11–20 of 38 posts
I still cannot believe anyone has any "real" money tied up in something like MtGox. Disturbing, stunning.
In other news that may also surprise you, there are people who put millions of dollars into companies that don't even have working products yet.
Mt. Gox and other crypto markets need to switch to using a common, Open Sourced solution. Their use of proprietary software represents a threat to the entire Bitcoin ecosystem. There's nothing wrong with them keeping a proprietary ledger of accounts, but attaching their crap code to the network is a crime of epic proportions. Hopefully Ethereum will help with this.
Mt. Gox and other crypto markets need to switch to using a common, Open Sourced solution. Their use of proprietary software represents a threat to the entire Bitcoin ecosystem. There's nothing wrong with them keeping a proprietary ledger of accounts, but attaching their crap code to the network is a crime of epic proportions. Hopefully Ethereum will help with this.
So that when an exploitable bug is found in that common solution, it can be used to hit every exchange at once?
It is much safer to have multiple, independent solutions.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In other news that may also surprise you, there are people who put millions of dollars into companies that don't even have working products yet.
A great example of the difference between investment and speculation. Pouring money into a company without a product helps fund development of that product.
But you'll still see folks putting large sums of money into something like a small biotech company that doesn't have a working product yet.
It's speculation, of course, but that's the point. People speculate all the time, some of them with large sums of money. Shouldn't be surprising news.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Perhaps you might think of it more as a compensation measure. Because things are uninsured and untrusted, OSS may be much more important.
This is to the point. In a low trust environment transparency and reputation will be the biggest influencers.
The reason that people use fiat currencies is because they can trust the institution/government backing them. They can trust that if they are handed a dollar by a business, it's a dollar, no questions asked.
If folks have to worry about whether or not the person they're exchanging with is being legit, and whether or not the institution handling the transaction will be as well, they're going to be turned off.
Like it or not, most people are lazy; adding one more layer of headache to financial transactions will be a MAJOR turn-off for a vast majority of people.
So... anyone willing to learn enough about BitCoin to build something to find all the "fixed" transactions? It shouldn't take much analysis to determine whether or not MtGox has been drained. All these articles written about what happened but no one able to just look at the blockchain and give hard numbers.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is to the point. In a low trust environment transparency and reputation will be the biggest influencers.
And this, this statement is why I believe that Bitcoin or really any cryptocurrency will never have more than a fraction of a fraction of 1% of any transactions, and will never take off in the mainstream. The reason that people use fiat currencies is because they can trust the institution/government backing them. They can trust that if they are handed a dollar by a business, it's a dollar, no questions asked. If folk…
Somewhat unrelated: the Winkelvoss Twins are making an ETF for Bitcoins, and its going through the SEC right now. http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/01/17/lawyer-for-winkelv...
So at very least, SEC approved BTC funds are beginning to be set up. Its only a matter of time before a startup goes for full SEC approval in the BTC Exchange world.
Integration into US Society and Regulations is a good thing, and will give much confidence to the rather scary world that BTC currently is.
Mt. Gox and other crypto markets need to switch to using a common, Open Sourced solution. Their use of proprietary software represents a threat to the entire Bitcoin ecosystem. There's nothing wrong with them keeping a proprietary ledger of accounts, but attaching their crap code to the network is a crime of epic proportions. Hopefully Ethereum will help with this.
Your unregulated financial institutions fail to take basic security measures to protect consumers, they frequently halt withdrawals without warning, your uninsured deposits are sucked into the void, your speculative 'currency' experiences extreme daily deflation and inflation... Better blame proprietary software. Whatever you do, don't question your assumptions. And under no circumstances should you think about the f…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is to the point. In a low trust environment transparency and reputation will be the biggest influencers.
And this, this statement is why I believe that Bitcoin or really any cryptocurrency will never have more than a fraction of a fraction of 1% of any transactions, and will never take off in the mainstream. The reason that people use fiat currencies is because they can trust the institution/government backing them. They can trust that if they are handed a dollar by a business, it's a dollar, no questions asked. If folk…
Bitcoin is a fiat currency and I trust the Bitcoin specification a lot more than I'll trust any central bank. They're notorious for usury, secret bailouts, and inflation.
>They can trust that if they are handed a dollar by a business, it's a dollar, no questions asked.
Well you can trust that if you're sent a Bitcoin then it will end up in your wallet.
>the person they're exchanging with is being legit
This is the same thing that happened with online shopping at the end of the '90 and early '00s. Consumers got used to using their credit cards online and they will get used to the notion of owning, transferring, and protecting digital property.
>adding one more layer of headache to financial transactions
There is no such headache. The software will improve and the banking infrastructure will grow. I expect to see banks that hold their reserves in Bitcoin and give out lines of credit denominated in Bitcoin. Infrastructure will solve this problem, but first capital is needed to meet current regulatory compliance with the archaic legacy system that is currently in place.
Mt. Gox and other crypto markets need to switch to using a common, Open Sourced solution. Their use of proprietary software represents a threat to the entire Bitcoin ecosystem. There's nothing wrong with them keeping a proprietary ledger of accounts, but attaching their crap code to the network is a crime of epic proportions. Hopefully Ethereum will help with this.
Your unregulated financial institutions fail to take basic security measures to protect consumers, they frequently halt withdrawals without warning, your uninsured deposits are sucked into the void, your speculative 'currency' experiences extreme daily deflation and inflation... Better blame proprietary software. Whatever you do, don't question your assumptions. And under no circumstances should you think about the f…
Turns out they try to make you spend it by continually inflating the supply of them out there with no end. In order to keep your head above water, you have to put in a "bank".
Fine, it compensates you for the loss of purchasing power, so no biggie, right? Wrong. They actually lend out the dollars that are supposed to be in your account so when you come to get your dollars out, they might not even be there!
Now, they claim to have this handled, but it's kind of a hacky solution: supposedly what happens is that they'll go to a head honcho and get a temporary loan to be able to pay you, but they only give this privilege those that can get the political connections.
They also have have this system where you money is "insured" so that even if they can't get a loan "your dollars are safe, you'll still be able to get them out!" Kludgy, but it should work, right? Well, it turns out the insurance fund couldn't actually handle everyone pulling their money back out!
So, yeah, kind of hip, but I don't think it can catch on as a serious model, especially once auditors and whatnot get involved.