Bitcoin value drops sharply after tech issues continue

[Germanicus]

Bitcoin's value has dropped sharply after one of the largest trading exchanges said there was a flaw in the virtual currency's underlying software.MtGox said it had halted transfers to external Bitcoin addresses on Friday after detecting "unusual activity".
It said an investigation had revealed it was possible for thieves to fool the transaction process so that double the correct amount of bitcoins would be sent.
Bitcoins fell from $700 (£427) to $540.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26118002

The currency of choice for degenerate criminals continues to make us chuckle.

HA!

What are the American ruling class going to use for currency after we force a US default?

((: Sacred, doomed, desperate and pitiful.

What do you think of bitcoin? Most Chinese people do not trust it. Pretty smart the Chinese. Do you trust bitcoin? (:

https://plus.google.com/+FinancialTimes/posts/JWWVE1P6sn8

edit- also, how are the TPP negotiations coming along? ((:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chFLF4G-xkE

edit- and when is the next CIA Report due out? (: That really smart that thing. Good thinking fellas. (:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi-2Tj5FhMc

edit- hey, remember this? It was the theme song for Friday Night Footy when I was a kid.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSowZcvoqr4

Nananananana NAH!

edit- So why doesnt the US Government make this so-called 'currency' illegal again? Why exactly?

edit- is the US Government actually a government? Could it be described as that? More like a hive of degenerate anti-state criminals to me.

Bitcoin is a threat to all States and a threat to Central Banks. Why is US Government allowing this? It is a threat to them...

Now have a think..

No part of the US Federal Government works for the public. The US State is an anti-State State. Anti-public. Anti-people.

Support China if you are part of the US public. The US Federal Government is your enemy. You know it. Look at the approval rating of congress. They are just fucking with you and laughing at you. You know it. Support the CPC. CPC is the party of the people. CPC are champions of good. DeAmericanize! Join us comrades. Take back your government with the help of cashed up China. They want your help.

HAIL CHINA! (:

edit- hey, do you guys feel that the people working for CCTV from the west are traitors? Its like an African working for CNN right? ((:

[Ethereal]

Holy cow! You are positively obsessed with licking China's boots and bashing Bitcoin. Do you work for the international banking cartel or something?

Anyway, it's a good time to buy some Bitcoins. These doom-and-gloom stories pop up periodically, but the Bitcoin apocalypse never seems to materialize. The lead programmers for Bitcoin have already dismissed the hysterics: Bitcoin Developer: Yes, There's A Flaw In Bitcoin But It Shouldn't Have Brought Down MtGox (http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-developer-responds-to-mtgox-2014-2#ixzz2sxz13wWC)

In an IM chat with BI, Bitcoin developer Greg Maxwell, who correctly identified MtGox's hiccup on reddit before MtGox acknowledged the problem, says he and co-developer Pieter Wuille spoke with MtGox chief Mark Karpeles over the weekend. Maxwell says he "had no idea, and really still have no idea what they'd be waiting on us [Bitcoin developers] for." He added that they had discussed changing part of the Bitcoin protocol to address the issue, but that he was "not aware of any reason that MtGox's withdraws would need to be gated on that."

BI reached out to Karpeles on the Internet Relay Chat, recommended by two Bitcoin experts as the best way to reach him, but did not receive a response.

[Germanicus]

Oh.

Now Im good with it then. Thanks for clearing that up.

Buy low everyone! Sell high! (:

[Ethereal]

Oh.

Now Im good with it then. Thanks for clearing that up.

Buy low everyone! Sell high! (:

What don't you understand? I'll explain it slowly if you need me to... :laugh:

[Ethereal]

"Issues like this— ones where I basically consider them non-interesting issues— are the hardest to respond to. When there is a normal severe problem there is always a proposed plan of attack, workarounds, etc. In this case 'meh'. I can see some people are very concerned about Bitcoin itself and not just MtGox. 'There really is nothing to worry about in this case' is not likely to help them feel better, but it's really the best and most ... correct advice I can give here."

