Introduction
If this were a new thing I might cut them some slack but this has been going on during every peak of traffic that I have seen for the last 3 years + that I have been using them.
I'm not expecting everything to go smoothly - life isn't smooth but it seems everytime I use Polo now there is a problem. Take the latest example:
I was about to make a nice tidy x 2.5 on DGB when it went above 400 but I couldn't because:
When I was able to use it again the price had dropped.
At what point do those lost sales, transactions and worst of all margin calls make people say enough is enough?
Poloniex have been spinning everyone the line that they are working on it (but they have been saying it since 2014).
You can't keep making the same excuses for over 3 years.
Given that they are the no.1 altcoin exchange it is just inexcusable - this is simply due to a lack of investment and greed in my opinion.
They have had plenty of chances and more than enough time to fix the issues but they haven't. The whole saga gives me a distinct feeling of unease.
The way to deal with bad service is with your wallet I think - i.e. take your money elsewhere.
Bittrex is a lot smaller but I have never had any significant issues with them.
Even for the tiny issues I have had their service has always been exemplary and they have gone out of their way to help me. Believe it or not there was a time when Bittrex was the no.1 altcoin exchange ahead of Poloniex.
At those times there were no peak time issues with Bittrex but the same kind of nonsense was happening with time outs and so on with Polo (and nothing seems to have changed).
So whenever I have the chance I will be shifting my trades away from Poloniex to Bittrex and other exchanges.
I just don't trust Poloniex any more and even if I did, I can't use the exchange when I have the greatest need to use it.
An exchange exists to allow people to make trades. If they can no longer trade and they are losing money as a result of it, how long can they stay in business?
What do you think? Am I overreacting?
Thank you for reading
Polo is perfectly fine for me. Just bought some STEEM.
Good for you. Now try taking it off the exchange and see how that works.
That's exactly what its like.
Hahaha, the Ultimate Problem Solver!
hahahahgagaggagaagagaghahaha
Seriously, really reminds me of my work.... XD
ROFL! thats soo funny and true!
LOL
The making of that clip looks extremely dangerous
Had the same issue the other day but reloaded and went away. I don't trade much though. Just trying to withdraw what I already have.
It might not be an investment problem per say but rather a problem with the architecture. Usually these sites are build upon a core (an old one in our case) and it becomes quire difficult to fix issues once layers upon layers are build upon. The patchwork doesn't seem to cut it in our case.
As far as becoming no.1, I think it has to do a lot with the design. It is much superior than bittrex's. People usually go for the eye candy. Also, I believe these problems occured as of recently when the traffic spiked. Perhaps they were not ready to handle such a massive market (although their stature should have provided them enough by now to do so).
Yes! As I write this, there are ~36,700 users online at poloniex seeking info, placing orders, sells, lending etc and ALOT of money trading hands. While I want to see added servers carry the load to make everything smooth as butter, there is a security component that must be handled properly and carefully.
See their recent statement: https://poloniex.com/press-releases/2017.05.16-Industry-growth-and-its-effect-on-Poloniex/
That statement is BS. They have had the same issues for 3 years. Also it does not explain why withdrawals are frozen.
Thank for this. Pretty solid explanation. Especially when one comes across the DDoS hell
Has been happening for the last 3 years every time the traffic spikes. I think it probably is an architectural issue but they have had more than enough time to fix it.
Indeed. I guess they are busy making way too much money. They might even think that is best if they lose some customers :D
I think it is the old joke of "I spent it all on hookers and blow" ;)
Now we are getting somewhere!
Polo encountered different problems and they manage it properly, I believe they are more knowledgeable and can handle big issues compare to other Exchangers that never encounter such problem.
Bullshit.
I think it was the 80's when I first heard about how tragically detrimental to society Bullshit is.
Not just in lost productivity, but precious hours, days, months even, of one's actual life - gone.
All due to useless bullshit.
It's true! I'm smiling while I type, and yet, there it is. There's a whole course on it some one put together, I believe. It's like, if you find yourself talking and you suddenly feel how good it feels to be talking - then check yourself, because if you don't actually know what your talking about, you should shut the frack up.
