07-09-2018, 07:43 AM
Very interesting questions, definitely an eye opener to see some people worried about the service.
Before commenting on your specific concerns I want to make the following clear:
- Gekko is an open source project, this is very much core to the project, I won't be releasing any features as part of this service that are not in the Gekko you can find on github.
- I have quit my job (and freelancing activities) to work on Gekko (and Gekko Plus). I started Gekko as a hobby / sideproject a long time ago when crypto trading was not very serious and the space very small (with the leading exchange being Mt. Gox). With a few hours a week I am unable to the project going. Working on Gekko while at the same time making some money from the service will allow me to put in serious time.
Just be sure that we are on the same line: it will work similar to the current Gekko where users keep their money on an exchange and Gekko merely gets access to trade this money. But yes: you are right, it will take a while to gain people's trust, but I am not in a hurry.
I am taking a different approach here than most new ventures in the crypto space. I am specifically NOT doing an ICO by raising money from the general public, I have talked to a few angels and VCs but have chosen to remain in full control by NOT raising any money from anymore. This way I can always do what (I believe) is best for the project.
This is exactly the problem I want to address: (open source) Gekko is a tool for people to create and experiment with strategies, as you stated the default strats are definitely not profitable. But a lot of people want profitable strategies, but lack the skills/knowledge to build them. Other people who have them don't really want to share them with anyone. This is a big incentivization problem I want to tackle. I haven't worked out the details but the gist of the service will be that it includes a market place for people to share their strategies inside the "Gekko Plus" system.
This means:
- [gekko plus] People can upload their strategies and they only have to trust me not to steal them.
- [gekko plus] Other people can run these strategies but only through the platform (no download access) under conditions set by the original author (such as a subscription fee or whatever).
- [gekko plus] To keep things fair I will build a realtime system that evaluates these strategies 24/7 to publicly share their historical results. So everyone can see whether they used to work profitably or not.
- [gekko plus] I hope we can build a community around algorithmic strategy creation, similar to something like quantopian.
- [open source gekko] Gekko will remain free and open source, nobody will be forced to use this platform and everyone will always be able to download Gekko that will NOT run via the Gekko Plus service. However the service will hopefully improve the community around strategy development AND the quality of the codebase.
I am sometimes contacted by smaller exchanges to add their exchange to Gekko. I have never heard of any exchange that does not like something like this. Exchanges are mainly interested in 2 things: volume and liqudity and Gekko can provide both. Also not that Gekko never trades very aggressively. It doesn't do arbitrage or front running and it doesn't create fake walls or wash trading or any other type of market manipulation. Why do you think an exchange would want to stop Gekko or the new service?
And I will! I am not turning an open source project into paid software. I am simply introducing a service that will make it easier for people who:
- Have trouble installing Gekko (commandline, etc)
- Have trouble running it 24/7
- Have trouble creating or working with strategies (javascript files)
- Are limited to slow internet (or IP addresses restricted for API usage by some exchanges, eg. poloniex)
For everyone not bothered by the above, just download Gekko from Github and run it on your own server. If anything this service will allow me to improve the open source project by putting a lot more time and effort into coding!
Before commenting on your specific concerns I want to make the following clear:
- Gekko is an open source project, this is very much core to the project, I won't be releasing any features as part of this service that are not in the Gekko you can find on github.
- I have quit my job (and freelancing activities) to work on Gekko (and Gekko Plus). I started Gekko as a hobby / sideproject a long time ago when crypto trading was not very serious and the space very small (with the leading exchange being Mt. Gox). With a few hours a week I am unable to the project going. Working on Gekko while at the same time making some money from the service will allow me to put in serious time.
Quote:I believe it is hard to gain the trust of the people that want to trade live without having a reputable company and funding backing this adventure. In many ways their money could go poof. Of course i am not talking about the general trading risks.
Just be sure that we are on the same line: it will work similar to the current Gekko where users keep their money on an exchange and Gekko merely gets access to trade this money. But yes: you are right, it will take a while to gain people's trust, but I am not in a hurry.
I am taking a different approach here than most new ventures in the crypto space. I am specifically NOT doing an ICO by raising money from the general public, I have talked to a few angels and VCs but have chosen to remain in full control by NOT raising any money from anymore. This way I can always do what (I believe) is best for the project.
Quote:Strategy-wise i believe the user expectations are very high using a paid service, meaning the current default strats just won't cut it. Probably you will have to throw in all AI, GA, machine learning into it that is ready to fly from constant backtests. If you make them customizable, like you say, you're exposing trade secrets. You know there are people selling gekko and strats.
This is exactly the problem I want to address: (open source) Gekko is a tool for people to create and experiment with strategies, as you stated the default strats are definitely not profitable. But a lot of people want profitable strategies, but lack the skills/knowledge to build them. Other people who have them don't really want to share them with anyone. This is a big incentivization problem I want to tackle. I haven't worked out the details but the gist of the service will be that it includes a market place for people to share their strategies inside the "Gekko Plus" system.
This means:
- [gekko plus] People can upload their strategies and they only have to trust me not to steal them.
- [gekko plus] Other people can run these strategies but only through the platform (no download access) under conditions set by the original author (such as a subscription fee or whatever).
- [gekko plus] To keep things fair I will build a realtime system that evaluates these strategies 24/7 to publicly share their historical results. So everyone can see whether they used to work profitably or not.
- [gekko plus] I hope we can build a community around algorithmic strategy creation, similar to something like quantopian.
- [open source gekko] Gekko will remain free and open source, nobody will be forced to use this platform and everyone will always be able to download Gekko that will NOT run via the Gekko Plus service. However the service will hopefully improve the community around strategy development AND the quality of the codebase.
Quote:I trust it will gain popularity and that might be not desired by some. What's to stop an exchange from attempting to block your service?
I am sometimes contacted by smaller exchanges to add their exchange to Gekko. I have never heard of any exchange that does not like something like this. Exchanges are mainly interested in 2 things: volume and liqudity and Gekko can provide both. Also not that Gekko never trades very aggressively. It doesn't do arbitrage or front running and it doesn't create fake walls or wash trading or any other type of market manipulation. Why do you think an exchange would want to stop Gekko or the new service?
Quote: As much as i like the idea and would want to join, i believe you should also continue improving the stand alone version. I'd pay for that too.
Given the choice i'd prefer to run it as a daemon on my own hardware. Ideally both remain with the same functionality.
And I will! I am not turning an open source project into paid software. I am simply introducing a service that will make it easier for people who:
- Have trouble installing Gekko (commandline, etc)
- Have trouble running it 24/7
- Have trouble creating or working with strategies (javascript files)
- Are limited to slow internet (or IP addresses restricted for API usage by some exchanges, eg. poloniex)
For everyone not bothered by the above, just download Gekko from Github and run it on your own server. If anything this service will allow me to improve the open source project by putting a lot more time and effort into coding!