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-developer-responds-to-mtgox-2014-2#ixzz2sy4n5wDF

There are always all sorts of these stories about Bitcoin. They are always a great time to make money off of hysteria. That is one of the things that appeal to speculators when it comes to Bitcoin. People who do not understand Bitcoin will go around spreading hysteria about a "bug" and everyone will panic because they don't really understand how Bitcoin works. If there was a catastrophic problem with Bitcoin, it would drop to zero, not $672 (http://bitcoincharts.com/markets/btceUSD.html).

[Ethereal]

The last time reporters and haters were declaring the end of Bitcoin as we know it (http://'Selfish miner' attack could devastate Bitcoin), it turned out the "revelations" of the Cornell computer scientists were actually already known by the lead programmers of Bitcoin, and were not considered a serious problem. Many individuals, the professors included, sounded their incredulity at these casual dismissals, saying the evidence was clearly in their favor. Yet that was how long ago? Seems those predictions were falsified multiple times by empirical results. This latest scare is yet another example of ignorant reporters taking an issue that Bitcoin programmers already knew about and didn't consider a big problem and acting like it's some kind of stunning revelation that will destroy Bitcoin. Great time to make money off of volatility.

[Germanicus]

And you think that I am obsessed? (: Or is that desperation? Fear? Anxiety? What?

[Ethereal]

And you think that I am obsessed?

Clearly you are, because you've started multiple threads about licking Chinese boots and bashing Bitcoin. My thorough and consistent participation in your farcical threads is purely for my personal amusement and the edification of the reader. Taking your warped world views and intellectually destroying them provides me with a great deal of amusement, so keep the threads coming.


(: Or is that desperation? Fear? Anxiety? What?

Sounds like you're projecting, mate... :azn:

[junie]

:laugh: oh no! more trouble in bitcoin paradise...



"The website of major bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox is offline Tuesday amid reports it suffered a debilitating theft, a new setback for efforts to gain legitimacy for the virtual currency."

http://news.yahoo.com/website-bitcoin-exchange-mt-gox-offline-064424538.html

[Codename Section]

http://www.eweek.com/security/federal-reserve-doe-confirm-hackers-breached-servers-stole-data/

The U.S. banking and energy agencies confirmed that hackers, in separate incidents, breached their systems and made off with hundreds of accounts.

Two federal agencies acknowledged this week that hackers had breached their systems and stole the personal and account information of workers.


On Feb. 3, a group claiming to be affiliated with Anonymous stated on Pastebin that they had compromised a server at the Federal Reserve, which oversees the banking system in the United States and grabbed personal details of 4,000 banking executives. The financial agency confirmed that hackers had exploited a flaw and stolen information.


"The Federal Reserve System is aware that information was obtained by exploiting a temporary vulnerability in a Website vendor product. The vulnerability was fixed shortly after discovery and is no longer an issue," a Federal Reserve spokesperson stated in an email sent to several news agencies (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/02/anonymous-hits-federal-reserve-in-hack-attack/). "This incident did not affect critical operations of the Federal Reserve System."

[Codename Section]

http://beta.slashdot.org/story/192091


An anonymous reader writes "Three to seven milliseconds before the fed moved interest rates, billions of dollars of trades were input that took advantage of the changed rates, reaping huge profits. According to a report at Mother Jones, 'Last Wednesday, the Fed announced that it would not be tapering its bond buying program (http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/09/somebody-stole-7-milliseconds-federal-reserve). This news was released at precisely 2 pm in Washington (http://www.cnbc.com/id/101056168) 'as measured by the national atomic clock.' It takes 7 milliseconds for this information to get to Chicago. However, several huge orders that were based on the Fed's decision were placed on Chicago exchanges 2-3 milliseconds after 2 pm (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/24/traders-may-have-gotten-last-weeks-fed-news-7-milliseconds-early/). How did this happen?'"

[junie]

lol ^ insider trading is now broken down into milliseconds...

sounds as tight as it could possibly be, and with technology today, certainly tighter than it's ever been.

no thanks bitcoin, i'll keep my benjamins and sleep just fine!