Or worse, is sending people on a goose chase or snipe hunt, just to avoid blame or responsibility or whatever reason. Argh, the frustration. Or even just dickin' around! I'm on site, and I loan this guy a wrench. A wrench I need for an antennae install, right? And he's all jovial and confident, telling me all about how reliable he is and how he will meet me later where I'm doing the install.
Of course, he doesn't show up. I have to get creative - which I don't mind - and all of the sudden the job is taking me twice as long to complete! Flippin' jackass. Didn't even show up the next day for work. Found him at the bar. Never saw him again. Thank goodness - too much BULLSHIT!
I don't like to be so dismissive but when it is clear that someone hasn't even read what I have written and is saying that all is fine when it clearly isn't even I have my limit;)
Sadly I saw all of this with Mt GOX, Crypsty and several other exchanges. Even when the problems were ongoing and something was badly wrong others were claiming they were doing a great job.
Then when the exchange failed people acted like they knew it all along. I think we often only see what we want to see at the time.
Congratulations @thecryptofiend!
Your post was mentioned in my hit parade in the following categories:
Thanks!
I really hope that this encourages people to move to more decentralized exchanges, like bitshares and counterparty and nxt even burst. These platform gain usefulness from liquidity so the more people using them the more useful they are.
Good point. It is very similar to the example of the telephone companies that start gouging you and/or cutting services once they have a substantial customer base. And using 'decentralized' exchanges don't come with a significantly higher user cost like a 'mom and pop' meatspace store where you often pay substantially more in return for personalized service and more integrity in the business dealings.
Yes for sure. There is the WAVES DEX now too and I think another one is coming.
since the volume stays in polo aka the big guys so the rest of the ppl!
The thing is right now people are actually having difficulty trading (at least manually).
Back when Ethereum was making waves before the DOA fiasco, the network conveniently experienced DDoS attacks each time Ethereum experienced a significant decline. I and many other short sellers got smoked a couple of times.
Once the DAO shit-show was in full swing, the same thing started happening all over again. At one point, one of the Poloniex users posted a link to internal IMs between Vitalik and the Poloniex team (along with some of the other crypto exchanges at the time) talking about how preserving the value of Ethereum was absolutely necessary to preserve the altcoin market (and Poloniex specifically). If I remember correctly, it was someone from the Ethereum development team who leaked that around the time of the DAO exploit and the hardfork discussions were in full swing. I walked away from Poloniex for a good while after that.
In recent history, I have come back for the one and only reason which made sense - it is the deepest pool of liquidity in the altcoin marketplace. I have altered my trading to deal with the constant lag and timeouts. So far, I am doing great on Poloniex.
One thing I will say I have noticed is when attacks happen and the lag and timeouts happen, the trade engine continues to execute orders on the order book. While I'm not cool wit that, I make sure to account for that with each trade I execute. Until another exchange attracts deep pools of liquidity, Poloniex will continue to rule the roost.
I just wonder how much of their volume is real though.
That depends on what defines "real". For instance, bots can be defined as not real, but you could have legit traders using bots to trade for profit might be the exception.
Either way with the lawsuit which as recently filed, all that will come to light in the discovery process of the litigation.
I think the thing one has to remember is you are trading a minimally regulated token in an unregulated marketplace. As such, don't be astonished with tape painting and manipulation. Either find a trading strategy that works or vote with your feet and your coin. I'm not condoning the manipulation. Rather, I am suggesting one should move to a marketplace which provides satisfactory solutions to the individual trading in an unregulated environment and works best for you. The only way a business learns is from pain to the pocketbook.
I mean people make trades against themselves using bots and creating false volume. It is known to happen a lot on exchanges with 0% transaction fees.
Poloniex does not have 0% transaction fees. Each buy and sell does cost between 0.15% to 0.25%, so I'm not sure how much is bogus volume.
Now painting the tape with bogus buy and sell walls would be another conversation. Unless the order executes, no fee is paid. That is common practice on every crypto exchange I've been on and I doubt you'd find one without it.
We have to keep using it because our crypto goes up more than $2k per day, so even if you withdraw every day you still got money to trade on polo. :)
Lol I hope it all keeps going up.
