Author Topic: Bitcoin currency (merged topics) (Read 305404 times)

FreeLancer · « **Reply #210 on:** February 24, 2014, 11:32:30 PM »

Quote from: Thorgrim on February 17, 2014, 09:04:14 PM

Honestly I hope not. Gox needs to die. It is bad for BTC and crypto's in general.

You may have your wish......Gox is offline with no explanation at this time. It has not been good news at the other exchanges and BTC is falling off a cliff.

Maybe we'll know something by morning, but since it's Gox they'll probably just continue to keep us in the dark. I'm seeing chatter about wagers on how long Karpeles can expect to stay alive if customers don't get their coins. Harsh crowd, these crypto-anarchists.

skas · « **Reply #211 on:** February 25, 2014, 08:19:34 AM »

I honestly don't think Karpeles needs to worry about the crypto-anarchists that lost BTC. They'll write it off as the cost of progress towards anarchy (that's how I'm treating the entire current wave of crypto).

Karpeles needs to be worried about the big time investors and various others that allegedly funneled quite a bit of money into Gox that may or may not have gotten their expected profit. I've seen it suggested that the Yakuza was funneling funds through Gox. If they didn't get their payout? Yeah, I'd not want to be Karpeles...

Prodigy · « **Reply #212 on:** February 25, 2014, 09:24:38 AM »

This whole debacle has given me much more confidence in bitcoin than I ever had before. MtGox can go away forever, and the community will shrug it off. This is very much a temporary downturn, but in the end the entire BTC network is much stronger. This 'bug' that MtGox complained about did muck things up a bit, but first off 1) it's not a bug, it's an interesting feature that allows for a lot of flexibility, 2) it was well known for some time now, and Gox had plenty of time and warning to fix it and 3) it is very fascinating to see the community come together to help the payment processors, exchanges, etc to make sure the way they process bitcoins doesn't leave them vulnerable to this quirk.

They all have come out much stronger in the end, and it's shown just how responsive and cooperative the whole community is (especially the experts). If you're up for a gamble, now is probably a great time to buy. The price is waaaay down, and it's an over reaction to what amounts to absolutely nothing in the end, except maybe for some pissed off people who have money/BTC in Gox who are legitimately concerned.

CharlesH · « **Reply #213 on:** February 25, 2014, 04:09:37 PM »

My local TV station ran a story on Bitcoin tonight. The story was mostly favorable, though they did give the "some people maintain it's value is purely psychological based on the belief someone will pay more for it than they do" disclaimer.

However, based on the old adage that when the shoe shine boy starts giving stock advice it's time to get out of the market, stories promoting something by people who don't seem to know what they are talking about make me nervous.

While some may be inclined to take this as an opportunity to gamble with their money and buy, as mentioned before, it may also be prudent to sell on any near term bounces if you have accumulated significant capital gains and your Bitcoin investment is a larger portion of your portfolio than you want, now.

Gulo gulo · « **Reply #214 on:** February 25, 2014, 08:46:20 PM »

Npr's "marketplace" program had a blurb today about mtgox. It swung real quick from "this is why bit coin is bad" to "when are we gonna get some regulation on this?". So here comes the damning of bit coin.

FreeLancer · « **Reply #215 on:** February 25, 2014, 08:57:44 PM »

The amount of coins stolen off the Gox exchange is absolutely staggering, 744,400 bitcoins. Andreas Antonopoulos is stating that it wasn't an inside job (ie fraud) and that the losses started months ago. Eric Voorhees, a bitcoin startup guy, is admitting to losing over 500 coins, which also just blows my mind why he would leave that amount sitting around on any exchange.

And there's talk of maybe trying to figure out a way to get them functional again. I don't see how the rest of the movers and shakers in bitcoin can go along with that. Gox's supreme incompetence should not be rewarded with a bailout, even though I wouldn't mind getting back those coins I picked up cheap last week.

Smurf Hunter · « **Reply #216 on:** February 26, 2014, 11:03:37 AM »

This is long, but an excellent interview I found on Reddit today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wzwWIDIVSTo

FreeLancer · « **Reply #217 on:** February 27, 2014, 07:49:02 PM »

I'm beginning to sense some doubt that bitcoin will rapidly bounce back post Gox. It's becoming clear that the movers and shakers in the community are beyond stunned and deeply embarrassed that one of their own (admittedly troubled, but still a big player in the bitcoin economy) could have gone this far off the rails right under their noses.