"Rising U.S. Treasury yields as the Federal Reserve scales back quantitative easing are expected to help boost the U.S. dollar (http://www.kitco.com/finance/futures/details.html?j1_module=futureDetail&popup=1&j1_symbol=DXH14) against most of the world’s major currencies in 2014..."

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kitconews/2013/12/26/fed-tapering-rising-treasury-yields-seen-boosting-u-s-dollar/

[Codename Section]

http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/09/technology/security/cyber-bank-heist/

Federal prosecutors unsealed charges Thursday against an alleged cybertheft ring accused of stealing $45 million from banks around the globe and using the loot for Rolex watches, luxury cars and other booty.

[Codename Section]

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/13/business/la-fi-mo-banks-allegedly-hacked-in-cyberheist-20130613

Chase, Citigroup among banks reportedly hacked in $15-million heist
For Germanicus

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/12/18/chinas-central-bank-hacked-angry-bitcoin-traders-may-be-to-blame/

The official site of People’s Bank of China (PBOC) went down around 5 p.m. local time Wednesday, possibly due to an attack by bitcoin traders after the central bank curbed bitcoin transactions in China, the state-run China News Service said.
The news agency cited central-bank officials as saying were aware of the issue and had been working to bring the site back online, but they didn’t confirm whether the problem was related to bitcoins.

http://thehackernews.com/2013/12/JPMorgan-Chase-bank-card-hacked_5.html

Android Hacked

http://thehackernews.com/2014/02/android-ibanking-trojan-source-code-download.html

http://thehackernews.com/2013/06/Hacking-Facebook-account-hack-tool.html

[junie]

...reality, where dollar is king and bitcoin isn't even on the radar...





The dollar’s role as the world’s primary reserve currency helps all of us Americans by keeping interest rates low. Foreign countries buy United States Treasury debt not just as an investment, but because dollar-denominated assets are the best way to hold foreign exchange reserves.


What is a reserve currency? Countries all over the world hold financial reserves, in bonds or money market instruments denominated in some other currency. They also hold gold and Special Drawing Rights issued by the International Monetary Fund. The reserves protect the country’s currency against speculative outflows.


Let’s say that Ruritania (a fictional country) is suspected of being in poor financial shape. International speculators might sell their own holdings of country’s currency, or sell short or sell in forward trades. This will tend to depress the value of the currency. Other speculators may see the attack and join in, further weakening the currency. The country could let it’s exchange rate fall, but many countries don’t like this option. A falling exchange rate makes imports more expensive to its citizens and may also disrupt financing that Ruritanian companies receive from foreign banks.



If Ruritania has sufficient foreign reserves, it could start buying its own currency, selling its foreign currencies to pay for its purchases. With deep reserves, the country could thwart the speculators. In fact, deep reserves would probably prevent the speculation in the first place. The financial speculators know that it is futile to bet against a currency backed by substantial reserves.



The Asian Financial Crisis of 1997-98 taught many countries the value of having large reserves for foreign currencies. Most countries are now pretty heavily invested in their foreign exchange reserves.



The U.S. dollar is the most common currency for international reserves, for good reason. First, because of the size of our economy, there are plenty of dollar-denominated securities available. The market for United States Treasury securities is liquid and deep. “Liquid” means that the securities can be sold quickly. “Deep” means that a substantial amount can be bought or sold without affecting the price too much. These are desirable features of a foreign reserve currency. If Ruritania were to hold an obscure currency, such as the the Pa’anga of the Kingdom of Tonga, it might not find willing buyers on short notice. Even if it did, there is no way that Ruritania could quickly sell billions of Pa’anga without pushing the foreign exchange rate disastrously low. Thus Ruritania needs to own currencies of large countries, which are traded in large amounts on a daily basis.



The dollar fits the need pretty well. The Euro plays second fiddle, with Japanese Yen and British pounds sterling just barely in the band. A number of other currencies are used in small amounts.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/billconerly/2013/10/25/future-of-the-dollar-as-world-reserve-currency/

[Codename Section]

Of course the dollar is king. We're forced to use it.