I just switched to Bittrex. It's happened too many when the orders won't load
I'd recommend HitBTC or BTC-e. But I've not used Bittrex too much so I can't really compare them fairly.
And don't forget about Openledger.io - The only reason I'm not on it is my concern about privacy and not knowing enough so far.
Yes recently I can't do anything on there!
Yup, im on bittrex effective this mornimg..withdrawl was laggy even
The more people I take to the more Bittrex has been on the ball at making things happen.
I don't think Bittrex is the answer. They've got a different set of problems. See my comment below for the link to a short post about Bittrex.
Hello my friend
Thanks for this post and the wonderful post
I really liked what I wrote in this post
The selection of the post is so lovely
Happy day to you and always
Thank you:)
I never used Poloniex, I just never felt comfortable with the platform.
I feel the same way now.
Putting finds on poloniex is just means you may have a 50% chance of not getting them back.
It is a shame but luckily there are other options out there.
What are the other options for good exchanges?
Hi , Something i would like to know also. I mean i just registered with Polo a bit ago and bought a few coins and sent some also. Yes, sometimes i did want to buy and trade but couldn't log on for some time. So i can understand the frustration and anger for many people. I have registered with Bittrex also. Any other good ones we should know about? Thanks
Those are the major alt exchanges. For Bitcoin and ETH there is Kraken. The Chinese exchanges I'm not so sure about as haven't used them.
Bittrex
Yes for sure. There are also decentralised exchanges like Bitshares etc that are slowly gaining prominence too.
BTS DEX is definitely interesting, I have yet to mess around with it though.
Yes I have used it a few times. It needs some polish in terms of UI to appeal to the masses I think.
Crypto still has a long way to go in regards to usability and UI
I would at a minimum not keep all eggs in one basket. I've been using Bittrex for a while now. I find it to be much more difficult in its layout and how you execute orders. Overall, I agree that it is frustrating to not be able to execute when desired.
Very informative. Thanks for sharing
Glad you found it useful.
Yes, I was able to share this not only here also to my facebook at twitter. Nice job! I thought I have to upgrade my laptop LoL
Thank you. What are you going to get?
Great post and your not crazy. Its a serious issue. https://steemit.com/steemit/@texasvsjohnson/poloniex-broke
🍒 I use Poloniex actually and I did notice some glitches here and there, I don't think you are overreacting because part of the point of trading is that we can be able to sell or buy at just the right moment, so if we cannot do that because Poloniex has technical issues often, then it's best to look for other options, I will check out Bittrex.
Thanks yes.
So it's not safe to use it? I'm sorry, I'm not good at this...
I would avoid it for now and use Bittrex instead.
Thank you so much for this advice!
No problem. No exchange is a 100% safe though. The safest place is keeping everything on your own local wallet.
is never safe, you not holding your coins, but the site is to slow to react coins prices, some people are lossing money because cant cancel orders etc
Oh, I see. Thank you for the explonation.
I am new in cryptotrading and I have been trading only with Poloniex for only about 3 months now. I like the interface but yes there are loading issues when doing trading . I guess I need to take a look at Bittrex
The situation has been especially bad since last week. All they keep saying is that they are experiencing abnormally high traffic. Last week I was trying for hours to trade, only to get the Transaction Failed message again and again. A broken platform is an untrustworthy one, so for me the solution for now will probably be cold storage and to bring my steem back to steemit.
Exactly.
Don't hold your Coins on exchanges! The very reason why we are involved in these Cryptos is because we don't need a MIDDLE MAN and we don't want to deal whit Counterparty risk!
Very true but if you are trying to trade up to have more you need to otherwise you miss trades (particularly with BTC).
I haven't been trading for more than few months, but before using any platform, I researched a lot, so I found Out that, the best platform for me are Bittrex, Kraken and An Indian Platform to cash In and Out Bitcoins Called Zebpay. I haven't had any problem till now. About Poloniex, I have been hearing about it a lot of times that it crashed, it was down when prices were moving up/down. The biggest roar against it was about 1 month ago when Ripple started to rise and all the poliniex trader were not able to sell it before stabilising the price. I think Bittrex will overtake it easily in a few months.
