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> I could write a webapp that simulates the stock market, declare that it contains X "shares" of Apple at Y price, and people could speculate on them, much as t
by scribu 5y ago
> I could write a webapp that simulates the stock market, declare that it contains X "shares" of Apple at Y price, and people could speculate on them, much as they do in the real stock market, all without Apple knowing or caring.
This already exists. It's called a CFD (Contract For Difference)
- ineptech 5y agoThat's very different from what I'm describing. CFDs are financial instruments pegged to (real) stock market prices; I'm describing a market that, like Bitclout, is entirely divorced from any objective measure.
- sombremesa 5y agoEntirely divorced from any objective measure + unregulated by the government = what's stopping the webapp owner from just setting the price and fleecing you? Scout's honor?
- ineptech 5y agoThis is a hypothetical; my post (charitably) presumes the market is safe in order to discuss other problems with it, but it could certainly be implemented in a way that allows the author to fleece the investors, which I gather is one of the complaints about Bitclout as well.
- Animats 5y agoThat's what SpotOption, based in a suburb of Tel Aviv, offered. They powered multiple scams, all bucket shops. Originally they pushed "binary options", but branched out into "contracts for difference" and "forex". [1][2] [1] https://fintelegram.com/chasing-scam-facilitators-the-united-states-v-spotoption-et-al/ https://fintelegram.com/chasing-scam-facilitators-the-united... [2] https://www.timesofisrael.com/topic/spotoption/ https://www.timesofisrael.com/topic/spotoption/