Looks like Mt. Gox is dead...

[Mai72]

My buddy told me the reason people are gravitating towards Bit Coins is because they are tired of the Fed's manipulation of the dollar. This is the reason why gold and silver are undervalued today. The Bankers know what they are doing.

They saw Bit Coins as a huge threat.

 

[IronWing]

the establishment is beginning its assault. support BTC. support freedom.

This is the beauty of psuedo-subversive movements. We can always find external evil among the established order to blame for the internal failings of our project. I propose we meet back at the coffee house and plan our next run. We can discuss how, even though we failed, we did loosen a few bricks, and surely the wall must come down next time. We must purge ourselves of sunshine patriots and soldier on. The new new new new economy* shall arise and technology only we fully grasp shall carry us to glory!


*I propose we refer to the dawning age as the N^4 economy.

 

[waggy]

http://www.coindesk.com/poloniex-loses-12-3-bitcoins-latest-bitcoin-exchange-hack/

Another exchange, Poloniex, lost 12% of their bitcoins to hackers who exploited a flaw in their code. But they are going to be fair about it, cutting everyone's balance by the same 12%. Wonder if the customers feel that's fair.

Then they plan to repay out of increased exchange fees.

bwhahahahah bitcoin. the gift that keeps on giving.

 

[Kev]

My buddy told me the reason people are gravitating towards Bit Coins is because they are tired of the Fed's manipulation of the dollar. This is the reason why gold and silver are undervalued today. The Bankers know what they are doing.

They saw Bit Coins as a huge threat.

But if a bitcoin's value is tied to that very dollar that the "Feds manipulate," how does that solve anything?

 

[Crusty]

But if a bitcoin's value is tied to that very dollar that the "Feds manipulate," how does that solve anything?

Huh? Bitcoins are not pegged to the USD at all.

You can convert between the two, but that's about it. You can also convert between Euros, Yen etc.

 

[Kev]

Huh? Bitcoins are not pegged to the USD at all.

You can convert between the two, but that's about it. You can also convert between Euros, Yen etc.

My point is whenever people talk about bitcoins value they always do so in how it relates to the USD.

 

[Markbnj]

This snippet from a ZDNet piece on the Poloniex thefts is amazing if true:

In a forum post, Busoni said that a hacker took advantage of a processing flaw in the Bitcoin exchange post. When users submit a withdrawal request, the input is checked against your balance, deducted, and the new amount recorded within a database. However, it was discovered that placing several withdrawals all in practically the same instant meant each request was processed at more-or-less the same time, resulting in a negative balance but "valid insertions into the database, which then get picked up by the withdrawal daemon."

So, basically bitcoin appears to be a complex, digital, international system for value exchange written by people who have absolutely zero clue what they are doing.

Oh, also noticed this Newsweek piece this morning, outing Satoshi:

http://mag.newsweek.com/2014/03/14/bitcoin-satoshi-nakamoto.html

 

[IronWing]

Oh, also noticed this Newsweek piece this morning, outing Satoshi:

http://mag.newsweek.com/2014/03/14/bitcoin-satoshi-nakamoto.html

There is a difference between journalism and stalking. That was stalking.

 

[Markbnj]

There is a difference between journalism and stalking. That was stalking.

I never really thought there was a very bright line between hounding a subject for an interview and stalking.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

where's the picture of his house? i don't see it in the article

 

[Kev]

where's the picture of his house? i don't see it in the article

They probably took it down due to all the complaints. Even still that article was a pile of trash.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

damn kind of wanted to see where he's living. sounds like he's living pretty modestly.

 

[Markbnj]

They probably took it down due to all the complaints. Even still that article was a pile of trash.

I didn't think it was that bad. He couldn't get much, obviously, so in the end it was basically "I tracked down Satoshi." Is that the objection? Everyone is entitled to their privacy but you can't blame a reporter for tracking this guy down any more than you can blame a lion for eating an antelope. He was fair game, imo.

 

[BudAshes]

I think this can all be summed up in a few words. Hackers gonna hack.

 

[Kev]

I didn't think it was that bad. He couldn't get much, obviously, so in the end it was basically "I tracked down Satoshi." Is that the objection? Everyone is entitled to their privacy but you can't blame a reporter for tracking this guy down any more than you can blame a lion for eating an antelope. He was fair game, imo.

There's no real proof it was actually him though. Just a bunch of circumstantial evidence. Why would a guy who goes through so much trouble to remain anonymous use his real name? 2+2=5?

 

[halik]

My buddy told me the reason people are gravitating towards Bit Coins is because they are tired of the Fed's manipulation of the dollar. This is the reason why gold and silver are undervalued today. The Bankers know what they are doing.

They saw Bit Coins as a huge threat.

Those two statements are incongruent.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I think this can all be summed up in a few words. Hackers gonna hack.