I use Kraken as well, no order execution problems...yet, but their customer service is running a couple weeks behind to address the most basic of issues, they claim it's from their recent growth. You definitely can't go wrong spreading your money out over multiple exchanges...just in case.
Yes.
I hope so but the good guys don't always win.
There is never an excuse for allowing your traders to get margin calls and forced liquidations during a time when the lag is too bad to execute a trade. Wiping out half your traders is not a sustainable business model
True and I think it will lose them customers. The withdrawal issues (manual verification) is even more worrying.
I have never used Poloniex. I do use Bittrex and blocktrade. I actually was planing on checking on them today, but with this update you have here, I won't trouble myself with that anymore. I have been following you for sometime now, and I trust your judgements to a great extent. @thecryptofiend, thanks for this important info. I mentioned you in my most recent post.
Nne Kedu?
Join our Nigerian Channel in Steemit.chat and please tell others
https://bitshares.org
Would be cool with more users. Maybe it's the opportunity ?
Yes!
yes, i am using Poloniex since one month and i am having this issues from time to time ...i guess it is not a good exchange for day trading but if you just use it to place orders and trade from time to time it can be enough.I hope now that the trading volumes and the crypto market participants number has grown ..Poloniex will upgrade their servers and make their site better
Yes. Also they need to fix withdrawals. They are still frozen.
So what are the average withdraw times everyone's seeing right now?
Don't know I am still waiting. I put in a ticket 24 hours ago and have heard nothing since.
Poloniex sucks and huge amount of pump and dump always happen on it for some creepy coins...
yes, Bittrex is the obvious choice.
Yes they are more honest for sure - sadly honesty doesn't win in this world people go where they see the money!
This is weird as hell. If trading doesn't work, the price should not be able to decrease. The only way the price can decrease is if sell orders are being placed below the current ask price, which would cause buy orders to be fulfilled too.
Who knows what is really going on for sure. Their volume hasn't gone down as far as I can see. It is likely that it doesn't affect trading bots and I have suspected for some time that a large amount of their volume is artificial.
One guess whose fault this is
I may need to send a transmission on this
matter.
Lol I thought so!
Feel free to dispute or disbelieve any of what I am about to share but, for the record, I've never met a computer or computer program that I couldn't make my bitch...
First, if the 'glitches' in a major system like Poloniex aren't remedied, it is because it is not in their best interest to do so. A system like theirs cannot be run without people who have the expertise to keep the system fully updated and fully functional. It is highly unlikely that a system like that would be allowed to fall behind in its capabilities 'merely' to avoid cutting into profits, especially since keeping such a system fully functional increases profits much more than the cost of updating/upkeep.
Which leads to the question of not whether the system is being 'gamed' from the inside, but rather, by how much the system is being gamed. ( Quick, name all of the Casinos that have never had some...or even most...of the 'cream' skimmed off the top. Answer: None ) You can bet your bottom dollar that someone between the CEO and the janitor has figured out a way to stash away a nice piece of change from anomalies that are 'negligible' in terms of the whole picture and, more likely, a number of people in the system have figured out a way to nibble off a few of the crumbs 'falling' from the table.
Then, figure in the hackers (both insiders and outsiders) who are well aware of the money to be made in the 'time lags' caused by DoS attacks...similar to the 'telegraph/wire' scam portrayed in the movie 'The Sting.'
I use Bittrex, which is, by and large, able to keep fairly current even during the times of large loads on their system. However, there are occasionally system 'slow-downs' which inevitably come at exactly the time that even a few seconds difference can mean a significant difference in the returns one receives. Anyone who eats, sleeps and dreams computers and programming can tell you that these instances occur because someone is 'making' them happen. Not to mention that I have watched an 'extremely insignificant' amount of my buy/sell orders quite simply disappearing...something I only notice when micromanaging my account. The first few times I 'caught' the...uhh, we'll call it an 'error'...I reported it and it was 'rectified' immediately, which leads me to believe that the 'error' either came from within the system, or the workings of someone from technically 'outside' the system were 'fixable' when found.