While the underlying bitcoin protocol appears sound, since it functions in an open-source environment that keeps it honest, the closed, black-box, approach to managing dollars and coins on many exchanges raises serious trust issues. It's really looking like we took this revolutionary new-world currency solution that we could trust and, not knowing any better, used it to implement an old-world banking system at many of these online exchanges/wallets, only without any of the traditional centralized banking oversight mechanisms that have been required to keep those legacy businesses honest.

There are technological solutions that can provide asset verification and proof of solvency, but it may take some time to fully implement these new procedures. A decentralized technological solution would certainly be preferable to forming a regulatory body to audit bitcoin business, but this debacle has left the door wide open for proponents of regulation to sweep in and try to grab control while thousands of people are bemoaning the loss of their Goxed life savings.

So, I'm thinking that things could be rocky for awhile until we can get the next generation of bitcoin businesses, with newly implemented safeguards and audit capabilities, fully online.

SnoHam13 · « **Reply #218 on:** February 28, 2014, 07:12:31 AM »

picked this up on Drudge Report this am

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/japan-minister-calls-bitcoin-collapse-expected-22713601

Mt Gox [how ever ya say it] has filed for bankruptcy due to this mess

SnoHam13

Prodigy · « **Reply #219 on:** February 28, 2014, 12:42:10 PM »

Quote from: FreeLancer on February 27, 2014, 07:49:02 PM

I'm beginning to sense some doubt that bitcoin will rapidly bounce back post Gox. It's becoming clear that the movers and shakers in the community are beyond stunned and deeply embarrassed that one of their own (admittedly troubled, but still a big player in the bitcoin economy) could have gone this far off the rails right under their noses.

I would agree, but only because of the word 'rapidly' in there. There is simply too much room for innovation here for there not to be a big bounce back... but "when?" is the question. The only people who should be concerned about it bouncing back rapidly are the speculators, and quite frankly - who gives a damn about them?

The underlying protocol, network, and community have too much momentum for this current setback to be anything more than a bump in the road. I'm not saying there couldn't be some serious fall-off-a-cliff-to-death from unknown future events, but I don't see the current bump being anywhere near that.

There definitely is a lot of room for improvement, and there are going to be plenty of big bumps in the road as we figure out the happy medium between the open source decentralized system, and it's connectivity to the legacy banking system. There's also the happy medium between security and convenience, because right now it's out of most peoples comfort and knowledge to securely hold their own bitcoins, so they need to rely on these exchanges and wallet services which clearly is not a good idea for large amounts. All things to be worked out in time.

BurlintonRoad · « **Reply #220 on:** February 28, 2014, 12:53:02 PM »

I am trying to learn more about bitcoin.

Is making a blockchain wallet a solid protection against someone stealing your money as long as you guard the information well?

FreeLancer · « **Reply #221 on:** February 28, 2014, 01:41:12 PM »

Quote from: BurlintonRoad on February 28, 2014, 12:53:02 PM

I am trying to learn more about bitcoin.

Is making a blockchain wallet a solid protection against someone stealing your money as long as you guard the information well?

If you mean an online wallet at blockchain.info, I would say yes, provided you use strong passwords and two-factor authentication, and your computer does not have malware that can eavesdrop on your online communications.

I have more faith in this company than most because they have no ability to recover your keys, because they don't know them. If they don't know them they can't be forced to turn them over to the government or other thieves, and they can't go rogue and run off with them themselves. But if you lose the passwords, your screwed. It's the security vs convenience trade off, you lose convenience when increasing security.

R_Morgan · « **Reply #222 on:** March 03, 2014, 09:07:59 PM »

I dont know how exactly it could be done on the bitcoin protocol but if a big time multi billionare type could somehow build a crypto currency on a verified holding of gold and silver I think that would be unstoppable. The coins would be backed by specie at 10%, 50%, etc and could be traded in for the metals upon demand say after a 2-3 year period to get the coin itself started without people buying in at the beginning at trading in immediately.

What thinks the forumsphere?

FreeLancer · « **Reply #223 on:** March 03, 2014, 10:32:05 PM »

Quote from: rmorganGNP on March 03, 2014, 09:07:59 PM

What thinks the forumsphere?

NoFiatCoin has launched a similar concept. I don't know much about it, or what the long-term viability is likely to be.

R_Morgan · « **Reply #224 on:** March 03, 2014, 10:56:47 PM »

will have to look at this more in depth, first cursory look shows a very interesting concept. viability, if it does what it says it does, seems like it makes sense, however viability doesnt always match up with fundamentals unfortunately.