Which...sums up the larger problem. While the focus is on Bitcoin right now ,it really is about the economy as a whole. As everyones wealth is moved to be more virtual, more and more cases of hacking and theft are going to be heard.

Just wait until the blu-tooth RFID cards or whatever they are become mainstream. Someone will figure out how to drain your accounts using them.

I love technology, but I also realize people are greedy fvcks and that technology isn't flawless. Some things need some common sense applied to them, and it seems in todays "gotta have it this minute" mindset, people have all but forgotten what the real world is like.

 

[Markbnj]

There's no real proof it was actually him though. Just a bunch of circumstantial evidence. Why would a guy who goes through so much trouble to remain anonymous use his real name? 2+2=5?

Well, the reporter didn't present any external factual evidence, but the statements of the guy he was interviewing were pretty indicative. If he had nothing to do with it then presumably he would have said so. So either he is him, or he is someone who enjoys screwing with reporters (which I could also understand).

 

[halik]

http://www.coindesk.com/poloniex-loses-12-3-bitcoins-latest-bitcoin-exchange-hack/

Another exchange, Poloniex, lost 12% of their bitcoins to hackers who exploited a flaw in their code. But they are going to be fair about it, cutting everyone's balance by the same 12%. Wonder if the customers feel that's fair.

Then they plan to repay out of increased exchange fees.

Heh seems nerdy libertopians are discovering what banking and securities industries were like at the turn of the century. Here's a hint: every single regulation in place (fdic, fed, sipa, capital ratios etc) came about as a response to some fuck up that happened in the past and people lost their money.

Great article:
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2014/03/03/1787992/magic-the-undercapitalised-gathering-online/

 

[BoberFett]

This snippet from a ZDNet piece on the Poloniex thefts is amazing if true:



So, basically bitcoin appears to be a complex, digital, international system for value exchange written by people who have absolutely zero clue what they are doing.

Oh, also noticed this Newsweek piece this morning, outing Satoshi:

http://mag.newsweek.com/2014/03/14/bitcoin-satoshi-nakamoto.html

Queuing and transactions are hard.

 

[Kev]

Well, the reporter didn't present any external factual evidence, but the statements of the guy he was interviewing were pretty indicative. If he had nothing to do with it then presumably he would have said so. So either he is him, or he is someone who enjoys screwing with reporters (which I could also understand).

Or maybe someone this guy worked with in the past thought he'd be perfect cover and so used his name online.

Conspiracy!

 

[fleshconsumed]

This snippet from a ZDNet piece on the Poloniex thefts is amazing if true:


"In a forum post, Busoni said that a hacker took advantage of a processing flaw in the Bitcoin exchange post. When users submit a withdrawal request, the input is checked against your balance, deducted, and the new amount recorded within a database. However, it was discovered that placing several withdrawals all in practically the same instant meant each request was processed at more-or-less the same time, resulting in a negative balance but "valid insertions into the database, which then get picked up by the withdrawal daemon."


So, basically bitcoin appears to be a complex, digital, international system for value exchange written by people who have absolutely zero clue what they are doing.

Oh, also noticed this Newsweek piece this morning, outing Satoshi:

http://mag.newsweek.com/2014/03/14/bitcoin-satoshi-nakamoto.html

Reading that quote it sounds to me like their code wasn't thread safe, meaning if two requests aka threads came in at the same they'd both check the balance at the same time, see that it was positive, and process withdrawal at the same time. Basically crappy programming on the exchange part, but not the fatal bitcoin flaw that everyone is so eager to find.

 

[Markbnj]

Basically crappy programming on the exchange part, but not the fatal bitcoin flaw that everyone is so eager to find.

Imo, it's a fatal flaw in that ultimately the systems people are supposed to trust require relying on these poor implementations. In the regulated financial world banks still make software mistakes, but there is a lot more oversight, and when things go wrong they aren't just generally allowed to fold up shop and say "Sorry for causing trouble!" I don't get why people fail to understand that you cannot have both anarchy and security. The institutions we rely on don't always behave the way they should, but the idea of institutions isn't inherently evil or something. They're why we don't have to bury our money under an apple tree.

 

[Mandres]

I think the Bitcoin project/protocol is a very interesting computer science/economics experiment, and a successful one.

The failures have all been related to the conversion of BTC to USD and vice-versa, the 3rd party sites set up to facilitate it, and the speculative investors who trade it like a commodity and use predatory marketing to convince others to to so too. Without those pressures, its value compared to major world currencies would have settled somewhere stable in accordance with its value in facilitating online anonymous transactions in international or unregulated markets.

But the fact that this little cryptography experiment is still going and grown big enough to be a household name is testament to how brilliantly designed it really is.

 

[Nintendesert]

Rofl.