After the first couple of 'errors' I no longer bothered reporting them. I'm not going to spend a great deal of time chasing down a few cents...usually less than a nickle.
Do I 'think' that someone is pinching a few of my pennies? No, I know someone is... Do I care? Nope. It really is 'insignificant' and better that someone should put away a decent retirement savings account with few pennies from a lot of people than to go to the trouble to provide 'absolute proof' that it is happening and having people panic and jump out of windows, making my holdings worth a whole lot less, when it really is inconsequential, like leaving a night light on when you go on vacation increasing your electric bill, but not enough for you to come home early.
Trust me, any system that can be 'gamed' will be gamed. And any system can be gamed. However, for the most part, any 'gaming' of the system that is taking place is likely 'losing' you much less money than the 'everyday' workings of the system such as a BitCoin ATM that uses an exchange rate of $ 1,500 when BTC is well over $ 1,800 in value.
The most you can expect is for the companies you are dealing with to have sufficient security and safeguards in place to make sure that Bernie Madoff isn't dipping into your money. Better that the janitor should be picking up a few coins that get dropped on the floor.
Interesting perspective.
I've been in a fly-on-the-wall position on a wide range or things from mental health to politics to mob activity and have the kind of perspective that comes from listening to politicians discuss upcoming elections for a couple of hours before realizing I have yet to hear the word 'votes'...
We live in an age where 'proof' is expected to consist of 'secret tapes' and 'exposed emails.' People without a knowledge of human nature or the ability to use real logic tend to be incapable of realizing that Heidinger's Cat is the best 'proof' you can expect from real life.
People instinctively understand this, to a degree. For example, if you speculate aloud that some young boys, when first learning of Superman's x-ray vision, will immediately think of the possibilities of seeing through young girl's clothing, I doubt anyone is going to demand that you provide 'proof' of the 'veracity' of your observation...
I am a developer I handle a site with 300,000 unique users a day. Site is hosted from a dedicated server and it never failed just like Polo. I dont believe 36K users can crash a multi billionaire site? DDOS, user traffic. Etc.. so much execuses and lame alibis.
Theres a rumor that Polo intentionally take down the site, to enable them to buy the dip and put sell walls, buy walls.
#badPolo
I just posited in a post that it is impossible for Poloniex to run a system such as theirs without having people with the expertise to keep these 'problems' from happening, especially over a long period of time. Since their are people who 'win' and people who 'lose' during these 'problem' times, it would be ludicrous to think that those running the system are on the 'losing' end of the stick.
The worst thing is it has been happening for the last 3 years. Even if it isn't nefarious it is bad management.
And also changing web sites like changelly have lot of problems and delay cause of Poloniex. Hope will solve soon!
Yes it is annoying. Just hope it gets sorted fast.
Yeah, still "Exchanging" for hours...
I need my STEEM!
I want my bitcoin lol!
ehehe sure!
I need exchange for my gambling bets :D
-Ah I see - Noob here well this sounds great to me because I just started learning all this crypto stuff. Getting started this week and Bittrex was the site I found first. After that heard about the Polonoiex site a lot on here when readings others posts... and I was worried I was on the wrong site. So this blog confirms for me I made the right choice to begin with and I don't need to keep second guessing. Much appreciated.
Always be cautious I think is the lesson I've learned from doing this sort of thing for the last 3-4 years. Even the most secure exchange is not as safe as your own wallet (assuming you keep proper backups and use secure passwords).
you do make good points
I really like Bittrex. Polo has made me lose a significant amount of money due to issues. And the troll box makes my head spin.....
Hopefully the fix the delays ASAP.
Yes.
I haven't tried Poloniex... sounds like I shouldn't. But, I wrote about Bittrex yesterday: https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@cosmo.crator/bittrex-just-quintupled-their-btc-withdrawl-fee
I didn't know they increased their fees. I suspect they probably have to due to their low volume.
With Bitcoin trading at the highest in its history, I don't think the issue is low volume. I think it's greed. The value of 20k satoshi is higher than ever, so pumping it to 5x as much means they're making bank.
