidity measures to the market, currency, and capital markets of a group of nations. Section IV lists a few of the qualitative aspects that are important to look at when assessing the liquidity measures across markets and states. Section V notes liquidity measures during times of stress may vary.

About empirica

We are trading software company focused on developing the potential that cryptocurrencies bring to financial markets. Empirica is offering algorithmic trading tools used by professional investors and solutions for cryptocurrency liquidityRobo Advisory softwarecrypto trading bots and trading software development services for companies from capital and cryptocurrency markets.

 

 

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