CCXT Open Source Codebase in Controversy: Hidden rebate mechanism raises community concerns

Recently, the popular Open Source quantitative trading library CCXT in the cryptocurrency field has sparked a controversy over code transparency and business models. Some users discovered that the software has a rebate ID preset in its core Source Code, which means that a portion of the exchange fee rebates may be quietly collected without the user's knowledge.

CCXT, as a unified cryptocurrency trading interface, supports connections to numerous trading platforms worldwide. It supports multiple programming languages, including JavaScript, Python, PHP, C#, and Go, providing great convenience for developers. Currently, CCXT has received over 36,000 stars on GitHub, and its cumulative download on the official Python package manager PyPI has exceeded 93 million times, fully reflecting its wide application in the fields of quantitative trading and strategy development.

However, a social media user recently revealed a hidden business model that may exist within CCXT. The user discovered abnormal rebate fees while using the CCXT framework and subsequently found that CCXT had preset rebate accounts in the source code of multiple exchanges. This means that if users are unaware or have not modified the settings, a large portion of the rebate fees may be collected by CCXT. According to the user's estimate, CCXT may have profited tens of millions of dollars through this method.

Through the review of the CCXT Open Source code, it was indeed found that the Python adapters of multiple mainstream trading platforms contain a default brokerId. These parameters often exist in hard-coded form and will be sent along with the request when the user has not explicitly set or modified the relevant options, attributing potential fee rebates to the account provided by CCXT.

Looking back at the development history of CCXT, this practice may have started in 2018. At that time, CCXT transitioned from a paid model to completely free, and added an optional referral ID feature at the suggestion of a user. However, this feature, originally intended to support CCXT, seems to have evolved into a covert profit-making method.

The community has mixed reactions to this controversy. Some question whether professional quantitative traders should be overly concerned with these fee rebates, while others believe that users have a responsibility to check and modify the Open Source Source Code. However, given the widespread use and good reputation of CCXT, this covert coding approach does raise questions about its transparency.

As of now, the CCXT team has not made a public response to this matter, and its source code continues to be updated daily, but the disputed parts have not been modified.

This incident has sounded the alarm for the entire cryptocurrency community. In this competitive field, remaining vigilant about any "free" services and carefully scrutinizing every line of Source Code may be the key to protecting one's rights and interests. After all, sometimes the most expensive costs are hidden beneath the facade of "free".