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Mt. Gox Halts Bitcoin Withdrawals, Price Drop Follows

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Re: Mt. Gox Halts Bitcoin Withdrawals, Price Drop Follows

#121

Post by enraged_camel »

3pt14159 wrote: post #99
stcredzero wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've talked to a backend developer at Coinbase, he said their codebase is a mess and that he wouldn't hold any. This, and a few other things I've witnessed firsthand makes me wonder if Y-Combinator doesn't need better technical intelligence or some form of auditing. It could be done in a non-intrusive spirit of openness. Basically position it as a "show and tell" focused on technical process. Just have companies show…

I think that YC embraces technical debt. Exponential market growth means you can hire developers to re-write the problems in a couple years.

Unless, of course, you are a company like Mt Gox and your technical debt is so huge that it sinks you.

This is not a dig at Coinbase. I'm just suggesting that endorsing technical debt in the finance sector may not be smart.

Re: Mt. Gox Halts Bitcoin Withdrawals, Price Drop Follows

#122

Post by hnnewguy »

pmorici wrote: post #49
hnnewguy wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I almost bought 1,000 btc Are you just as bitter that you missed Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, Priceline, Intuitive Surgical or CNR? Point being, these opportunities are everywhere, always. You're surrounded by them right now, they're just not obvious. But neither was BitCoin. And with the above you're actually buying into a real company, rather than speculating on a price change.

It's a bit harder to get in on those opportunities at a good price since to get in before the IPO you have to be an accredited investor. Bitcoin has no such restriction and in that way really was/is a one of a kind opportunity.

>Bitcoin has no such restriction and in that way really was/is a one of a kind opportunity.

I disagree. No more than getting in as an early employee at Microsoft or Facebook or Google, or in on their IPOs, or even in early after the IPOs.

Apple returned 100x between 2002 and 2012. Tesla is up 300% the past 12 months. I've seen penny stocks go up 1000% in a day.

It's not like Bitcoin is perpetually turning out millionaires; the money has been made by the early adopters. It's not really any different than any other speculative venture.

Re: Mt. Gox Halts Bitcoin Withdrawals, Price Drop Follows

#123

Post by chipotle_coyote »

pistle wrote: post #114
logicallee wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The interesting thing about bitcoin is that you can just trade your friends for some p2p, you don't need a central exchange. You don't need a bank account to send someone bitcoins or to get some. You can just hand someone $20 and your address and they can send it to you p2p. No banking infrastructure involved. That boggles the mind. It is impossible for bitcoin to become fully illiquid as long as people believe it ha…

Everything can be traded as long as people believe in its value. Currencies are proxies. Proxies function best with stability in value and wide awareness of relative values for goods and against other currencies. Bitcoin and its ilk are going to repeat the issues the US had when small and regional banks all printed their own bills. Their info infrastructure were large books, updated monthly that provided info to dete…

All currencies involve a level of trust: a gold-backed currency unregulated by a central bank still requires you to trust the bank that printed the bills. Bitcoin requires you to trust the mechanisms by which it's traded and stored -- not the algorithms involved as much as the mediums through which you're exchanging them. As Glenn Fleishman noted, Bitcoin addresses the problem of counterfeiting, but it doesn't prevent fraud.

I suspect regulation of various kinds will come to Bitcoin not through authoritarian government fiat (see what I did there?) but the way most regulation actually comes to pass: the public calls for greater regulation and transparency. It's possible that Bitcoin markets will accomplish this with minimal government intrusion, and I'm sure that's what they'll all aim for, given the underlying philosophy. I'm just not sure it'll happen.

Re: Mt. Gox Halts Bitcoin Withdrawals, Price Drop Follows

#124

Post by RyanZAG »

minimax wrote: post #118
RyanZAG wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not even just the early days - Microsoft's fairly recent attempt at providing software for the London Stock Exchange met with disaster and frequent downtime [1]. This from a major tech giant, not just a card game exchange. Running a real exchange is a very difficult thing to do once the scale starts to ramp up. [1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/4676369/Seven-hou...

It wasn't Microsoft providing the software. It was software running on Windows. The actual software was an in-house developed matching engine called Tradelect. LSE eventually switched away to a 3rd party matching engine with their acquisition of MilleniumIT.

True, but Microsoft had a big role in it.

"The new technology platform has been developed using the Microsoft .NET Framework, with support from Microsoft and Accenture, and marks the final phase of the Exchange's four-year Technology Road Map project. "[1]

I was also told that there were Microsoft engineers on site doing training and review through the project. Either way, my point is that building a trading platform is extremely difficult even with top talent and enormous investment.

[1] http://www.onwindows.com/Articles/LSE-TradElect-system-goes-...

