Mercury alpha released (dex)

We already discussed it here, now is out @ http://mercuryex.com/

Quoting a r/Bitcoin comment to slow down enthusiasm :

First thing, this is a decentralized crypto to crypto exchange. So no fiat. That’s the fault of the OP, the author of the project makes it pretty clear its crypto to crypto only.

and there :point_up_2: I see space for NuBits for integration and proxy fiat.

Second, its not a “fully” decentralized exchange at all because the order book and matching engine is on a centralized server ( you DDOS that server, you can’t trade).
What is decentralized is the settlement portion of the exchange, which is nice since it means that you don’t have to deposit your coins in a exchange controlled address, meaning that a hacked exchange doesn’t compromise your coins. Unfortunately, this relies on what’s called a “Atomic Cross Chain Transfer” which relies on there being no transaction malleability (yes, the same thing that mt. gox claimed to have suffered).
This is not ready at all for prime time, and may never be ready with this kind of architecture. I think most core developers will tell you the same thing about any project that relies on transaction malleability to not exist. So use at your own risk.

Thoughts? Anyone fancy asking for some grants for integrating NuBits?

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We NEED an exchange where custodial funds are safe to provide liquidity without fear of theft. Despite not being completely decentralized Mercury may soon be able to satisfy the above.

Edit: tx malleability needs to be dealt with before it is safe

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We first need to hard fork OP_CHECKLOCKTIMEVERIFY as discussed here.

And the transaction malleability risk is real. The Bitcoin 0.10 core has some tweaks which make it harder but this is the current state. I am not saying that it wouldn’t be a great idea for NuBits being part of this experiment, but it should be considered as such and everyone who is trading with atomic cross chain transfers should be aware of that.

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They’ve already stated in their bitcointalk thread (and elsewhere in that /r/Bitcoin thread https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2y16ds/this_is_huge_for_bitcoin_mercury_first_fully/cp5bqkh) that they have plans to add NuBits in the future as a stablecoin option to trade with, much like USD on centralized exchanges. The fact we’re listed there and Tether, BitUSD and others are not is very encouraging.

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This could potentially be a better system to use for the Android wallet since there are no fees

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Although not entirely surprising :wink:

Yes, potentially and I’m following it with interest. But I bet it will be a while before we have usable and stable code for this ‘bleeding’ edge tech which can be used with the Android wallet. And the Shapeshift fees are not that prohibitive in the context of other exchanges and given the ease of use.