Conversation

SBF
@SBF_FTX
Replying to
@SBF_FTX
4) Also, today FTX had no downtime, and hasn't had downtime for a while. This isn't a coincidence: we've spent a lot of time in the background beefing up the systems. We've doubled capacity already this month, and added redundancy.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
5) All systems have been functioning continuously for months. No downtime. No withdrawal downtime. No scheduled or unscheduled maintenance periods. But that doesn't mean it's perfect. It's not.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
6) There's still lag, sometimes. Not _terrible_ lag, but lag we'd prefer there not be. Sometimes when markets move a lot, data is delayed for a second. This happens on other venues too, but it's really frustrating when it does, and we should reduce it.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
7) The source of this, basically, is: a) markets drop 1% b) _everyone_ wants to trade c) everyone sends tons of orders d) systems get backed up e) it takes a second to clear out the backlog of orders
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
8) There are basically two types of solutions to this. A) increase exchange capacity B) optimize orders We're working on (A), and hope that, over the next months, we can 4x capacity. That will help a lot.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
9) Meanwhile, there's (B). What does that mean? Well, say there are 10 people, and a capacity of 50 orders/second (the actual numbers are way higher, obviously!) Normally they only send 35 orders/second combined.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
10) When BTC drops 2%, they each want to trade a lot. Each one has 20 orders they want to send. What _should_ happen is that each chooses their top 5 orders and sends those. Then there's no backlog, and the most important orders are processed.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
11) What _does_ happen, though is: each person sends each of their 20 orders (might as well!) Now there are 200 orders, and 75% are backlogged. The 25% that get through are random. So there are 50 random orders. And 75% of people's important orders are backlogged.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
12) Bob might have 5 orders he _really_ wants sent. But if he gets unlucky he ends up behind 100 really marginal orders--orders that people barely even bothered sending.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
13) This happens on all exchanges. And again--the best solution to this is to increase capacity. We've done that some, and are working on doing it more. But also, it's important that people have the chance to get their most important orders through.
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SBF
@SBF_FTX
Replying to
@SBF_FTX
15) We've made a bunch of progress, and it's enabled FTX to have billions of volume daily without ever having downtime (even to roll out new product types!). But there's always more go to. Here's to tomorrow.
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