Re: Mt. Gox Halts Bitcoin Withdrawals, Price Drop Follows

#126

Post by geoka9 »

kirk21 wrote: post #18

Ok, time to find another exchange. Considering http://www.coinnext.com and https://localbitcoins.com Other suggestions?

Bitstamp seems to be good.

There's also the Canadian https://www.vaultofsatoshi.com/, which seems to be top notch as far as the tech (multiple 2FA options, OpenPGP cryptography for email, etc.).

Re: Mt. Gox Halts Bitcoin Withdrawals, Price Drop Follows

#127

Post by MichaelGG »

3pt14159 wrote: post #80
davedx wrote: post #70

Interesting comment on Reddit: "I had a job interview with MtGox a couple of weeks ago for a frontend developer position. After talking about their technical environment I declined the position. Contemplated publicizing my story, but I have zero proof that the interview took place. But fuck me is their environment fucked up. Either way, I have been recommending to my friends to move any BTC away from Gox as soon as p…

I believe it. I've talked to a backend developer at Coinbase, he said their codebase is a mess and that he wouldn't hold any in their system. Also I submitted: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7169114 a couple of days ago based on what I found on Reddit. And this is Coinbase, the good guy. MtGox has always been a clusterfuck. This feels like the internet used to feel like. Back when you just used to assume that a…

>'ve talked to a backend developer at Coinbase, he said their codebase is a mess and that he wouldn't hold any in their system

I usually wouldn't jump in on hearsay or be negative in this way. But Coinbase apparently proudly uses MongoDB as their database. Which is just, like, bizarre.

But hey, I'm a rather satisfied customer. Although I'd be much more satisfied if they'd have let me buy earlier in 2013, instead of having an opaque systemwide cap system and not providing helpful responses.

Re: Mt. Gox Halts Bitcoin Withdrawals, Price Drop Follows

#128

Post by jliptzin »

nwh wrote: post #14
yebyen wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought some Jalapeños from BFL after my January order was not shipped until August, in the Black Friday sale. The sale was advertised as "units in stock, ready for immediate delivery" When they came (something like a full month later) they were approximately double the spec of the devices I thought I had ordered, but still for the same price. Thanks, I guess? I can't say if they're shipping any faster now, but if t…

The BFL gear is cute and all, but there's a simple fact with selling Bitcoin mining hardware that is probably never going to be overcome. Why would you sell something you could make profit on if you kept it for yourself? This is pretty much the reason why we have ASICminer, KNCminer and Bitfury all either running or building mammoth sized facilities of their own. I particularly liked this juxtaposition on their store…

Two different but related businesses. That's like asking why does Ford/Toyota/Honda manufacture and sell taxicabs when they could make more money hiring a fleet of drivers and operating the cabs themselves?

In reality though, the ASIC companies are probably doing a mix of both - selling the hardware until they've reduced their exposure to BTC/USD to their desired levels, then keeping the remaining miners for "testing."

Re: Mt. Gox Halts Bitcoin Withdrawals, Price Drop Follows

#129

Post by jbrechtel »

awj wrote: post #110
jbrechtel wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think that? The top sellers of mining hardware that I could find on Google (Butterfly Labs, Advanced Miners, Cointerra) all accept Bitcoin for payment. Are you referring to some group upstream of the hardware sellers? I'm curious where you're getting this information from...

Do they "accept bitcoin" in the way that many big services do, where they get their payment out of bitcoin and into cash as soon as possible?

Maybe, what's your point?

Re: Mt. Gox Halts Bitcoin Withdrawals, Price Drop Follows

#130

Post by 3pt14159 »

MichaelGG wrote: post #127
3pt14159 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe it. I've talked to a backend developer at Coinbase, he said their codebase is a mess and that he wouldn't hold any in their system. Also I submitted: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7169114 a couple of days ago based on what I found on Reddit. And this is Coinbase, the good guy. MtGox has always been a clusterfuck. This feels like the internet used to feel like. Back when you just used to assume that a…

>'ve talked to a backend developer at Coinbase, he said their codebase is a mess and that he wouldn't hold any in their system I usually wouldn't jump in on hearsay or be negative in this way. But Coinbase apparently proudly uses MongoDB as their database. Which is just, like, bizarre. But hey, I'm a rather satisfied customer. Although I'd be much more satisfied if they'd have let me buy earlier in 2013, instead of h…

Yeah, like I said, I haven't seen first hand, I'm just repeating what was told to me. And frustrated developers can sometimes call something "a mess" that is really just par for the course for financial apps.

But MongoDB? Man, we used that at 500px, and while it is fast for 99% of usage, I don't know if I'd trust it with financial data.

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