Prodigy · « **Reply #225 on:** March 04, 2014, 07:40:23 AM »

Quote from: rmorganGNP on March 03, 2014, 09:07:59 PM

I dont know how exactly it could be done on the bitcoin protocol but if a big time multi billionare type could somehow build a crypto currency on a verified holding of gold and silver I think that would be unstoppable. The coins would be backed by specie at 10%, 50%, etc and could be traded in for the metals upon demand say after a 2-3 year period to get the coin itself started without people buying in at the beginning at trading in immediately.

What thinks the forumsphere?

These types of ideas always come down to the central management. Even if the billionaire/company managing this remains 100% legit and trusted, it can still be shut down with one visit from the gov. There is no redundancy like bitcoin has with its peer to peer decentralized system.

EagleSteel · « **Reply #226 on:** March 04, 2014, 01:10:59 PM »

Quote from: rmorganGNP on March 03, 2014, 09:07:59 PM

I dont know how exactly it could be done on the bitcoin protocol but if a big time multi billionare type could somehow build a crypto currency on a verified holding of gold and silver I think that would be unstoppable. The coins would be backed by specie at 10%, 50%, etc and could be traded in for the metals upon demand say after a 2-3 year period to get the coin itself started without people buying in at the beginning at trading in immediately.

What thinks the forumsphere?

If you attach physical PM's to a crypto currency you allow two things that we have in the old system. 1. Manipulation and 2. Capital Controls.

Alan Georges · « **Reply #227 on:** March 05, 2014, 05:14:43 PM »

As a side note:
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/03/05/bitcoin-firm-ceo-found-dead-in-suspected-suicide/

Yet another banker suicide (or possibly just "suicide"), this time a bitcoin banker. Make what you will of it.

CharlesH · « **Reply #228 on:** March 05, 2014, 07:05:34 PM »

Quote from: Alan Georges on March 05, 2014, 05:14:43 PM

Yet another banker suicide (or possibly just "suicide"), this time a bitcoin banker. Make what you will of it.

I saw that story, too. I read little into it for now. There was no indication that her suicide was tied to her work, and not even proof it was a suicide. Maybe she was overexposed in Bitcoin and took a beating with money she couldn't afford to gamble. But for now, I wouldn't connect it too closely to Bitcoin.

FreeLancer · « **Reply #229 on:** March 31, 2014, 01:29:06 PM »

Bitcoin is definitely facing some challenges and the price reflects the uncertainty about the technology. Several major technological changes need to be implemented successfully in order for it to be more widely accepted and allow for further price appreciation.

First off, there needs to be a decentralized method of trusting one's holdings at exchanges and other deposit institutions outside of your wallet. Second, there must be a seamless method of record keeping for tax compliance purposes, so the average guy doesn't have to go thru the nightmare of calculating capital gains on every purchase. And third, strong wallet security is too cumbersome, and until the technology can be perfected to optimize convenience while maintaining strong security in a way that the average person can manage, widespread adoption won't happen. Nothing frightens away potential users more than the specter of loss to thieves, con artists, and the tax man.

I don't think these changes are impossible and a lot of venture capital is being spent on the solutions right now, but they won't be implemented successfully for awhile, so I see prices continuing to go mostly sideways until at least late in the year.

Of course, there's always the chance bitcoin could totally fail or succumb to a superior crypto currency, so I'm not recommending betting the farm on it, but I think more likely than not it will survive and thrive. But it may always remain as more of a niche financial instrument, kind of like a digital form of gold, where mainly large institutions, wealthy individuals, and assorted cranks and others working on legal edge hold them.

BurlintonRoad · « **Reply #230 on:** April 01, 2014, 11:12:24 PM »

I would have to agree.

I think it could be close to breaking through but first a lot of it needs to be simplified for the regular guy who struggles with each new technology.

One problem is there is a lot of conflicting information out there right now. There has been a smear campaign and frankly I do not know how sheeple fall for narrow thinking all of the time but they do.

Prodigy · « **Reply #231 on:** April 02, 2014, 07:26:02 AM »

Also agreed. And it may seem counter intuitive because of that, but I am planning to dive in head first into mining and getting a 600 GH/s mining rig. It's true that all the small guys are getting pushed out, but I still think there is a lot of potential for serious miners. The immediate future does not look all that bright (nor particularly dark either) but I think the long run has the sky as the limit. I will be making a small investment, and it would be nice to make a little money, but in the end it's about supporting the network.

How often in your life do you get to directly help in the making of something that has the potential to drastically change the world for the better?

