BTX: Configuration & Development

This page covers the configuration constants, local development setup, common admin tasks, and tips for working with BTX.

Configuration Reference

All tunables are in constants.js:

Constant	Value	Description
`INITIAL_CASH_BALANCE`	2500	Starting virtual cash
`MIN_PRICE`	0.10	Absolute minimum price
`DEFAULT_BASE_PRICE`	1.00	Base price without seed
`PRICE_SENSITIVITY_PER_SHARE`	0.02	Price move per net share
`TRANSACTION_FEE_BPS`	200	2% transaction fee
`SEED_TO_PRICE_FACTOR`	0.1	Seed to base price conversion
`INVESTMENT_TO_SEED_FACTOR`	0.0001	Investment to seed conversion
`DRIFT_MAX_PCT_PER_TICK`	0.015	Max random price change per tick
`DRIFT_MEAN_REVERSION`	0.12	How quickly prices revert to equilibrium

Local Development

To run BTX locally:

cd serverless-biztechapp-1/services/btx
npx serverless offline --stage dev

This starts:

HTTP API on port 4017
WebSocket on port 3005
DynamoDB Local on port 8000

Dev mode

When IS_OFFLINE=true, the service skips Cognito authentication and uses local-user@btx as the user ID. It also uses individual DynamoDB operations instead of transactions (for compatibility).

Common Tasks

Adding a New Project

Send a POST to the admin endpoint:

POST /btx/admin/project
{
  "projectId": "team-alpha",
  "eventId": "kickstart",
  "ticker": "ALPHA",
  "name": "Team Alpha",
  "description": "A revolutionary fintech startup",
  "seedAmount": 5
}

Applying a Phase Bump

POST /btx/admin/phase-bump
{
  "projectId": "team-alpha",
  "bumpType": "MVP_SHIPPED"
}

Checking a User's Portfolio

GET /btx/portfolio?eventId=kickstart
Authorization: (Cognito token)

Tips for New Developers

Start with constants.js and understand the tunables before diving into the logic
The executeTrade function in helpers.js is the heart of the system, so read it carefully.
Price history gets recorded for every price change, so charts always have data points even from drift
The frontend is a single large page (btx.tsx), so use search (Ctrl+F) to find sections
WebSocket broadcasts happen asynchronously after trades and use .catch() to avoid blocking the trade response