I disagree. Bittrex are one of the most honest exchanges out there. Remember bitcoin (and some altcoin) transaction fees are going up in value and the costs of doing business (particularly the legal side) are going up too. Smaller exchanges will feel the squeeze more. The transaction volume on Bittrex is much smaller than Poloniex for example.
I may just be bitter because they did it without any warning. But, then again, it seems awfully suspect to me. Aside from the withdrawal expense, I haven't had any issues with their service. I should note that I'm still very new to crypto trading... have to read posts like yours to learn stuff
:D
I think they have likely held off for some time. I have always wondered how they make money so it doesn't surprise me. Have been using them since they started.
I'll try to keep all that in mind and maybe keep my mind open. I wouldn't even be doing anything with crypto if I hadn't found out about SteemIt!!!
Trading is not the sort of place where an organization can really hope to get by with patchy service. I'm guessing Polo is having some "scaling issues" with the overall interest and volume of alt coin trading being up sharply.
Yes but they have been having the same issues since 2014. I suspect they are trying to cut costs and maximise profits.
Sometimes I wonder if one of the "Achilles heels" of cryptos is that the low/no fee promise inadvertently results in those providing scaling/development and essential support services struggle to be able to afford the tech/staff/resources needed to provide a top shelf experience. A server farm still costs money, even if you're on the blockchain...
Many people had the same issues. Personnally they are not competitive enough.
Yes.
Very true, I'm new to the crypto trading world and just by signing up i was very hesitant with all the crashes and hacks from them lately sounds kinda fishy to me!
Yes always take care and only trade what you can afford to lose.
You're not overreacting. I've also used Poloniex for over three years. And had no major problems until the last month or so. In fact I've recommended them on many occasions. However it's got to the point where I've pulled my funds and will only trade there in small amount & as a last resort until they get these issues sorted.
One truism in crypto is 'no Exchange is too big to fail'. And they usually start faltering before they topple over. I hope it is not the case for Poloniex however I'm unwilling to take the risk. Seen it happen too many times.
Yes I think it is worrying for those of us who were around during the GOX collapse.
OpenLedger has launched it's exchange and I LOVE it. Once it initially loads it has almost zero lag. Plus they are actively adding new and exciting coins all the time and have made trading fun again. @Openledger
Cool!
Your great about responding to people :-)
Thanks!
Yeah, I wouldn't trust these places for day trading. i just don't think the systems are really meant for the speed and traffic like a major stock exchange has. I just buy and hold these days. Can't wait for Crypto's to have a much more robust trading exchange, along with that comes derivatives and god knows what, but the speed and capacity will be there one day. Just not right now.
Agreed is only a matter of time.
I stopped using polo after watching the troll box😏
Yes it looks like full on panic there - I suspect it is spooking a lot of people.
I was lucky trading SBD for BTC and immediately withdrew my BTC to my personal wallet. I got my coins off site as fast as I could, thanks to the troll box. This is the price of freedom, nobody is gonna save me cept myself.
Very true. I should know better lol! Luckily I don't have huge amounts on Polo and I suspect it will get sorted in a few days and I will move it off.
Keeping my fingers crossed and saying a prayer🤑
Try using ztrader , an android app. When polo stalls .
Is it on IOS - not on Android myself. Hopefully they get their house in order.
I ask the same thing about Bitcoin, and prior to that I asked why people still use dollars. I am very happy to be out of both. Though I think Bitcoin still works as before if you time your transaction near or around 4:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings.
Lol.
Wow, my vote packs a punch on a post of this size! Which is not what I intended to comment, haha! Actually, I had overheard my husband having some issues with poloniex the last few days, so I was curious about your solution :) I will have him read this if he hasn't already come to this conclusion. Thanks @thecryptofiend!
Yes the vote effect goes up as more people vote. The only solution for Poloniex is to avoid using it until they sort out their problems. I am going to shift to Bittrex.
I do agree with you!
Thanks!
I use Bittrex primarily so my option may be skewed. I think Bittrex has a cleaner interface and is more reliable, but Poloniex has better analytics tools and for the time being it's where the Crypto-whales invest.
Just leave and go to Bittrex.
I intend to.