R_Morgan · « **Reply #232 on:** April 03, 2014, 12:17:24 AM »

A few points. I myself am a huge believer in crypto curencies, however I never bet the farm on anything nor would I advise that. I have more than the average person invested in it via mining equipmentn etc. However if I lost it all I would be hurt but not dead or even severely injured. I also don't bet the farm on metals or anything. Diversify! Also as jack said there is a huge open market for a company to develop software that could easily account for tax purposes all the "property" transactions conducted on exchanges. Remember we are barely two years into this being accepted at a large level, there is much to be done to make it more seamless, that's where the market comes in. The "uncertainty" of exchanges is the beautiful tapestry of libertarian/anarchist ideals woven into the system. Ultimately YOU are responsible so keep YOUR money safe. Done buy bitcoins and leave them all sitting in an exchange develop cold/paper wallets for secure storage learn about encryption of your files and pick random passwords. In the end we can only blame ourselves, learn and move on. I spotted mt gox as a bad spot to hold money years ago, they never presented themselves as good stewards of my capital. This is all about being your own bank, your own mediator and keeping responsibility within the individual and not within a central bank

EagleSteel · « **Reply #233 on:** April 03, 2014, 08:48:55 AM »

Bitcoin and Litecoin ......well most cryptocurrenies have taken it on the kisser over the last week. I blame yesterday's dive on myself. I bought over 100 Litecoin's at $13 and then it went straight down! lol

FreeLancer · « **Reply #234 on:** April 17, 2014, 12:05:24 AM »

Let's Talk Bitcoin, Episode 101-The Why of Bitcoin is really worth a listen.

This episode features two deep thinkers in the cryptocurrency space, Andreas Antonopoulos and Chris Ellis, waxing philosophical on ideas of money and currency, intrinsic value, centralized systems of trust, the constancy of change, and the massive disruption that bitcoin poses for the status quo.

Prodigy · « **Reply #235 on:** April 17, 2014, 11:37:38 AM »

Quote from: FreeLancer on April 17, 2014, 12:05:24 AM

Let's Talk Bitcoin, Episode 101-The Why of Bitcoin is really worth a listen.

This episode features two deep thinkers in the cryptocurrency space, Andreas Antonopoulos and Chris Ellis, waxing philosophical on ideas of money and currency, intrinsic value, centralized systems of trust, the constancy of change, and the massive disruption that bitcoin poses for the status quo.

I look forward to it - I just finished episode 100 yesterday. Thanks again for turning me on to that podcast!

FreeLancer · « **Reply #236 on:** May 22, 2014, 12:34:15 PM »

Today is the four year anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day, when a programmer paid 10,000 Bitcoin for two Papa Johns Pizzas. At the time that amount was valued at about $25, today it would be worth over $5 million.

R_Morgan · « **Reply #237 on:** May 27, 2014, 09:31:55 PM »

Bet that papa johns wish they had held onto it or maybe they cashed out at 1100 a coin and got out of the pizza biz!

Bitcoin has jumped $100 in the last month and I was able to make a decent profit on a few coins as well as I am currently investing in dogecoin which is at a 4 month low. It's interesting to see all other alrcoins take a dive while bit coin slumps which is inverse to what we have seen so far. The reason I am long doge is due to its community. Doge is actually used for transactions at a much higher rate than any other coin by relative volume traded. It was over .0000028 just a few months back. In march it dipped below 100 but recovered into the 130's and now is 1/3 that. I see a resurgence of doge on the horizon and am putting a few bit coins into that bet. If I play it right I can double or triple my investment. Time will tell. However just like stocks or gold. Don't invest what you can't lose. I am using profits made from mining (mined millions of doge and sold near its peak) and earlier good trafes on coins such as dark coin and zeta coin among others.

If your reading this in late 2014 you'll know if I was right!

R_Morgan · « **Reply #238 on:** May 31, 2014, 11:13:44 PM »

Bit coin now up to 650!! $200 dollar jump since April

Doge is now down to .00000056 and litecoin at .017 (from stable price around .25)

I feel like this is like if silver was down to $12 an ounce, a steal!

Scripts are being hit harder now as people are dumping on the way down but a floor will soon be reached. I think dogecoin is at that floor and I'm dumping a bit coin into them (a $497 bit coin).

As long as PayPal doesn't renege on their promise to allow bit coin transactions in their payment network every coin will recover and be open for transaction purchases (they won't jump like bit coin will since they will have to be converted to bit coin first and a lot of traditional brick and mortar won't want another step). In the end it will be good times ahead for all the coin markets that have a decent following already IMHO.

R_Morgan · « **Reply #239 on:** June 05, 2014, 11:16:03 PM »

dishnetwork has announced they will start accepting bitcoin as payment. Its going more mainstream by the week, also EBAY CEO has announced that paypal will soon have to start accepting digital currencies, Ebay wants a piece of that pie, just like jack said.

News:

Author Topic: Bitcoin currency (merged topics) (Read 305404 times)